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25 Best Foreign Language Films Americans Are Missing
If you're willing to read subtitles, an entirely new world opens up.
Updated March 23, 2026 · ThumbScore Editorial
American audiences miss out on some of the greatest cinema ever made simply because of a one-inch barrier of subtitles. These 25 foreign language films have earned extraordinary audience approval worldwide — and every one of them is worth the read.
1Parasite (2019)Bong Joon-ho's genre-defying class warfare masterpiece — South Korea
2Spirited Away (2001)Miyazaki's animated fantasy — the highest-grossing Japanese film ever — Japan
3City of God (2002)A visceral epic of crime in Rio's favelas — Brazil
4Amélie (2001)Jean-Pierre Jeunet's whimsical Parisian fairy tale — France
5The Intouchables (2011)An unlikely friendship that became France's biggest comedy hit — France
6Pan's Labyrinth (2006)Del Toro's dark fairy tale set in post-Civil War Spain — Spain/Mexico
7Oldboy (2003)Park Chan-wook's revenge thriller with the most shocking twist in cinema — South Korea
8Seven Samurai (1954)Kurosawa's epic that invented the "assemble a team" genre — Japan
9Life Is Beautiful (1997)Roberto Benigni's heartbreaking Holocaust comedy-drama — Italy
10Cinema Paradiso (1988)A love letter to movies and growing up in small-town Sicily — Italy
11Train to Busan (2016)The zombie film with more heart than most dramas — South Korea
12The Hunt (2012)Mads Mikkelsen falsely accused in a small Danish town — Denmark
13A Separation (2011)Asghar Farhadi's riveting domestic drama — Iran
18Y Tu Mamá También (2001)Alfonso Cuarón's road trip that's really about Mexico itself — Mexico
19A Prophet (2009)Jacques Audiard's gripping prison crime epic — France
20Amour (2012)Michael Haneke's devastating portrait of aging and love — France/Austria
23Incendies (2010)Denis Villeneuve's gut-punch mystery across the Middle East — Canada/France
25Wild Tales (2014)Six darkly comic revenge stories — Argentina's most fun export — Argentina
Why Foreign Films Matter
As Bong Joon-ho said when Parasite won the Oscar: "Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films." This list spans 15 countries and 70 years of cinema, from Kurosawa's 1954 samurai epic to Sciamma's 2019 masterwork.
These aren't niche art-house curiosities. Many of these films were massive hits in their home countries, and all of them earned extraordinary audience approval. If you've only seen Hollywood films, you've only seen a fraction of what cinema has to offer.
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