As streaming services in 2025 sealed their dominance in the international TV landscape, surpassing traditional broadcasters in both viewership and content investment for the first time, the shows that stood out globally did not seem to be spawned by an algorithm. They range from “Adolescence,” which was sparked by present-day toxic “incel” culture in the North of England and featured unknown local actors, to period pieces like “The Seduction,” starring Anamaria Vartolomei and Diane Kruger, that explores sexual manipulation as a survival tool for women navigating the 18th-century Paris patriarchy. There were also reality shows, like International Emmy-nominated “Love is Blind: Habibi” and “The Celebrity Traitors” which represented, as Ellise Shafer aptly puts it: “some of the best television of the year — point blank.”
Below are the year’s ten best international TV shows picked by Variety’s international team. They are not listed in oder of importance, though “Adolescence” certainly merits the top slot.
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Adolescence
Image Credit: Netflix
If last year’s unexpected TV smash hit was “Baby Reindeer,” this year it was — by some considerable margin — “Adolescence.” Netflix’s one-shot mini-series — about a teenage boy accused of murdering a female classmate — blew almost everyone away within days of launch, lauded for its technical prowess, knockout performances and a deeply topical storyline. It swiftly began smashing global viewing records for Netflix, and has dominated the year’s awards shows since, with a bumper haul of Primetime Emmys, including one for then 15-year-old newcomer Owen Cooper, making him the youngest male winner in awards history. But that wasn’t all — its central theme about the dangers of social media on kids and the online manosphere became major talking points globally and sparked national debate in the U.K., where it was discussed in British parliament. As its writer Jack Thorne and director Philip Barantini recently acknowledged, wherever their careers go from here, they’ll likely never experience anything like “Adolescence” again.
Alex Ritman
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Dead End
Image Credit: Courtesy of Caviar
What show are you likely to talk about to your family over a Christmas roast? If you’re aiming to spoil the lunch, most probably Flemish director Malin-Sarah Gozin’s “Dead End,” the most memorable title to screen at this year’s Canneseries. This dark comedy turns on sleuth Ed Bex who is able to glimpse a dead person’s final moments licking, or even better eating, a wee part of their corpse. He spends much of Ep. 2 trying to steal a toe belonging to murder victim 2 from out of the mortuary to get a little nibble. Like Gozin’s “Clan,” which was adapted into Apple TV hit “Bad Sisters” this is a genre-blending mash-up of comedic murder thriller and family drama which makes a serious point, here about animal food consumption. It’s produced by Belgium’s Caviar and Lompvis, and is part of Flanders’ remarkable TV surge which had more titles at Canneseries or The Wit’s Mipcom Fresh TV Fiction showcase than any other region or country in the world.
John Hopewell
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The Seduction
Image Credit: HBO
“The Seduction” isn’t just another adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” The six-part series, led by Anamaria Vartolomei and Diane Kruger, delivers a youthful, sexy and distinctly feminist take on the cult novel — an origin story charting the rise of de Merteuil, before her transformation into Valmont’s partner in crime. The HBO Original is directed by Jessica Palud, whose latest film, “Being Maria,” traced the journey of trailblazing artist Maria Schneider during the tumultuous shoot of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris.” “The Seduction” reunites Palud with Vartolomei, who stars as the strong-willed de Merteuil. She is joined by Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”) as her mentor, Madame de Rosemonde — Valmont’s aunt. Vincent Lacoste (“A Private Life”) plays a young Valmont, while Lucas Bravo, the breakout chef of “Emily in Paris,” embodies the morally corrupt libertine. The glossy 18th-century-set series shot at several châteaux around Paris.
Elsa Keslassy
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Too Much
Image Credit: Ana Blumenkron/Netflix
“Girls” creator Lena Dunham made her long-awaited return to television in July with “Too Much,” a semi-autobiographical Netflix rom-com series about heartbroken expat Jess (“Hacks” breakout Meg Stalter), who moves to London and falls into the arms of an emotionally stunted English musician named Felix (the charming Will Sharpe). It’s a tale as old as time, but Dunham simultaneously spins a fresh take while throwing it back to the glory days of Richard Curtis films with her witty writing, on-point references and all-too-relatable characters. Though the show won’t be returning for a second season, its (spoiler alert) town hall wedding ending makes it clear that Jess and Felix did get their happily ever after. Not all series are meant to run forever – and with Dunham now set up in a deal with Netflix, all eyes are on what she’ll come up with next.
Ellise Shafer
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Black Warrant
Image Credit: Netflix
Netflix’s Indian prison drama “Black Warrant” lands with the kind of authority that comes from a creator who knows how to turn institutional rot into gripping drama. Set inside Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail, the series draws on the memoir of former superintendent Sunil Gupta and marks another uncompromising entry in Vikramaditya Motwane’s body of work, following “Udaan,” “Sacred Games” and “Jubilee,” all of which interrogated power, ambition and moral decay in very different milieus. Fronted by a coiled, quietly commanding Zahan Kapoor, “Black Warrant” resists easy shock tactics, instead zeroing in on the banal cruelty and negotiated ethics of prison life – where corruption is systemic and idealism a liability. The show’s impact has been underlined by multiple wins at the Asian Academy Creative Awards, cementing it as one of Netflix India’s most credible prestige plays in recent years rather than another algorithm-chasing crime entry.
Naman Ramachandran
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The Celebrity Traitors
Image Credit: BBC/Studio Lambert/E
Though the U.S. has only ever done celeb-stacked renditions of whodunit reality show “The Traitors,” this year saw the format’s British originators finally give the concept a whirl. The result was some of the best television of the year — point blank. BBC’s “The Celebrity Traitors” exceeded expectations and broke ratings records by gifting us moments like Celia Imrie’s fart heard ‘round the world, sassy accusations courtesy of Olympian Tom Daley and Alan Carr’s surprisingly emotional winning speech, all hosted by the fabulous Claudia Winkleman. For a couple months, it felt like the country finally agreed on something — thank God it’s coming back next year.
Ellise Shafer
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Love is Blind:Habibi
Image Credit: Courtesy Netflix
Netflix scored a nomination in the 2025 International Emmy Awards in the Non-Scripted Entertainment category for “Love is Blind, Habibi,” the Arabic adaptation of its hit dating show. Filmed in Dubai and co-hosted by Saudi actress Elham Ali and her husband, Khaled Saqr, it features singles from the region – including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Iraq, and Kuwait, but living in the UAE – seeking love without being able to see their potential companion, as per the show’s format. But “Love is Blind: Habibi” stood out from its international counterparts by focusing more on family, showcasing the family’s participation in the engagement process, shared values, cultural traditions, no alcohol and an absence of physical intimacy in the initial stages that made for a refreshing approach for many viewers. It topped Netflix’s global top 10 most-watched non-English TV shows in its first two weeks attracting millions of viewers, highlighting a global appetite for Arab-focused reality TV.
Nick Vivarelli
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Perfect Days
Image Credit: Globo
In recent years, true crime has taken Brazil by storm. When it comes to fiction, however, no talent is so sought-after than novelist-screenwriter Raphael Montes who wrote HBO Max’s novela “Scars of Beauty” while Netflix is adapting his own novel “A Estranha na Cama.” Montes also saw Globoplay, Globo’s VOD service, adapt another novel in “Perfect Days.” A stylish, sex-boundary pushing – catch a great threesome in Ep. 1 – but rapidly darkening psychological abduction thriller plumbing the pathology of male narcissism, “Perfect Days” became Globoplay’s most-watched original series this summer. It also marks out star Julia Dalavia, helmer Joana Jabace (“Precious Pearl”) and writer Claudia Jouvin (“The Nightshifter,” and now working on Ron Leshem’s next) as talents to track and is a big win for Anonymous Content Brazil, the CAA-backed partnership between Rodrigo Teixeira’s RT Features and Anonymous Content.
John Hopewell
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Portobello
Image Credit: Courtesy Max
Revered Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio reconstructs one of Italy’s most clamorous travesties of justice in this limited HBO series that launched from the Venice Film Festival and travelled to Toronto and Busan. “Portobello” delves into the true story of popular Italian TV host Enzo Tortora who, among other programs, conducted a primetime game show by the same title that aired on Italian state broadcaster RAI for seven seasons starting in 1977. Bellocchio’s series – which has been praised by the Guardian as being “potent and serious, mordantly funny and bitingly cynical” – is a vivid account of how Tortora, in 1985, went from being a top-rated TV star to being wrongly convicted of conspiring with the Neapolitan crime syndicate known as Camorra. Tortora is potently played by frequent Bellocchio collaborator Fabrizio Gifuni who starred as former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in Bellocchio’s previous limited TV series “Exterior Night,” about the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of the country’s leader by Red Brigades terrorists. “Portobello,” which is produced by Bellocchio’s Kavac Film in tandem with Mediawan-owned Our Films, will be the first HBO Original Italian production to launch on the HBO Max streaming platform, debuting in 2026. The series will be available on HBO Max globally, including the U.S., Latin America and Europe, excluding France and Germany.
Nick Vivarelli
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The Anatomy of a Moment
Image Credit: Movistar Plus+
No series from top Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator Movistar Plus+ has made a bigger impact in Spain than “The Anatomy of a Moment,” a six-part chronicle of how three odd bedfellows – ex-Francoist prime minister Adolfo Suárez, Communist Party head Santiago Carrillo, and reformist general Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado – won democracy for Spain in 1976-77. An ode to empathy across the political divide directed with cinematographic flair by Alberto Rodríguez (“The Plague,” “Marshland”) including a mordant voiceover commentary, it shows these figures of “Shakesperian stature,” in Rodriguez’s words in all their grandeur, contradictions, flaws and final life pathos. “Anatomy” bowed Nov. 20 on Movistar Plus+ to become its most-watched original series ever, while winning every prize out in Spain. Produced with Banijay’s DLO Producciones, “Anatomy” is also early fruit of one of the most exciting TV production-distribution axes in Europe – between Movistar Plus+ and Arte France.
John Hopewell
