With raves from The Wall Street Journal for several series, TIME for Limbo, and today’s NPR Fresh Air (“Imagine if Logan Roy from Succession had to solve a murder… Every single performance is excellent”) for Face to Face, as well as prestigious Scandi Emmy awards equivalents for Pernille, please see why Viaplay series are worth your time.
From relatable, award-winning comedies and heart-wrenchingly realistic dramas to intense and innovative crime thrillers and riveting documentaries, Viaplay has a diverse mix of must-see foreign series that North American audiences are sure to enjoy. With a lighter fall season than usual, consumers are looking to discover new content, and Viaplay delivers, including several short binges with just 25-30 minute episodes.
Winner Best TV Drama and Best Actor at the Gullruten awards (Norwegian Emmy equivalent)
Pernille, Season 3 (Premieres Tomorrow/Thursday): One of television’s best and most relatable dramedies on parenting and getting through everyday life, this award-winning Norwegian series is a great binge at under 30 minutes per episode. Showing humor in everyday chaos, the raw series follows single mother Pernille Middelthon as she juggles three children, her elderly father, and all the children she meets in her job at the child welfare service. But when will she prioritize herself? All three seasons can easily be watched on Viaplay’s Screeners page.
Available to Binge Now:
Today’s NPR’s Fresh Air review calls the series:
“Well-oiled thriller that hooked (me) from beginning to end… a real humdinger”
“Imagine if Logan Roy from Succession had to solve a murder.”
“Every single performance is excellent”
Face to Face, Season 1-3: Reimagining the genre’s possibilities with unforgettable performances and cinematography, the third and final season of the innovative interrogation drama stars award-winning Nordic actors Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn in Stars Wars’ Ahsoka, Netflix’s The Witcher, House of Cards), Evin Ahmad (Netflix’s Who is Erin Carter?), and Pilou Asbaek (Game of Thrones). Each episode is a tour-de-force for Lars and the finest Nordic actors. Eight 25-minute episodes per season. The new standalone season follows Holger Lang (Mikkelsen), head of the multi-billion company Lang Enterprises, as confronts potential suspects of murdering his protégé. Danish & Swedish w/English subtitles.
“Thoroughly engrossing” (The Wall Street Journal) and “One of those rare series you simply cannot take your eyes off of… a rarely explored world filled with fascinating characters… Bold, gripping, and compelling, it’s an exceptional series” (Movieweb)
Fenris: Atmospheric crime drama revolves around mysterious disappearances in a remote, wolf-inhabited forest.
TIME.com highlights it as one of the “Best New TV Shows of August” and says it features “three great central performances”
Nominated for ‘TV Drama of the Year’ and ‘Female Lead of the Year’ at “Swedish Emmys”
Limbo: Sofia Helin (The Bridge) and Rakel Wärmländer in heart-wrenching drama about friendship and motherhood, which follows three close friends trying to cope with a serious car accident involving all their sons.
WINNER: Young Drama Series of the Year, 2023 “Swedish Emmys” awarded to “a series that fearlessly captures the struggles of its characters, refusing predictability.”
Thunder in my Heart, S1&2: 22-year-old Sigrid (Best Actress winner Amy Deasismont) and her group of friends struggle as they come of age and try to meet the unexpected demands of adult life while coming to terms with their own identities, pasts, and passions. Trailer
“Vicious and funny” (The New York Times)
The Architect: Innovative dystopian dramedy stars Eili Harboe (Succession’s Final Season). Set against a backdrop of stylish Oslo architecture and Scandinavian design, the series is equal parts bleak and absurd, with timely and incisive observations about privilege, connection, and the global housing crisis. Trailer
“A refreshingly human police force… (led by) the arresting Aldís Amah Hamilton… The cast overall is first-rate” (The Wall Street Journal)
Black Sands: Riveting Icelandic noir features beautiful cinematography around Iceland’s famous black sands. The dark crime drama follows a troubled police officer forced back to her hometown. Confronting her abusive mother is unavoidable, but the discovery of a body changes everything as she soon discovers a serial killer has been operating for years, disguising murders as accidents.
“Eminently bingeable” (EDGE) and “a must-watch this Pride Month” (Pink News)
One of the Boys: Beautifully shot in the Scandinavian countryside, the LGBTQ+ coming of age drama explores themes of masculinity, queerness, and sexuality with poetic sensitivity as socially awkward Lau (Jonathan Meinert Pedersen) goes on the traditional “Man Camp” in the hopes of fitting into the hypermasculine culture of his small Danish town, but finds himself developing feelings for a charming newcomer on the trip. Trailer
The Beach Hotel S1 and S2 premieres Sept. 28: Hit Swedish soap opera follows the rival Grip and Gyllenmark families as shocking secrets, intricate murders, and unbreakable bonds collide in the picturesque coastal town of Saltsjövik.
“Pure pleasure” (The Wall Street Journal)
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled: The Cannes selected docuseries offers an intimate, star-studded portrait of one of the greatest European actresses of all-time. Trailer
Please watch Viaplay series and see what you’ve been missing.
About Viaplay:
Considered “Netflix’s biggest European competitor” (Variety), Nordic streaming service Viaplay is available in the US and CA with thousands of hours of premium foreign content. Viaplay features more exclusive, original series than any other specialized streamer; all with first-rate production values, incredible scenery, and edge-of-your-seat storylines. Viaplay is a foremost producer of high-quality and psychologically penetrating series and films – from atmospheric and suspenseful crime dramas, provocative and stylish young adult series, realistic comedies, true crime series, or riveting documentaries. The streamer is widely available on Android/Apple apps, Roku, Chromecast, Smart TVs and more for only $5.99 a month. All titles are available in their original language with English subtitles.