Social Issue TV Dramas on Netflix

In 2000, a group of young men takes over a house in Buenos Aires, becoming squatters, while dealing with an increasingly violent and hostile city.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 9.1
Netflix ID: 81443363 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The writings of Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore come to life in this collection of tales set in early-20th-century Bengal.

Year: 2015
IMDb: 9
Netflix rating: 3/5
Netflix ID: 80102160 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 9
Netflix ID: 80200549 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

José Olaya, a Spanish miner, emigrates to Argentina in 1934, while his son, an architect, moves to Spain after Argentina's economic collapse in 2001.

Year: 2006
IMDb: 8.8
Netflix ID: 70266992 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A former Colombian guerrilla fighter faces challenges as she reintegrates into society and tries to overcome her traumatic memories.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 8.6
Netflix rating: 3.2/5
Netflix ID: 80120640 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In 1987 New York, LGBTQ ball fixture Blanca starts her own house, soon becoming mother to a gifted dancer and a sex worker in love with a yuppie client.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 8.6
Netflix ID: 80241986 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

As Delhi reels in the aftermath of a gang rape, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi leads a painstaking search for the culprits. Based on the 2012 Nirbhaya case.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix ID: 81076756 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A shocking turn of events puts Birgitte Nyborg in the Danish prime minister's seat as her country's first female leader in this landmark drama.

Year: 2012
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix ID: 70302482 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The Robles family, born and raised in the Americas, experiences the highs and lows of the revolutionary drive to Peru's independence.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix ID: 81302679 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Raised by strict parents with high expectations, a woman breaks free from her family and vows to navigate love, friendships and life unapologetically.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix ID: 81219182 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This period drama set in impoverished East London in the 1950s follows a newly qualified midwife and her colleagues at a nursing convent.

Year: 2012
IMDb: 8.4
Netflix rating: 4.4/5
Netflix ID: 70245163 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Defining moments in Andrew Cunanan's life, starting in childhood, lead up to a 1997 murder spree that kills five, including fashion icon Gianni Versace.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 8.4
Netflix ID: 81091015 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In Cold War-era East Berlin, two families -- one loyal to the Stasi secret police, the other firm dissidents -- are united by an unexpected romance.

Year: 2010
IMDb: 8.2
Netflix rating: 4.3/5
Netflix ID: 80005825 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In a colorful Seoul neighborhood, an ex-con and his friends fight a mighty foe to make their ambitious dreams for their street bar a reality.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 8.2
Netflix ID: 81193309 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A talented surgeon with autism and savant syndrome joins a prestigious hospital, where he faces skepticism from both the patients and staff.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 8.2
Netflix ID: 80176893 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In Colombia in 1821, a white orphan is taken in by black slaves. Years after being torn from them, she returns to find her family and childhood love.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix rating: 3/5
Netflix ID: 80108473 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Free spirit Goo Hae-ryung embarks on a new life as a scholar in the Joseon royal court after hearing about a government post for women historians.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix ID: 81116487 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A Hasidic Jewish woman in Brooklyn flees to Berlin from an arranged marriage and is taken in by a group of musicians — until her past comes calling.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix ID: 81019069 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

America's oldest hospital welcomes a new maverick director in Dr. Max Goodwin, who steps in to change the status quo and save patients' lives.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix ID: 80241181 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Unassuming high school girl Jan Di stands up to -- and eventually falls for -- a spoiled rich kid who belongs to the school's most powerful clique.

Year: 2009
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 4.4/5
Netflix ID: 70213130 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In this sequel to “Utvandrarna,” the Nilssons begin their lives as new immigrants and become entangled in the contentious culture of a changing America.

Year: 1972
IMDb: 8
Netflix ID: 81244777 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In mid-19th-century Sweden, a group of pilgrims, led by the Nilsson family, voyage to America in search of fertile ground and a fresh start.

Year: 1971
IMDb: 8
Netflix ID: 81244776 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a family of potato farmers falls on hard times, they determine that growing marijuana is their ticket to improving their fortunes.

Year: 2013
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix rating: 4.5/5
Netflix ID: 80015504 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A 1950s housewife goes to Rio de Janeiro to meet up with her husband, only to learn he's deserted her, but decides to stay and open a bossa nova club.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix ID: 80208298 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Four young men come to the rescue of a former classmate whose family has been sucked into the clutches of a religious cult and its charismatic leader.

Year: 2017
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix ID: 81167101 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After getting arrested, a charismatic man gets pressured to work for a pair of murky police officers as an informant in order to protect his family.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix ID: 81388421 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In 1967, two brothers from Copenhagen, Denmark, wind up in an orphanage, where the headmaster's cruel tyranny slowly provokes the kids to push back.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix ID: 80124091 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a girl vanishes from a suburb near Mexico City, the personal goals of some involved in the case muddy the search. Based on a true story.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix ID: 81058498 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

During the Great Depression, a stranger with a violent past poses as a preacher and rallies farmers to mount a strike in a rural Iowa community.

Year: 2017
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix ID: 80176771 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After a devastating fire in 1897 Paris, three women find their lives upended by betrayals, deceptions and romantic turmoil. Inspired by real events.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix ID: 80213020 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When sudden tragedy forces a deputy to step into the role of governor, she faces grueling political and personal tests in order to lead her state.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix ID: 81274961 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Fighting to save his ancestors' mansion from demolition, Youssef unpacks a series of love stories that took place there with a journalist.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix ID: 81327403 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

An ardent, empathetic courtroom judge partners with a fellow rookie, a principled man of integrity, to negotiate the legal system and those they serve.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix ID: 81029971 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Facing a life sentence in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, a man becomes a lawyer to seek justice and defend others who have been wrongfully accused.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix ID: 81244448 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Four strangers — a woman on the run, a brave refugee, a driven bureaucrat and a struggling dad — intersect at an Australian immigration detention center.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.5
Netflix ID: 81206211 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A group of individuals in Istanbul transcend sociocultural boundaries and find connection as their fears and wishes intertwine.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.5
Netflix ID: 81106900 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A group of social welfare workers led by their new director tries to provide necessary aid to people struggling with various problems.

Year: 2013
IMDb: 7.5
Netflix ID: 81307527 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After going to a Halloween party, college student Luis Andrés Colmenares is found dead. Was it an accident or murder? Inspired by true events.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 7.4
Netflix ID: 80994596 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After German reunification, the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground begins a killing spree while cops fight an uphill battle to catch them.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix rating: 3.1/5
Netflix ID: 80104622 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In a town in southern Spain where racial tensions run high among the workers in its many greenhouses, a cop investigates the murder of a young woman.

Year: 2015
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix rating: 3/5
Netflix ID: 80127464 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a young aspiring filmmaker and his circle of friends grapple with family expectations, gender roles, romance and rivalry.

Year: 2014
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix ID: 81278098 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix ID: 80234304 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Policeman Tom Noack returns to his hometown to help law enforcement battle a growing drug problem, but personal entanglements complicate his mission.

Year: 2015
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix rating: 3/5
Netflix ID: 80158445 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After a fateful domestic clash, a devoted mother finds herself in prison and fighting to survive in hopes of reuniting with her daughter.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix ID: 81086462 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Reeling from tragedy, a nondescript house cleaner embarks on a murderous streak as she searches for her missing husband and reckons with old wounds.

Year: 2021
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix ID: 81195432 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Earth has frozen over and the last surviving humans live on a giant train circling the globe, struggling to coexist amid the delicate balance onboard.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7.1
Netflix ID: 80177458 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Follow one man's epic journey as he transforms from wily underage drug smuggler to one of the world's most infamous cartel leaders.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 7
Netflix ID: 80153271 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After years of segregation, two Yorkshire schools merge into one, leading to some intense culture clashes and, just maybe, some unexpected friendships.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 7
Netflix ID: 80242347 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A programming genius builds a fact-finding, truth-seeking internet portal while reckoning with trouble at home.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 7
Netflix ID: 81317085 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Two highly skilled detectives from the UK team with their US counterparts and use their code-cracking talents to investigate a series of murders.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 6.8
Netflix ID: 81092269 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A star reporter, a second-rate journalist and a man by the code name 'Healer' are brought together by a long-buried incident that hides dark truths.

Year: 2015
IMDb: 6.7
Netflix ID: 80188423 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Charismatic highwayman Jan de Lichte leads the oppressed and downtrodden in a revolt against the corrupt aristocracy of 18th-century Flanders.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 6.7
Netflix ID: 81054827 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a mysterious virus spreads throughout Montreal, an infectious disease specialist scrambles to stop its deadly path.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 6.6
Netflix ID: 81314896 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Amid upheaval, Chinese immigrants move to Singapore and encounter love, loss, and family drama in this collection of stories that spans decades.

Year: 1999
IMDb: 6.4
Netflix ID: 81309716 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Successful and wealthy, Toshimi Nito had a wonderful life. But while on trial for murdering his wife and daughter, a darker side is revealed.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 6.4
Runtime: 01:41:00
Netflix ID: 81440920 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Toprak, who lost her baby, is hired as a wet nurse for wealthy Yusuf's motherless son. Yusuf is drawn to Toprak, but also to her scheming sister.

Year: 2010
IMDb: 6.3
Netflix rating: 3.1/5
Netflix ID: 80121845 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Worlds collide when a vengeance-obsessed young woman from the other side of the tracks captures the attention of two well-off friends.

Year: 2016
IMDb: 6.3
Netflix ID: 80170690 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A mysterious classmate leads four idealistic teens in a revolt against a rising tide of nationalistic fervor, but their movement takes a dark turn.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 6.1
Netflix ID: 80218819 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Alain Delambre, unemployed and 57, is lured by an attractive job opening. But things get ugly when he realizes he’s a pawn in a cruel corporate game.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 5.9
Netflix ID: 81019037 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Imprisoned after trying to flee the East German regime in the 1980s, a woman fights to be reunited with her daughters. Based on a true story.

Year: 2007
IMDb: 5.9
Netflix ID: 81354038 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Four Ukrainian women from different walks of life move to Poland with empty wallets and pockets full of dreams to start new chapters in their lives.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 5.8
Netflix ID: 81307393 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A prominent prosecuting attorney must defend her innocence — and her life — when she's set up and sent to prison as she investigates a conspiracy.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 5.8
Netflix ID: 81244679 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A torrid affair between a passionate lowborn poet and a wealthy Moscow heiress is engulfed by class difference, criminality and, eventually, murder.

Year: 2014
IMDb: 5.6
Netflix ID: 80166481 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

At Korea's top university medical center, ideals and interests collide between a patient-centered ER doctor and the hospital's newly-appointed CEO.

Year: 2018
IMDb: 5.6
Netflix ID: 81011508 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A jobless and broke kid with a tarnished heart of gold ventures into the dirty underworld of Kabukicho, talent scouting for the cutthroat sex trade.

Year: 2007
IMDb: 5.6
Netflix ID: 81440808 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In post-World War II Hollywood, an ambitious group of aspiring actors and filmmakers will do almost anything to make their showbiz dreams come true.

Year: 2020
IMDb: 5.5
Netflix ID: 81088617 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Amidst poverty and struggle, a hardened pantsula dance leader enters a dark space and searches for redemption and salvation in his community.

Year: 2017
IMDb: 4.8
Netflix ID: 81244618 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In a near-future world where an oppressive regime segregates society, one woman skirts the system to search for the daughter taken from her years ago.

Year: 2019
IMDb: 4.6
Netflix ID: 80222951 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A young private’s assignment to capture army deserters reveals the painful reality endured by each enlistee during his compulsory call of duty.

Year: 2021
IMDb: 3.8
Netflix ID: 81280917 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In 1950s Spain, the heir to a fashion house romances a beautiful seamstress who works for the company, despite the objections of his family.

Year: 2014
Netflix rating: 4/5
Netflix ID: 80018046 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A young journalist is forced into a life of crime to save his father and family in this series based on the novel by Miguel Sáez Carral.

Year: 2016
Netflix ID: 80163890 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Three friends in a low-income neighborhood find humor and hope in their lives as they grapple with bad boyfriends and their dysfunctional families.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81190136 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a wardrobe malfunction goes viral, a bubbly live streamer struggles to navigate her classmates' cruel judgment and the small town she lives in.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81191473 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A misunderstood loner is drawn out of his shell after transferring to another high school, where he comes across new ordeals -- and first love.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81211266 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A money-hungry lawyer and a righteous rookie become an unlikely courtroom duo in this remake of the Japanese series of the same name.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81211180 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

After discovering his estranged daughter's link to mysterious murders, a forensic detective with Asperger's syndrome risks everything to solve the case.

Year: 2020
Netflix ID: 81227121 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A series of intimate encounters entangles a group of people as they face the cascading consequences of HIV transmission.

Year: 2013
Netflix ID: 81244650 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

From the 1940s to the '90s, the family of a Teochew rice merchant reckons with love, loss, sacrifice, and the struggles of relocating to Singapore.

Year: 1995
Netflix ID: 81308516 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Adopted by an Indian family during World War II, a young woman grapples with her identity while searching for her birth mother.

Year: 2010
Netflix ID: 81308666 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In 1970s Melbourne, a DJ named Boori Monty Pryor and his brother Paul navigate racial tensions and police encounters amid disco and discrimination.

Year: 2018
Netflix ID: 81334841 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Hailing from all walks of life, tenants in a big house on Tofu Street navigate work, family and love in Singapore after World War II.

Year: 1996
Netflix ID: 81309997 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

At times dark, at times disturbing, four short films explore stories of those who dare to dream and desire — and those determined to stand in their way.

Year: 2020
Netflix ID: 81341216 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A talented street dancer from Umlazi, Durban must confront her fears and deal with family objections to pursue her dancing dreams.

Year: 2021
Netflix ID: 81173658 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The bullied outcasts at prestigious Al Rawabi School for Girls plot a series of risky takedowns to get back at their tormentors.

Year: 2021
Netflix ID: 81034661 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Three women from different walks of life face challenges at work and in their personal lives as they embark on journeys of self-realization.

Year: 2021
Netflix ID: 81493147 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Struggling to earn a living in Bangkok, a man joins an emergency rescue service and realizes he must unravel a citywide conspiracy.

Year: 2021
Netflix ID: 81287826 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

An eccentric, triple board-certified virtuoso surgeon leaves a top job in Seoul and ends up at a provincial hospital, where he mentors young doctors.

Year: 2016
Netflix ID: 80998941 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The lives of a wealthy couple hiding their marital problems intersect with a group of hackers and the young women they exploit.

Year: 2017
Netflix ID: 81049707 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In feudalistic Lebanon, farmers revolt against the nobility under the leadership of a revolutionary figure who champions the oppressed.

Year: 2018
Netflix ID: 81049612 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This dramatization depicts the life -- and loves -- of Venezuelan Gen. Simón Bolívar, who helped liberate several Latin American countries from Spain.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 80220422 · Watch on Netflix

A group of women leaves Kuwait to attend university in Cairo, embarking on personal journeys filled with romance and self-discovery.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81252169 · Watch on Netflix

Seeking to help ordinary citizens receive legal aid when they need it, a principled lawyer takes an extreme path to justice.

Year: 2018
Netflix ID: 81231855 · Watch on Netflix

A single mother with a great career in the US accepts a position with a conservative corporation back in Japan, bringing her unorthodox ways with her.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81287320 · Watch on Netflix

In the office where the dead get processed for the afterlife, a young woman disputing her paperwork uncovers a stoic administrative clerk’s dark past.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81287330 · Watch on Netflix

Three young women, Irka, Marysia and Ewka, join the Polish resistance movement in Warsaw to fight against the Nazi-occupation of Poland during WWII.

Year: 2020
Netflix ID: 81307349 · Watch on Netflix

In 1960s Singapore, a young woman confronts misogyny and corruption when she takes work as a nightclub dancer after her gangster husband is imprisoned.

Year: 2015
Netflix ID: 81308444 · Watch on Netflix

As a peasant revolution for equality brews in 19th-century Joseon, two half-brothers fight for their beliefs on opposite sides of the conflict.

Year: 2019
Netflix ID: 81343898 · Watch on Netflix

In post-bubble Japan, an employee for a major bank is promoted to the position of corporate auditor, bringing his unwavering sense of justice with him.

Year: 2018
Netflix ID: 81316999 · Watch on Netflix

Amid crime and corruption, the lives of two couples intertwine as unexpected events soon reveal their dark secrets and tainted pasts.

Year: 2020
Netflix ID: 81327402 · Watch on Netflix

Four domestic helpers form a close friendship as they bond through the ups and downs of their jobs and relations with their employers.

Year: 2017
Netflix ID: 81309685 · Watch on Netflix