Best Brazilian drama movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch drama films from Brazil, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Olga (2004)
Olga (2004)
Based upon the true story of Olga Benário, the German-born wife of Brazilian communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes. During the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945) she was arrested and sent to Nazi Germany, where she was put to death in a concentration camp. After World War II began, Vargas decided to uphold the Allies.
Blindness (2008)
Blindness (2008)
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.
The Way He Looks (2014)
The Way He Looks (2014)
Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.
Two Sons of Francisco (2005)
I'm Still Here (2024)
I'm Still Here (2024)
A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.
Time and the Wind (2013)
Time and the Wind (2013)
Based on Érico Verissimo's literary trilogy, Time and the Wind follows 150 years of the Terra Cambará family and their opponents, the Amaral family. The struggles between the two families begin in the missions and lasts until the end of the 19th century. The film also features the period of formation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and the dispute of territory between the Portuguese and Spanish crowns.
We're So Young (2013)
We're So Young (2013)
The life of Renato Russo, from his first involvement with music, to his years in the punk rock band Aborto Alétrico, to the formation of Legião Urbana, in the Brasília rock scene of 1970s and 1980s.
Good Manners (2017)
Good Manners (2017)
Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of São Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana as the nanny for her unborn child. The two women develop a strong bond, but soon Clara discovers a terrifying secret about the child.
Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop (2004)
Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop (2004)
Inspired by the moving book “Só as Mães São Felizes”, by Lucinha Araújo, Cazuza's mother, the film covers a little more than 10 years of the singer’s crazy and brief life – from the beginning of his career in the Circo Voador venue, in 1981, to the huge success and the apotheosis of his shows with the Barão Vermelho band, his solo career, his relations with his parents, friends, lovers and passions, and the courage he had to face his final years, with HIV, until his death, in 1990.
Executive Order (2022)
Executive Order (2022)
In a dystopian future, the Brazilian government decrees a measure that forces black citizens to migrate to Africa in an attempt to return to their origins. Seeing themselves in the center of terror, two cousins take refuge in an apartment, where they debate social and racial issues, and share the same yearning for the change of country.
Dance of the Forty One (2020)
Tim Maia (2014)
Tim Maia (2014)
Biopic of Brazilian singer Tim Maia, from his childhood in Rio de Janeiro until his death at age 55, including his passage by the US, where he discovers a new style of music and is arrested for theft and drug possession.
Bald Mountain (2013)
Bald Mountain (2013)
In 1980, best friends Juliano and Joaquin join the gold rush at Serra Pelada, Bald Mountain, a mountain town near the mighty Amazon river. As the town grows in numbers, it also sees an explosion in violent crime and pollution. Soon the friends' dreams of hitting the jack pot are shattered. Winner of the 2014 Cinema Brazil Grand Prize.
Divine Love (2019)
Divine Love (2019)
In 2027 Brazil, civil servant Joana mainly deals with divorce cases. As a member of a branch of evangelical Christians known as the Divino Amor group, she uses her position to offer a kind of physical therapy to couples who want to separate. Although Joana and her husband Danilo regularly consummate their marriage, neither her constant prayers nor any other methods of assistance seem to be able to fulfill their desire for a child.
3% (2011)
3% (2011)
A post-apocalyptic thriller set in near-future Brazil, where a select few are allowed to join a privileged society after undergoing an intense and competitive process.
Central Station (1998)
Central Station (1998)
An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.
I Don't Want to Go Back Alone (2011)
I Don't Want to Go Back Alone (2011)
The arrival of a new student in school changes Leonardo's life. This 15 year-old blind teenager has to deal with the jealousy of his friend Giovana while figuring out the new feelings he's having towards his new friend, Gabriel.
Hard Labor (2011)
Hard Labor (2011)
After her husband loses his job, Helena opens her own grocery store. Soon, increasingly strange events begin to plague her store, making her question her sanity.
The Second Mother (2015)
The Second Mother (2015)
After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s university entrance exams approach, Jessica reappears in her life and seems to want to give her mother a second chance. However, Jessica has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence will turn Val’s routine on its head. With precision and humour, the subtle and powerful forces that keep rigid class structures in place and how the youth may just be the ones to shake it all up.
Black Orpheus (1959)
Black Orpheus (1959)
Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Love Strange Love (1982)
Love Strange Love (1982)
A man remembers forty-eight crucial hours in his life when, as a child, he visited his mother, the favorite woman of an important politician, in a bordello owned by him, right before some important political changes in 1937 Brazil. In those hours, he discovers his own sexuality.
From Beginning to End (2009)
From Beginning to End (2009)
Two brothers develop a very close relationship as they are growing up in an idyllic and happy family. When they are young adults their relationship becomes very intimate, romantic, and sexual.
Gonzaga: From Father to Son (2012)
Gonzaga: From Father to Son (2012)
Luiz Gonzaga decides to change his destiny and leaves his childhood home for the big city to overcome a romance. When he arrives, he meets a woman he falls in love with, the Odaleia (Nanda Costa). After the birth of his son and his wife's health complications, he decides to return to the road to ensure a better future for his son. He has a friend in Rio de Janeiro and with him leaves the little one and heads to Brazil. He didn't imagine that this distance between them would develop into a complicated relationship, enhanced by the strong personalities of both. Based on conversations between father and son, this is the story of Luiz Gonzaga, a singer and accordion player known as Rei do Baião or Gonzagão.
Kardec (2019)
Kardec (2019)
The story of Allan Kardec, from his days as an educator to his contribution to the spiritist codification.
Burning Betrayal (2023)
Burning Betrayal (2023)
Babi discovers a betrayal by her long-term partner and decides to embark on a new adventure in life. On this journey, she meets judge Marco and they begin to live a story permeated by a lot of sexual tension.
Aquarius (2016)
Aquarius (2016)
Clara, a vibrant former music critic and widow with flowing tresses is the only remaining apartment owner in a beautiful older building targeted for demolition by ruthless luxury high-rise developers. Clara proves to be a force to be reckoned with as she thwarts the builders plans to kick her out of the apartment.
Four Days in September (1997)
Four Days in September (1997)
Fernando, a journalist, and his friend César join terrorist group MR8 in order to fight Brazilian dictatorial regime during the late sixties. César, however, is wounded and captured during a bank hold up. Fernando then decides to kidnap the American ambassador in Brazil and ask for the release of fifteen political prisoners in exchange for his life.
My Sweet Orange Tree (2013)
My Sweet Orange Tree (2013)
Zezé is an 8 year old boy who, although a naughty boy, has a good heart. He leads a very modest life, due to the fact that his father has been unemployed for a long time, and has the habit of having long conversations with a sweet orange tree which is in his backyard. Until one day he meets Portuga, a man who begins to help him and soon becomes his best friend.