20 Best Foreign Movies on Peacock Right Now

20 Best Foreign Movies on Peacock Right Now

January 23, 2025

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It won’t be a surprise to hear that Peacock is home to plenty of American films and shows. It’s the streaming service of an American media conglomerate, it holds plenty of America’s late night shows and sitcoms, and its parent company Comcast also owns notable film companies like Dreamworks, Focus Features, and Universal Pictures.

That being said, viewers might be surprised that the streamer actually has some underrated films coming from around the world. These hidden gems might not come up top with the algorithm, but we’ve listed the ones that are worth a watch, all the same.

11. Baraka (1992)

7.6

Genres

Documentary, Drama

Director

Ron Fricke

Actors

Patrick Disanto

Moods

Challenging, Original, Raw

Slow, contemplative, but captivating, Baraka uses no narration, dialogue, or text to connect its images. The documentary stitches together shots with different subjects from different locations around the world. At first, it seems very peaceful—gorgeous, high-definition shots of nature paired with a soothing, resonant score that lulls you into hypnosis—but as the film progresses, director and cinematographer Ron Fricke presents more scenes with people, from the cities to the countryside, to places rarely documented on film. Depending on how you look at it, Baraka will either feel like just a compilation of screensavers or a profound meditation on how intrinsically connected everything is. It’s totally breathtaking either way.

12. Let the Right One In (2008)

7.5

Genres

Drama, Horror

Director

Tomas Alfredson

Actors

Anders T. Peedu, Henrik Dahl, Ika Nord, Johan Sömnes

Moods

Raw, Slow

Somehow an art house film, horror, and romance all in one, Let the Right One In explores the boundaries of its genres with unprecedented finesse, and offers a stunning alternative for those disappointed with recent vampire love stories. From its haunting minimalist imagery to its incredible score, it is persistently beautiful. The film follows twelve-year-old Oskar and Eli, drawing on numerous aspects of traditional undead lore, and still manages an impressive feat in feeling entirely fresh and devoid of cliche. Those in search of a terrifying movie might need to look elsewhere, but if what you’re looking for is simply a great watch, don’t pass this one up.

13. The Wailing (2016)

7.5

Genres

Horror, Mystery

Director

Hong-jin Na, Na Hong-jin

Actors

Bae Yong-geun, Cho Han-cheul, Chun Woo-hee, Do-won Kwak

Moods

Discussion-sparking, Dramatic, Mind-blowing

In rural Korea a policeman starts to investigate peculiar and violent events that most of the people in his village attribute to the arrival of a new Japanese resident. As the occurrences keep multiplying, and different perspectives in the film are shown, you start to lose touch with reality in the face of what can only be described as genius film-making. As critic Jada Yuan puts it, the film operates on a level “that makes most American cinema seem clunky and unimaginative”. For this reason, and while The Wailing is a true horror flick with a great premise, it’s also more than just that: it boosts a mind-boggling, interesting plot that will have you thinking about it long after the credits roll. Protip: grab the person next to you and make them watch this movie with you so you can have someone to discuss it with after!

14. Long Way North (2015)

7.5

Genres

Adventure, Animation, Drama

Director

Rémi Chayé

Actors

Audrey Sablé, Boris Rehlinger, Bruno Magne, Christa Théret

Moods

Lovely, Sunday, Warm

There isn’t a single moment of unnecessarily exaggerated emotion or comedy in this French-Danish animated film, which may keep its world very small compared to its peers, but it portrays everything with arguably more depth and beauty. Long Way North moves with a stately pace, giving it more dramatic heft and allowing us to take in all of the film’s painterly surfaces and soft silhouettes. But it’s not just the art style that sets the film apart; it also avoids what we expect from a traditional adventure, keeping the most important character beats private and internal. This may make the movie feel a little more distant than it should be, but the feeling that it leaves you with is undeniable—a sense that everything is connected, and those who are lost will always find a way home.

15. Breathe (2014)

7.4

Genres

Drama

Director

Female director, Julien Lambroschini

Actors

Alejandro Albarracin, Anne Marivin, Camille Claris, Carole Franck

Moods

Thrilling, Touching

Mélanie Laurent both directed and wrote this, her fifth movie.

She offers an impressive display of deft film-making and honest, insightful storytelling. Charlie is a teenage high school student, there’s seemingly nothing unusual about her. When Sarah, a Nigerian girl, joins her school, they quickly form a transformative friendship.

Breathe sometimes veers to darkness, which helps to make its portrayal of the bond between two teenagers genuine, and unexpectedly fun.

16. In This Corner of the World (2016)

7.2

Genres

Animation, Drama, Family

Director

Sunao Katabuchi

Actors

Asuka Ohgame, Barbara Goodson, Christine Marie Cabanos, Daishi Kajita

Moods

Depressing, Dramatic, Feel-Good

Prior to being defined by that fateful bombing in 1945, Hiroshima was like any other city outside of Tokyo; small but full, quiet but busy, and in the midst of a slow-but-sure journey to modernization. We experience the rich and intimate details of this life through the kind-hearted Suzu, who herself is stuck between the throes of old and new. She is an ambitious artist but also a dedicated wife; a war-wearied survivor and a hopeful cheerleader.

Set before, during, and after the Second World War, the film starts off charmingly mundane at first, but it quickly gives way to inevitable grief in the second half. One stark tragedy follows another as it becomes increasingly clear how much we lose our humanity in war.

In This Corner of the World is the rare film outside of the Hayao Miyazaki canon that captures the latter’s heart for detail while still being graciously its own.

17. Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (2013)

7.2

Genres

Action, Comedy, Drama

Director

Sion Sono

Actors

Akaji Maro, Akihiro Kitamura, Akira Yamamoto, Daisuke Kuroda

Moods

Action-packed, Challenging, Character-driven

Sure, it takes a special type of crazy to try to make it in the movies, especially if you’ve been at it for ten years without any sort of premiere, but the strangely persistent four-man production of Why Don’t You Play in Hell? takes this to even crazier heights, involving a yakuza gang war and potentially their lives. Writer-director Sion Sono infuses his signature gore with much more playful comedy, slinging together chaotic action scenes through the pure power of cool, and the entire roster’s enthusiasm for cinema is just so infectious, it’s compelling to watch, even when the plotlines don’t fully mesh well. Why Don’t You Play in Hell? is such a fun tribute to gritty action filmmaking.

18. The Call (2020)

7.1

Genres

Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Director

Lee Chung-hyun

Actors

EL, Jeon Jong-seo, Jo Kyung-sook, Jun Jong-seo

A woman loses her phone on her way back to her countryside childhood home. Once there, she connects an old landline in hopes of finding her lost mobile, only to start receiving weird calls that seem to be from 20 years ago.

On the other side of the receiver is a girl who seems to be in danger. The Call is thrilling, sometimes scary, but also brilliantly shot, and its plot is so expertly woven. It’s a proper movie-night movie.

19. Esteros (2016)

7.0

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Papu Curotto

Actors

Blas Finardi Niz, Esteban Masturini, Felipe Titto, Ignacio Rogers

Moods

Romantic

Esteros revolves around the childhood friends Matías and Jerónimo, who reach adolescence and experience sexual attraction to each other before being separated by circumstance. When they meet again ten years later, they explore their long-repressed feelings for each other. 

This moving and emotionally satisfying love story is shot against the backdrop of the Argentinian countryside whose glories are beautifully captured throughout the movie. The performance of the two leads is excellent and the chemistry between them is almost palpable. 

20. The Great Battle (2018)

7.0

Genres

Action, History, War

Director

Kim Kwang-shik, Kim Kwang-sik

Actors

Bae Seong-woo, Bae Sung-woo, Cha Eun-woo, Eom Tae-goo

Moods

Action-packed, Character-driven, Dramatic

While Hollywood still makes some films in this genre, there are less historical epics being released, in part due to cost, but also in part due to having had so many, ever since the start of the medium. However, there are some historical events that we rarely see on film, and one of them is The Great Battle. Set before the formation of a united Korea, the film is a classic standoff against a larger army, that has all the swordfighting and armies we’ve come to expect, but it’s also grounded by the dynamic between a young warrior sent to assassinate, and the hardened, brilliant commander whose leadership kept the troops protected. While there are moments that definitely eludes historical accuracy, and there are some subplots that distract from the main conflict, The Great Battle is a fairly entertaining historical epic to watch, especially when focused on the action-packed clashes and the spectacular warfare.

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