Discover the best of Portuguese cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Portugal. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of Portugal
To enter the world of Portuguese cinema is to enter a cinema of quiet contemplation and profound soul, a film culture where the past is always alive in the present. For decades, its heart was the legendary Manoel de Oliveira, one of history’s most tireless and singular filmmakers, who directed films well past his 100th birthday. He created a cinema of long takes, literary depth, and a style that was uniquely his own. Alongside him, directors like João César Monteiro and Pedro Costa crafted challenging, beautiful films that are celebrated by cinephiles around the world. This tradition of artistry continues with a new generation. Directors like Miguel Gomes have gained international acclaim, particularly for his breathtaking epic Arabian Nights, a fantastical, sprawling portrait of modern Portugal. But Portuguese cinema also has a wonderfully popular, sun-drenched side. It is the home of beloved comedies and, in recent years, slick television series. The time-bending mystery Glória became the country's first original production for a global streaming platform, a stylish spy thriller that put a new, exciting face on Portuguese storytelling. What makes Portuguese cinema so unique is its deep, often melancholic, connection to its own history and identity, a feeling known as saudade. It's a cinema that invites you to slow down, to look, and to feel.
Best Portuguese series
Turn of the Tide 2023
When a boat loaded with cocaine sinks off his home island, Eduardo sees a risky but exciting opportunity to make money and fulfill impossible dreams.
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Glória 2021
A small town in Portugal becomes engulfed in a web of political intrigue when a young engineer is recruited as a KGB spy in this historical thriller.
74
Sunset 2021
Love, passion, mystery, betrayal makes the days of the Pôr do Sol estate. The Bourbon de Linhaça family owns the Pôr do Sol estate, but not everything is rosy...
84
Favàritx 2025
Detectives Marta Serra and Álex Castro are faced with a complex case when Laura Vidal, a prominent government official, is found dead. What begins as an apparent suicide develops into a pattern of murders in which the perpetrator camouflages his crimes as suicides. The victims appear to be connected by a dark secret from the past, which adds an extra dimension to the case.
60
Lume 2025
In the quaint Galician village of Seara, journalist Lucía returns to probe a forest fire eerily tied to her family's dark past.
65
Odisseia 2013
A story developed in two different narratives which are interlinked. On the first one, the two friends Bruno Nogueira and Gonçalo Waddington (playing themselves) set out on a caravan trip through Portugal with the desire to escape from their daily lives and find a solution for their personal struggles. On the second one, there's the fictionalized making-off of the miniseries itself.
82
Best Portuguese movies
The Lair 2022
Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair is on her final flight mission when her jet is shot down over one of the most dangerous rebel strongholds in Afghanistan. She finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made creatures known as Ravagers — half-human, half-alien, and hungry for human flesh — are awakened.
52
Pelé 2021
Against the backdrop of a turbulent era in Brazil, this documentary captures Pelé's extraordinary path from breakthrough talent to national hero. Mixing rare archival footage and exclusive interviews, this documentary celebrates the legendary Brazilian footballer who personified football as art.
70
May I Speak with the Enemy? 2024
Madrid, Spain, 1936. The young Miguel Gila lives happily with his grandparents in a humble attic; but the outbreak of the Civil War forces him to go to fight.
69
Variações: Guardian Angel 2019
Film biography dwelling on the hectic artistic life of António Variações, a famous Portuguese pop rock singer from the 80s, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1984.
74
Amelia’s Children 2024
When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
52
Hell 2011
In the course of one afternoon, Raphael's paradise turns into a spiral of guilt and paranoia.
80