With immediate streaming, movies have become a magnifying glass for looking into the daily lives of people living in cultures from around the world. Different from what viewers may experience in their day-to-day realities, international and foreign language films will submerge them into a universe that is often unfamiliar with unconventional subject matters and locations they probably never thought about initially traveling to. Experiencing a distinct, yet gloriously specific socioeconomic environment paired with foreign languages formulates their own the ability to expand the learning pallet, which is always a plus.

Netflix has seemingly acquired an extensive range of internationally derived projects through their streaming services during years of actively producing and distributing content. Predominately English titles actually just make up 55% of Netflix's total library and 45% consist of foreign-language titles. The reasoning behind Netflix storing so many art foreign house films (art house meaning specializing in films that are both artistic or experimental) on its platform is because the streaming powerhouse currently has an increased count of international subscribers, with the intentions of satisfying its base.

At the same time, however, with dubbing in multiple languages making international shows and movies more popular than ever, Netflix has reported that 97% of its American subscribers watched a non-English title in 2020-2021, a huge leap toward mainstream acceptance of international media. Vive la France! Temporarily be whisked away from the long-established Hollywood cinematic standards of English-language films and enjoy some of the wide collection of international projects provided by Netflix, with these international masterpieces being some of the best movies they have.

6 My Happy Family

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Netflix

A 50-year-old Georgian woman, Mañana (Ia Shughliashvili), leaves her husband and the home they share together, setting out to build a new life for herself. For reasons and rationale largely unknown to her whole family and which are never fully splled out, Mañana’s decision is connected to defying the cultural expectations of women in her community who are taught to be submissive and dependent on the husband. After creating a life of her own, Mañana later learns of her husband's past infidelities and his secret child, who is now a 13-year-old boy. My Happy Family is a testament to real world family secrets that in many cases remain a mystery for generations, in addition to marriage conflicts; it's a powerful (and empowering) film.

Related: These Are Some of the Best International, Non-English Horror Movies this Century, So Far

5 Raw

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Focus World

Watch the modern horror masterpiece Raw at your own discretion. Though entertaining and enthralling, it can get a bit excessive and gory; some audience members with weak stomachs passed out during a midnight screening after watching the film's cannibal scenes at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2016. Life-long vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) begins her first semester at the veterinary school her parents once attended, where her sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf) also currently attends. On Justine's first night she meets roommate Adrien, and the two are forced to participate in a week-long hazing ritual where new students are forced to cover themselves in blood and consume raw rabbit kidneys. After the ritual, Justine begins to have repulsive cravings for meat added to her sinister obsession with human flesh in this great New French Extremity movie about sapphic sexuality and veganism.

4 Alive

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Lotte

This South Korean zombie film details the events of Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in) who is alone in his family's apartment when zombies unexpectedly begin to attack and infect the community of people outside. The film is primarily shot through a tight yet fast-paced framing technique, while central characters are intentionally placed in tiny and secluded spaces to add significance to the fact they are in unfamiliar or uncomfortable surroundings as all hell breaks loose around them. The zombie rollout is pictured throughout the film in a ramped and chaotic speed, which makes it more horrifying and difficult for the viewers to catch up to.

3 The Call

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Netflix

If you ever find an abandoned cellular phone anywhere, either throw it out or run immediately and don't look back.Traveling through a rural area in South Korea, 28-year-old Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) loses her cellphone while traveling to visit her sick mother. Once Seo-yeon arrives at her childhood home she stumbles across an older model cordless phone, receiving calls from a distressed woman, Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), who conveys in a panic that she's being tortured by her mother. Though Kim Seo-yeon and Oh Young-sook are in the same house, the two are living in two different time zones (Kim Seo-yeon in 2019 and Oh Young-sook in 1999). The young women are able to interact through the phone despite their time differences communicating desperately while realistic horrors are unleashed. This is an efficient little supernatural thriller.

2 First They Killed My Father

Netflix

This Cambodian-American Khmer-language biographical drama directed by Angelina Jolie tells the story of a 5-year-old girl who ventures through a quest for survival in the midst of the horrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Based on the acclaimed book by Loung Ung, this true story follows Ung when the Khmer Rouge first assumes power over the country in 1975. Forcibly removed from her family home, Ung is trained as a child soldier while her six siblings are sent to labor camps. The film depicts the four-year-long reign of terror with often brutal realism, shedding light on a tragedy where almost 2 million Cambodians died.

Related: Through My Window Trailer Brings A New Stalker Thriller to Netflix in February

1 Through My Window

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Netflix 

Crushing on a neighbor is a true art form, but actually dating a neighbor could either be a dream come true or one's worst nightmare (because you still have to live near them when you break up). Raquel (Clara Galle) has had a longtime crush on her out-of-this-world handsome neighbor, Ares (Julio Peña), for as long as she can remember. Raquel secretly watches him at first from afar but has never manged to speak with Ares because no girl wants to be pushy and too forward. Once the two's relationship grows immensely and Ares also develops feelings for her, many social ties come into play, making their relationship a challenge in this sexy, angsty romance.