Among the many titles new on Netflix this week — including highly anticipated originals like Inventing Anna and Tall Girl 2 — we’ve also got another horror movie to add to that uber-popular genre on the streamer.
The movie is a German-language Netflix original: The Privilege. The cast here includes Max Schimmelpfennig, who played the younger Noah in another highly regarded Netflix original (Dark, something we’ll talk more about below). Meantime, we’ve got everything you need to know about this new Netflix movie in this post. As well as key details about other new content coming to the streamer soon.
What’s new on Netflix: The Privilege
Here’s the basic plot of The Privilege. Years after his sister Anna’s death, 18-year old Finn is still haunted by nightmares. He also has demonic visions in his dreams. Per Netflix: “What his family dismisses as psychotic breakdowns due to a childhood trauma feels ever more real to him. As horrific events around him begin to escalate, he can no longer pretend that it’s all just in his head.”
Together with his best friend Lena, he sets out to uncover a secret from his past. One that also threatens to expose his family’s seemingly inconspicuous facade.
The movie will be available to stream starting Wednesday, February 9, on Netflix. And will no doubt quickly garner fans who love not only new international series on the streamer. But horror genre content, as well.
Oh, and speaking of German-language content like this? Netflix also announced on Tuesday that a huge new slate is on its way to the streamer.
Other German series and movies coming soon
The streamer says it’s doubling its budget to the equivalent of $571 million for German-language shows and movies through next year. And Netflix revealed a slew of new projects as part of this push. In addition to reiterating previously announced projects from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Among the projects in the works is the action-thriller series Kleo, about a Stasi killer in Berlin. Others include a historical series with the working title of The Empress, as well as a mystery series (1899) and revenge thriller Totenfrau.
“When it comes to story development, our top priorities are strong and local stories with authentic characters, produced to the highest quality,” said Katja Hofem, vice president of local language series at Netflix. “We want to inspire our viewers through our content and also those who are not yet in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.”
Best German-language Netflix originals
All that German-language content is part of the huge international library that continues to add new titles to Netflix. Meanwhile, what you’ll find below are some of the German originals already available to stream now on that platform that, at least for me, represents some of the best of the bunch. Which is to say, the list below is totally subjective. But if you love finding new international shows and movies to check out on Netflix, here are some of my recommendations of the most enjoyable German content I’ve found:
Billion Dollar Code: Anyone who loved Halt and Catch Fire might get easily hooked on this one. This limited series tells the story of a small German startup that claimed to have invented the technology Google would later turn into Google Earth.
Blood Red Sky: This German-language horror movie rocketed to #1 soon after its release on Netflix last year. Basically, this one is about a mother and son who end up on a hijacked airplane. She sets out to save her son, because — sorry, bad guys — she’s also a vampiric monster.
Freaks — You’re One of Us: There is, believe it or not, still fresh narrative ground to explore in the superhero genre. In this movie, a young woman who works as a fry cook discovers by accident that she has latent superpowers. “I can throw people through the air! That’s not normal.”
Dark: If you know anyone who’s seen this Netflix series with a cult-following, they’ve probably already tried to strongarm you into checking this one out. Unfortunately, this is a one-of-a-kind series that really defies a 1- or 2-sentence summation. It basically wraps time travel, murder, and love into one mind-blowing package. The point of which (I think) is that love transcends place and time.
How to sell drugs online fast: Netflix’s description of this 3-season series is as follows. “To win back his ex-girlfriend, a nerdy teen starts selling ecstasy online out of his bedroom — and becomes one of Europe’s biggest dealers.”
