5 best Netflix series to get hooked this Christmas in Finland

Christmas is getting closer and many of us have reserved part of the free time to catch up on the viewing of the best series produced during this year. And we must do it fast, before the list of the contents for 2019 arrives.

This is the reason why at Foreigner.fi we have made a selection of the best series available at this moment in the Netfilx Finnish service. Of course, they all come with English subtitles. So, lovers of sofas, blankets and series marathons, pay close attention because here are our recommendations.

1. Dogs of Berlin

Imagine a corrupted police officer, with a neo-Nazi past and gambling debts, with an alcoholic wife and a mistress who has mental problems and suicidal tendencies. Then you have our antihero, Kurt Grimmer. Would you commission him to investigate a case that affects national security?

Released on December 7, Dogs of Berlin is the second German series produced by Netflix. It tells the story of a cop who tries to solve the mysterious murder of a German-Turkish football star in Berlin within the context of a crucial match between Germany and Turkey.

To make the mess even  worse, Grimmer will have to figure out how to lead the investigation along with Erol Birkan, a homosexual Turkish-born police officer who is not happy to work with someone who despises him and spends more time dealing with the disasters he leaves behind than looking for the murderers. Dogs of Berlin pictures very well the neo-Nazis still existing in the German capital city, the Turkish mafia, corrupted footballers and even football officials who manipulate the matches to make money. All of them, of course, are suspects.

2. 1983

People nostalgic for the Cold War, lovers of hellish dystopias and stories set in the countries of the former communist bloc are in luck. 1983, the first Polish series produced by Netflix, depicts the engaging case of an idealistic law student and a disgraced cop who undercover a conspiracy that started in Poland 20 years before to stop political reforms. As a result, the country’s liberation never took place and the Soviet Union continues to exist. Poland is a police state and repression is in all its areas.

Now runs the year 2003, and after decades of peace and prosperity, the leaders of the regime want to carry out a secret plan to transform the country and, at the same time, alter the lives of its inhabitants and those of the entire world. The discovery of their intentions by the protagonists could unleash a revolution, so the state rulers will do anything to keep it a secret.

3. Wanderlust

This six-episode series is ideal for the middle-aged couples who have already lived a few years together. Wanderlust is a story that could perfectly be real about love, sexual desire and how they both converge (or not) in marriage. It shows what could happen when routine takes over, sex becomes mechanical or even a boring act and orgasms are less and less frequent.

Starring Toni Collette and Steven Mackintosh, Wanderlust tells the story of Joy (a therapist specialized in relationship counselling) and Alan (an English teacher). She has lost all sexual interest for her husband, one of those typical guys who become dull in bed because they are fans of repeating the missionary position with the wife. Meanwhile, he secretly likes a colleague at his school. Of course, Joy also has her own fantasies with a random guy.

They both dream on tasting something new and tempting, and it is after being injured in a bicycle accident when Joy proposes that both should have a more adventurous sex life. She thinks it might be the best way to save their marriage. Soon, a lot of conflicts and confusions will arise to affect them and their new sexual partners.

4. Dogs

If you  ever had a dog, then you will know that when there is nothing left in your life, when your husband or wife has abandoned you, your family ignores your cries, your former partners do not want to know anything about you, friends have turned their backs and everything you thought own has vanished, your faithful four-legged friend will still remain by your side. Although both of you have to live on the streets at the mercy of hunger and cold, there is nothing like having a dog near to keep in mind that unconditional love and devotion exist.

Dogs is about all that and more. This is an emotive documentary series of six chapters that, through six intimate stories, shows the emotional bonds that form between people and dogs, regardless of the circumstances.

The series explains six amazing real stories that occurred at different parts of the world: Siria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the United States. The first one tells the story of Corine, a girl with epilepsy who has a very special relationship with Rory, a dog trained to detect seizures that will restore hope to the whole family.

In the second chapter we meet Ayham, a young Syrian refugee who lives in Berlin. From the tranquillity of the German capital, he and builds an ambitious plan to rescue his beloved husky from the chaos in which the war has plunged the city of Damascus. Dogs shows us how animals that consider their human friends all their trousseau and heritage and also how some people give the best of themselves to save their most beloved furry friends.

5. Hilda

Hilda is one of those animated series that take the fact of being a product for children very seriously. Parents also will love it because of the kindhearted character that portrays. The protagonist is an adventurous girl with blue hair, who is based on the same-named character of the graphic novels by Luke Pearson.

The action describes the adventures of this fearless child voiced by Bella Ramsey, while she travels with her mother from their home in a vast magical wilderness full of elves and giants, to the lively and noisy city of Trolberg. There she will meet new friends and fantastic creatures who are stranger and sometimes more scary and dangerous than she thought.

The best thing about Hilda is her human quality. She is the type who always acts as a mediator and solves problems efficiently whenever there is a misunderstanding.

The display of imagination at creating the rest of the characters, the strength of the narration and the animation strategies, as well as the surprising fantasy world where the plot takes place, are the best assets of this series that will delight children and also adults.