There are a lot of Spanish TV shows and movies you can watch that offer a different perspective and views of the unique Spanish culture. You can find a lot of modern as well as classic Spanish movies that hold up, even to this day.
But in today’s digital age, you need internet to watch the media you want. I learned this the hard way when I and my Latino wife sat down to watch episode 6 of the first Money Heist season. We realized that our internet wasn’t working anymore. It was because I hadn’t paid my internet bill. Silly me. Thankfully, my wife was able to pay it online at the Spectrum español pagos and we could watch the episode with no problem.
But enough about internet problems, here is my list of five of the best Spanish TV shows and movies to watch in 2024.
The Devil’s Backbone
- Release Date: April 20, 2001
- Genre: Mystery, Horror
- Runtime: 1h 46m
- Director: Guillermo del Toro
- Cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Irene Visedo, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés
Guillermo Del Toro is not only a great Spanish director, but also one of the big names in Hollywood now, mainly because of his creativity and interesting concepts.
The Devil’s Backbone is about a 10-year-old boy who arrives at a school that shelters orphans. He meets the headmistress and a professor. Soon after, he runs into the violent caretaker of the school, after which, he starts to uncover the secrets of the school, including a ghost that roams the grounds.
Although this movie isn’t as polished as some of the director’s recent works, it’s a great watch that has received universal acclaim.
Roma
- Release Date: November 21, 2018
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 2h 15m
- Director: Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Jorge Antonio Guerrero
Like Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón is one of the best Spanish filmmakers to make their way to Hollywood. He has more than 11 Oscar nominations and won the Best Director for Gravity.
The movie Roma is about Cleo, who is a domestic worker who helps Sofia and Antonio take care of four children in Mexico City in the 70s. Things get tough when Antonio runs away with his mistress and Cleo finds that she’s pregnant. Sofia then decides to take her kids on a vacation and also invites Cleo to bond with the family.
The movie feels like an art-house picture and is shot in black and white. Roma was also nominated for 10 Oscars, which itself is a record for the most nominations for a foreign film.
Money Heist
- Release Date: May 2, 2017
- Genre: Crime Drama
- Seasons: 5
- Creator: Álex Pina
- Cast: Úrsula Corberó, Itziar Ituño, Álvaro Morte, Pedro Alonso, Alba Flores, Paco Tous, Jaime Lorente, Miguel Herrán
Money Heist is one of the most successful Spanish shows to stream on Netflix. Soon after its release, it became the most-watched TV show of all time, despite its language being Spanish.
The show is set in Madrid, where a man known as the Professor recruits a team of eight people who carry out an ambitious heist plan that involves taking hostages and looting the Royal Mint of Spain. When the heist starts, they lock themselves in with plans to print more than €2 billion in unmarked bills.
Of course, things go wrong when the police show up and start using creative ways to take on the criminals. The series is a great watch, especially if you like crime drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.
Maria Full of Grace
- Release Date: January 18, 2004
- Genre: Crime, Thriller
- Runtime: 1h 41m
- Director: Joshua Marston
- Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, John Álex Toro, Guilied Lopez, Patricia Rae
Maria Full of Grace is one of the best Spanish crime thrillers you can watch right now. It features some amazing performances and themes about crime and drugs.
The movie is about a 17-year-old pregnant girl named Maria, who’s forced to leave her job after being treated unfairly by her boss. She’s offered a new job that has her working as a drug mule. With drug pellets in her stomach, she flies to New York and soon discovers that this line of work may be much more risky than she thought.
The movie shows off the difficulties faced by women in Columbia, along with a huge drug problem there. At the Independent Spirit Awards, Maria Full of Grace won two awards.
Cable Girls
- Release Date: April 28, 2017
- Genre: Drama
- Seasons: 5
- Creator: Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira
- Cast: Blanca Suárez, Maggie Civantos, Nadia de Santiago, Ana María Polvorosa, Ana Fernández García, Martiño Rivas, Concha Velasco, Ángela Cremonte
This show is among the first TV shows in Spanish developed by Netflix and it ran from 2017 to 2020. The show dramatizes the oppressed women of Spain in the 20s in such a way that it feels relatable even in modern times. Each character has their problems and the performances by the cast members are equally amazing.
It’s about a modern telecommunication company in Madrid in 1928. The main focus is on four young women, whose life starts to change after they start working for the company which offers them good pay and some independence.
Cable Girls won a GLAAD award in 2018 and won some accolades at the Ondas Awards and Platino Awards.
Wrapping Up
These are only some of the TV shows and movies you can watch to experience the wonders of Spanish media. There are thousands of other TV shows and movies waiting to be discovered. But hopefully, watching these movies can be a great introduction to the incredibly awesome world of Spanish media.