30 Best Brazilian TV Series of Recent Years

About 20 years ago, the first Brazilian soap operas appeared on our TV screens. They were naïve and long-winded, but full of genuine love and passion. Later, after acquaintance with the products of Turkish and Asian cinema, Latin American soap operas have been forgotten. But now they are making a triumphant comeback! Today the Brazilian telenovela is not banal. It’s lush and colorful, every element is carefully thought out and the acting is flawless.

Sob Pressão

• Rating IMDB – 8.6
• Genre: Thriller, drama
• Production Brazil / 2017
• Directed by Mini Curti, Andrusha Waddington
• Cast: Julio Andrade, Josie Antello, Donata Augusto, Jacques Berraqueru, Tatsu Carvalho, Talita Castro, Alexander David, Sini Duarte, Marjorie Estiano, Rodrigo Ferrarini

A dramatic series about the everyday life of doctors and nurses in the emergency room of a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro. In the chaos of the emergency room, where every patient has a real drama behind him, two talented doctors try to find a balance between personal conflicts and the desire to save human lives. The story centers on Evando Moreiro, chief surgeon and life skeptic, and Carolina Almeida, a vascular surgeon seeking answers and salvation in faith.

The medical series is based on the 2016 film of the same name and Marcio Maranhao’s book Sob Pressao: A Rotina de Guerra de Um Medico Brasileiro.

O Mecanismo

• Rating IMDB – 8.0
• Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
• Production Brazil / 2018
• Directed by Felipe Prado, José Padilla, Marcus Prado
• Cast: Selton Melu, Carolina Abras, Alessandra Colazzanti, Enrique Diaz, Jonathan Haagensen, Leonardo Medeiros, Otto Junior, Susana Ribeiro, Antonio Saboya, Lee Taylor

A team of detectives led by the incorruptible Marco Ruffo begins investigating a complex criminal case. In the course of the investigation, the police discover a major corruption scheme involving government officials. But the investigation drags on and becomes dangerous even for those on the side of the law.

The serial detective story is based on real events. A huge corruption scandal involving government officials, top managers of the Petrobras oil company and construction companies led to a political crisis and financial problems in the world’s seventh largest economy. Fifty active federal public servants, including the country’s former president, are under investigation.

A Divisão

• Rating IMDB – 7.9
• Genre: Action, thriller, drama, crime
• Production Brazil / 2019
• Directed by Rodrigo Monte, Vicente Amorim
• Cast: Erome Cordeiro, Silvio Guindani, Natalia Lage, Telmo Fernandez, Marcus Palmeira, Hanna Romanazzi, Vanessa Gerbelli, Dalton Vig, Osvaldo Mil, Marcelo Gonçalves

The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is shaken by numerous kidnappings for ransom. To fight the rampant crime, the police organize a special unit. At the center of the plot is the investigation into the kidnapping of the 20-year-old daughter of a prominent official running for governor. But the unit itself is torn by internal conflicts, as there are werewolves in uniform among the police.

Express kidnapping was one of the most common crimes in Brazil between 1999 and 2003. The widest segments of the population were involved, wanting to earn extra money. For example, in 2012, a gang of blondes was arrested: well-dressed girls met wealthy women in large shopping malls and then kidnapped them.

Cidade Invisível

• Rating IMDB – 7.2
• Genre: Fantasy, thriller, drama, crime, detective
• Production Brazil / 2021
• Directed by Luis Carone, Julia Pacheco Jordao
• Cast: Marco Pigossi, Alessandra Negrini, Giulia Conrad, Jessica Kors, Vitor Sparapani, Wesley Guimarães, Fabio Lago, Taina Medina, Samuel de Assis, Taya Perez

Eric is an environmental police officer who recently lost his wife and is single-handedly raising his daughter Luna. His late wife was an anthropologist and died in a fire near a village where a development was about to begin. Eric believes his wife was murdered, but the police have closed the case, ruling the woman’s death an accident. The man begins his own investigation and discovers an entire world inhabited by mythical creatures invisible to others.

One of the creators of the fantastic series with elements of detective and Brazilian legends was Carlos Saldanha, who is also the author of the famous animated franchise Ice Age.

O Negócio

• Rating IMDB – 8.0
• Genre: Drama, comedy
• Production Brazil / 2013
• Directed by Michel Tikhmiroff, Giulia Pacheco Jordau
• Cast: Rafaela Mandelli, Juliana Schalch, Michel Batista, João Gabriel Vasconcellos, Gabriel Godoy, Guilherme Weber, Eduardo Semirian, Einat Falbel, Jonas Oliva, Alyn Jones

Put the oldest profession on the rails of modern marketing? No problem. Karin, 30 years old, is a premium escort. Together with like-minded women, she organizes Blue Ocean, a firm where body trade is organized according to all the rules of big business. Each episode of the project describes a new marketing technique used by Karin.

The creators were very careful in selecting the main characters. Since the images were written to the smallest detail, the candidates had not only to conform to a certain type, but also have the right timbre of the voice.

A Regra do Jogo

• Rating IMDB – 6.7
• Genre: Thriller, drama, comedy, crime, detective
• Production Brazil / 2015
• Directed by Amora Mautner
• Cast: Caua Raymond, Susana Vieira, Cassia Kiss Magro, Tony Ramos, Juliano Cazarre, Letizia Lima, Roberta Rodriguez, Eduardo Moscovish, Marco Pigossi, José de Abreu

The action of the series with a dashingly twisted plot takes place around a man named Romero Romulo. A former deputy, Romero is now involved in the rehabilitation of prisoners. But that’s only on the surface. In fact, Romero is a member of a criminal gang that holds the whole of Rio in fear. Two women vie for the heart of the charismatic and lonely man: the young and innocent Toya and the con artist Athena.

As a rule, for the international market the telenovelas are remade. For example, The Game Rule in the original contains 167 episodes, but a 140-episode version was released for worldwide distribution.

Ligações Perigosas

• Rating IMDB – 9.0
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2016
• Directed by Vinicius Coimbra, Denish Saraceni
• Cast: Patricia Pillar, Selton Melu, Marjorie Estiano, Gesuite Barbosa, Alice Wegmann, Leopoldo Pascheko, Lavinia Panunzio, Danilo Grangeia, Arasi Balabanian, Darwin del Fabro

Early 20th century. Brazil. A young and innocent graduate of a Catholic convent, Cecilia Mata Medeiros, is to become the wife of the influential Eitor Damasceno at her mother’s insistence. This news displeases Damasceno’s mistress, Señora Isabela Avila de Alencar. The woman devises a cunning plan. The naive Cecilia is to be seduced by Augusto de Valmont, Isabel’s famous charmer and friend.

A Latin American version of the world-famous novel Dangerous Liaisons by the French writer Choderlos de Laclos.

Justiça

• Rating IMDB – 9.0
• Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
• Production Brazil / 2016
• Directed by José Luis Villamarim
• Cast: Adriana Esteves, António Calloni, Camila Mardila, Cassio Gabus Mendez, Kaua Raymond, Deborah Block, Drica Moraes, Enrique Diaz, Jessica Ellen

Four human dramas, four protagonists demanding justice. A mother who protects her child from an aggressive police dog, a jealous man who kills his girlfriend, a teenager caught with drugs, and a loving spouse who commits a crime for love are all imprisoned at the same time. How will their lives develop after their imprisonment? Will they be able to return to normal life?

Everyone in Brazil watches soap operas. Thus, half of the country’s 210 million people watch at least one telenovela a day.

Carcereiros

• Rating IMDB — 7.5
• Genre: Drama
• Production Brazil / 2017
• Directed by José Eduardo Belmonte, Fernando Grostein Andrade
• Cast: Rodrigo Lombardi, Tony Tornado, Jean Luis Amorim, Lorinelson Vladmir, Nina di Oliveira, Togun, Diogo Salesh, Maria Clara Spinelli, Talita Koling, Samantha Sshmutsh

Adriano, despite his university degree in history, decided to continue the family tradition and works as a prison guard. In his hands are human destinies and every day he faces difficult human problems, conflicts, disputes and threats.

But Adriano shows humanity and tries to negotiate with prisoners, preferring words to violence. In the prison where the man works, the situation is tense because of two warring factions, and at home there is an irreconcilable war between his teenage daughter and Adriano’s new wife.

The main role was created especially for the Brazilian actor Domingas Montagner, but the actor drowned during the filming of the series Old Man Shiku. After the tragic event, the role was offered to Rodrigo Lombardi.

Verdades Secretas

• Rating IMDB – 8.0
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2015
• Directed by Mauro Mendonça Filho, André Barroche, André Felipe Binder
• Cast: Reinaldo Gianecchini, Camila Queiroz, Marieta Severo, Rodrigo Lombardi, Drica Moraes, Rainer Cadeti, Agata Moreira, Grazi Massafera, Guillermina Ginley, Gabriel Leone

After her parents’ divorce, the young and naive Arlette moves to São Paulo, where she dreams of building a career as a model. The beautiful 16-year-old girl is immediately spotted by one of the companies. But Arlette does not end up in the modeling business, but in an elite escort agency. The girl is given a new name Angel, and soon on the next order she meets charming millionaire Alex.

One of the best Brazilian series. Secret Truths has become a cult project in Brazil. On the wave of success, the creators planned to release a second season back in 2019, but its release was prevented by the coronavirus epidemic. The world premiere of the continuation of the story of the relationship between Arlette-Angel and Alex took place on October 21, 2021.

Irmandade

• Rating IMDB – 7.5
• Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
• Production Brazil / 2019
• Directed by Pedro Morelli, Ali Muritiba, Gustavo Bonafé
• Cast: Naruna Costa, Danilo Grangueia, Hermila Guedes, Wesley Guimarães, Seu Jorge, Lee Taylor, Renato de Castro Freitas, Washington Lins, Pedro Wagner, Luis Bertazzo

The main and most beloved person in Cristina Ferreira’s childhood was her older brother Edson. But since some time their paths have diverged. Cristina became a successful lawyer and her brother became a criminal. Edson is incarcerated, where he has become the leader of a criminal gang called the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood fights for better treatment in the Mousetrap prison, much to the annoyance of the administration. Christine is forced to infiltrate the gang and become a police informant.

One of the worst prisons in the world was the Brazilian institution of Carandiro, São Paulo, which was closed in 2002. One in five inmates was infected with HIV, and the cells were unhygienic, violent, and completely lawless, with a shortage of guards.

Avenida Brasil

• Rating IMDB – 8.2
• Genre: Drama, melodrama, detective
• Production Brazil / 2012
• Directed by Andre Camara, Gustavo Fernandez, Paolo Silvestrini
• Cast: Murilo Benicio, Deborah Falabella, Adriana Esteves, Caua Raymond, Alexandre Borges, Vera Holtz, José de Abreu, Natalia Dill, Isis Valverde, Eloise Perisse

What are you willing to do for justice? The girl Nina lives only with the thought of revenge on her stepmother Carmine for the broken fate and death of her father. Once upon a time, the man was hit by a car driven by the famous soccer player Jorge Araujo. Carmiña, playing the poor widow and victim of circumstances, forces Jorge to marry herself. And the little Nina is thrown … into a garbage dump.

Prospecto Brasil is listed in Forbes magazine as a phenomenon of world television. A profit of R$2 billion made the telenovela the most profitable of all Latin American serials. The advertisers were ready to pay 400 thousand dollars for a 30 second commercial during the project.

Totalmente Demais

• Rating IMDB – 6.9
• Genre: Drama, melodrama, comedy
• Production Brazil / 2015
• Directed by Luis Enrique Rios
• Cast: Fabio Assunson, Leona Cavalli, Sergio Mallheiros, Marina Rui Barbosa, Humberto Martins, Juliana Paez, Juliana Paiva, Vivian Pajmanter, Paolo Rocha, Felipe Simas

Elisa, 18, was forced to flee her home after being molested by her stepfather. In her first days in Rio de Janeiro, the girl was robbed and began working in bars as a singer. In one of these bars, Elisa met Arthur, the owner of a fashion agency. The young man is ambitious and confident that he can make a successful model out of any girl. He makes a bet with his buddies and starts to turn the modest singer into a real star.

The Brazilian romcom is based on Bernard Shaw’s famous play Pygmalion.

Amores Roubados

• Rating IMDB – 8.0
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2014
• Directed by José Luis Villamarim
• Cast: Murilo Benicio, Patricia Pillar, Caua Raymond, Isis Valverde, Osmar Prado, Dira Pais, Antonio Fabio, Tieri Tremoros, Claudio Jaborandi

The young heartthrob Leandro has no shortage of rich married ladies. Once upon a time a fortune-teller predicted that he would get any woman he wanted, but he should not fall in love himself. At first he had an affair with Celeste, the wife of the mango king. But when he met Isabel, the boss’s wife, he could not resist and became her secret lover. But what Leandro was certainly not prepared for was the fact that he would truly fall in love with Isabel’s daughter, Antonia.

In 2020, the streaming platform Netflix released a remake of the original telenovela called Playing with Fire, which moved the action from a Brazilian province to a Colombian coffee plantation.

O Tempo Não Para

• Rating IMDB – 7.2
• Genre: Fantasy, drama, melodrama, comedy
• Production Brazil / 2018
• Directed by Leonardo Nogueira
• Cast: Rafaela Mandelli, Cleo Pires, Christiane Torloni, Felipe Simas, Milton Gonçalves, Lucy Ramos, Eva Wilma, Giuliana Paiva, Edson Celulari, Nicholas Prattes

Early 19th century. The family of wealthy industrialist Sabino Machada takes the Albatross cruise ship out to sea. Suddenly, the Albatross lost its course and collided with an iceberg. Most of the passengers died, but twenty people were trapped inside the block of ice in a cryogenic sleep.

150 years later, the iceberg was carried by a warm current to Brazilian shores, where it was found by surfer Samuca. The bodies of the travelers were recovered and brought back to life with the help of modern medicine. How will they adapt to reality now, and will Samuka be able to forget the beautiful girl whose face he saw in the thickness of the ice?

The slogan of the sci-fi multi-part project: What if you came from the past?

Amor à Vida

• Rating IMDB – 6.8
• Genre: Horror, drama, melodrama, comedy, crime, detective, family
• Production Brazil / 2013
• Directed by André Barroche, Andre Felipe Binder, Mauro Mendonsa Filho
• Cast: Paola Oliveira, Melvino Salvador, Juliano Cazarre, Matheus Solano, Barbara Paz, Leona Cavalli, Anderson Di Rizzi, Carolina Casting, Josie Antello, Marcelo Flores

Felix, son of the clinic owner Cesar, is willing to do whatever it takes to get his parents’ inheritance. He intrigues the family with his daughter, Paloma, who refuses to continue the family business and has an affair with a hippie named Niño. Felix is not satisfied with that and kidnaps Paloma’s newborn daughter. The unprincipled young man is not the least bit interested in his own sister’s feelings.

The villain Felix captured the love of the audience from the very first episodes, and the series even began to be called Felix’s telenovela. The success of the charismatic gay character was so great that the creators of the project shifted the main focus from the main heterosexual couple to him.

The project became the first Latin American series to show the first passionate kiss between two men.

Bom Dia, Verônica

• Rating IMDB – 7.6
• Genre: Detective, crime, thriller
• Production Brazil / 2020
• Directed by Rog de Souza, José Enrique Fonseca, Isabelle Jaguaribe
• Cast: Taina Muller, Camila Morgado, Eduardo Moscovish, Antonio Grassi, Paolo Cesar Melu, Silviu Guindani, Elisa Volpato, Alice Valverde, DJ Amorim, Adriano Gharib

Veronica Torres works for the police and investigates serious crimes in São Paulo on a daily basis. One day she witnesses the suicide of a woman and tries to understand her motives. The investigation leads Veronica to two more cases, written off by her colleagues into the archives. At the same time, the woman begins to receive anonymous calls in which a stranger begs for her help.

In Brazil, soap operas and soccer matches are never the same time, because these are the two main family entertainment for ordinary Brazilians. The men have to understand all the intricacies of soap opera plots, and the women have to understand soccer.

Dupla Identidade

• Rating IMDB – 7.5
• Genre: Thriller, drama, crime, detective
• Production Brazil / 2014
• Directed by Mauro Mendonza Filho, René Sampeio
• Cast: Bruno Galiassu, Luana Piovani, Deborah Falabella, Marcelo Novaes, Marisa Orth, Marcio Erlich, Igor Angelcorte, Dedina Bernardelli, Palat Calucha, Karin Camargo

A young woman, Rae, is raising her daughter alone and finally becomes happy when fate sets her up with the perfect man. Edou is a decent and handsome young man who works as a confidant of a senator and genuinely loves Rae and her young daughter. Rae is so blinded by her feelings that she has no idea about the other, secret side of her beloved’s personality. Ed is a serial maniac who ruthlessly murders defenseless women.

The first Brazilian heavy metal band, Sepultura, took part in writing the soundtracks for the multi-part detective series. The band is known worldwide and has sold 3 million records in the United States and over 20 million records worldwide.

Gabriela

• Rating IMDB – 8.0
• Genre: Drama, melodrama, comedy
• Production Brazil / 2012
• Directed by André Barroche, André Felipe Binder, Noah Bressane
• Cast: Juliana Paez, Humberto Martins, Leona Cavalli, Ildi Silva, Maite Proenza, Marcelo Cerrado, Yveti Sangalu, Jerou Camilou, Luisa Valdetaro, Anderson Di Rizzi

The twenties of the last century. A terrible drought broke out in Brazil, forcing crowds of settlers to flee south in search of a better life. Among them is Gabriela, a mulatto who lost her parents as a child. Nasib Saad, a Syrian, owns the bar Vesuvius in the main square of Illeus, where Gabriela decides to settle. Nasib hires her to work in the cafe and immediately falls in love with the girl with cinnamon skin.

The multiseries is based on the novel by Brazilian writer Georges Amado Gabriel, cinnamon and cloves.

Os Dias Eram Assim

• Rating IMDB — 7.5
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2017
• Directed by Carlos Araujo
• Cast: Caio Blat, Leticia Braga, António Calloni, Maria Casadevall, Alfredo Castro, Sophie Charlotte, Iria Cointru, Julia Dalavia, Daniel de Oliveira, Mauricio Destri

Brazil becomes world soccer champion. During the festive euphoria young Renato and Alici meet. Renato is a young doctor from a poor family, and Alici is the daughter of wealthy parents. The girl’s father supports the military dictatorship and wants Alicie to marry his assistant Vitor. The jealous Vitor falsely accuses Renato of subversion, after which the young doctor is forced to leave his native country for many years.

The period from 1964 to 1985 is known as the Third Brazilian Republic. Power in the country was seized by the military, who ruled the country for 21 years. The period was characterized by numerous repressions and the prohibition of political parties and freedoms.

Babilônia

• Rating IMDB – 6.1
• Genre: Drama
• Production Brazil / 2015
• Directed by Dennis Carvalho, Maria de Medicis, Luisa Lima
• Cast: Gloria Pires, Adriana Esteves, Camila Pitanga, Gabriel Braga Nunez, Cassio Gabus Mendez, Maria Clara Geiros, Virginia Rosa, Natalia Timberg, Fernanda Montenegro, Bruno Galiassu

Real passions boil over in Lem, a middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. The story centers on the fates of three Brazilian women: Regina, Beatriz and Ines. Regina becomes pregnant by a married suitor and faces a choice: keep the child or continue her education.

And ex-girlfriends Beatrice and Inez are busy figuring things out. The fatal and ruthless Bia has tricked a wealthy businessman into marrying her, but she is not squeamish about having affairs on the side. Ines, who has tracked her down, blackmails her former girlfriend.

The release of the multi-episode saga was marred by scandal. The first episode showed a passionate lesbian kiss between two elderly women, which shocked the conservative Brazilian public.

Boogie Oogie

• Rating IMDB – 7.0
• Genre: Drama, melodrama, music
• Production Brazil / 2014
• Directed by Gustavo Fernandez, Ricardo Waddington
• Cast: Alex Cesario, Kaka Amaral, Junno Andrade, Maria João Bastos, Raisa Batista, Fernando Belo, Bianca Bean, Fabricio Boliveira, Laura Cardoso, Kaku Ciocler

Twenty years ago, the resentful and abandoned mistress of businessman Fernando replaced his newborn daughter. Fernando and his wife Carlota raised the girl Victoria, a stranger by blood, in luxury and wealth, while their own daughter Sandra was brought up in a poor family of a simple military man. And now, many years later, the life lines of the girls will cross again. In a terrible accident, Sandra’s fiancé saves Victoria’s lover at the cost of his own life.

The telenovela gets its name from the nightclub featured in the story. Boogie-woogie is a dance that emerged in Europe in the 1940s. In the past, it was called a style of playing the piano, when the left hand of the pianist almost never moved on the keyboard, creating the effect of two musicians playing at the same time.

Sintonia

• Rating IMDB – 6.6
• Genre: Drama, crime, music
• Production Brazil / 2019
• Directed by Johnny Araujo, Conzilla, Daniela Carvalho
• Cast: Christian Maleiros, Joao Pedro Carvalho, Bruna Mascarenhas, Jefferson Silverio, Giulia Yamaguchi, Vinicius de Oliveira, Yumari Morales, Lorena Jorge, Dani Nefussi, Fernanda Viakava

Friends Nando, Rita and Doni want to leave behind a life in the favela, become famous and earn money for a luxurious life. They want to become famous through music, because Doni is a novice funk singer. But to become famous, they need a lot of money, which the young people earn from drugs.

The characters in the crime drama write music in the funk paulista style, which emerged in São Paulo in 2008. In their compositions, the musicians of this genre sing about fancy cars, femmes fatales, elite alcohol and their desire to escape from a life of poverty. One of the creators of funk paulista is the director of the film, Konrad Dantas, better known by his stage name KondZilla.

Onisciente

• Rating IMDB — 6.5
• Genre: Fantasy, thriller, drama
• Production Brazil / 2020
• Directed by Julia Pacheco Jordao, Isabelle Valiante
• Cast: Carla Sall, Sandra Corveloni, Jonathan Haagensen, Guillermo Prates, Luana Tanaka, Marcello Airoldi, Marc Antonio Pamiou, Bruno Lourenço, Belize Pombal, Fernanda Viakava

São Paulo in the not-too-distant future. The world has changed, and total human surveillance has become an integral part of life in big cities. Every inhabitant of the metropolis is watched relentlessly by a small drone of the company “Omniscient” and takes action when illegal actions are committed. A young girl, Nina, finds her father murdered, but the crime is not recorded by the company. A deal with Hong Kong is at stake and rumors of the corporation’s system malfunctioning to no avail.

Modern surveillance cameras have learned to recognize a person’s identity, even if the face is concealed by medical masks, motorcycle helmets and other disguises. Computers analyze tattoos, irises, stride length, foot tilt, and more. Currently, the camera is able to identify a person from a distance of 50 meters, even if he is not looking into the camera.

Hard

• Rating IMDB – 6.4
• Genre: Comedy
• Production Brazil / 2020
• Directed by Rodrigo Merellis, Giulia Pacheco Jordao, Luisa Campos
• Cast: Natalia Lage, Julio Machado, Martha Novill, Denis Del Vecchio, Fernando Alvis Pinto, Natalia Falcao, Pedro Konop, Brunna Martins, Natalia Dalmolina, Maite Schneider

Sophia is the perfect wife, mother, and homemaker. She is not too interested in her programmer husband’s business. The most important thing for her is to provide her husband with a reliable rear. But overnight Sofia’s life turns upside down. The woman’s husband tragically dies, and unflattering truth is revealed.

It turned out that all this time the family existed on money from a porn site. The conservative heroine wants to get rid of the shameful asset immediately, but the shaky financial affairs make her change her mind and take the reins in her own hands.

With the development of the global Internet, the porn industry is also developing. Thus, 1/8 of all Internet content is video of erotic content. However, experts warn that watching such videos too often can cause addiction, and the desire to have sex with a live person may simply disappear.

Flor do Caribe

• Rating IMDB – 6.6
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2013
• Directed by Teresa Lampreya, Jaime Monjardim, Leonardo Nogueira
• Cast: Alessandro Moussa, Orion Jiminez, Dada Coilho, Leandro Hassum, Maria Joana, Angela Vieira, Silvio Matos, Elba Ramalho, Felipe Simas, Inez Viana

The aviator Casiano has two loves in life: his girlfriend Esther and the sky. Albert, a rich heir, is also in love with Esther, and in order to get his hands on the girl, he commits real villainy. Albert asks Casiano to deliver a shipment of diamonds to Guatemala, where he becomes a prisoner of the mafia. Back home they believe that the brave pilot is dead, and Esther learns that her beloved is pregnant. Finding no other way out of her difficult situation, the girl agrees to marry Albert.

The telenovela is set in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, which is known for its resorts on the Atlantic Ocean.

Salve Jorge

• Rating IMDB – 5.2
• Genre: Drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2012
• Directed by Joao Paulo Jabur, Alexander Klemperer, Adriano Melu
• Cast: Rodrigo Lombardi, Nanda Costa, Giovanna Antonelli, Flavia Alessandra, Cleo Pires, Domingos Montaner, Dira Pais, Alexandre Nehru, Murilo Rosa, Dalton Vig

A crime drama about the fate of a gullible girl named Morena. Despite her early motherhood, Morena does not forget her dream of becoming a model. The naive girl accepts the offer of a respectable stranger for a high-paying job in Turkey. But instead of the catwalks, Morena ends up in a real brothel.

One of the most popular projects in the list of poignant social Brazilian series. The drama is based on the true story of Ana Lucia Furtado, who managed to escape from sexual slavery only thanks to the death of an equally unfortunate victim of human traffickers.

A Favorita

• Rating IMDB – 7.7
• Genre: Thriller, drama, detective
• Production Brazil / 2008
• Directed by Roberto Naar, Gustavo Fernandez, Paolo Silvestrini
• Cast: Patricia Pillar, Claudia Raia, Mariana Ximenes, Gloria Menezes, Ari Fontora, Carmo Dala Vekia, Kaua Raymond, Murilo Benicio, Thiago Rodriguez, Lilia Cabral

Donatella and Flora were brought up together, but became irreconcilable enemies after meeting a wealthy heir, Marcelo. The young man chose Donatella and married her. But Flora did not put up with it, seduced the man she loved and had a daughter by him. In order for the girl to be raised in a full family, Marcelo leaves Donatella, but soon dies under mysterious circumstances. All evidence points to Flora.

The series was very popular and kept the intrigue of which of the two women really killed Marcelo until the end. Even in the show’s title sequence, the names of the actresses in the leading roles alternated daily.

Escrito nas Estrelas

• Rating IMDB – 7.1
• Genre: Fantasy, drama, melodrama
• Production Brazil / 2010
• Directed by Andre Felipe Binder, Rogerio Gomes, Roberta Richard
• Cast: Humberto Martins, Natalia Dill, Alexandre Nehru, Deborah Falabella, António Calloni, Zeze Polessa, Carol Castro, Susana Faini, Jaime Matarazzo, Gisele Froes

A girl from a poor family, Vivian has suffered grief when her lover Daniel died. But Vivian is not the only one suffering. His father Ricardo Aguilar is also experiencing the death of his son. The man, a nationally known doctor and owner of an artificial insemination clinic.

The inconsolable father, having his son’s biomaterial, decides to use it to create his grandson. But the man needs a perfect mother for his child, and his choice falls on Vivian.

Brazilian series are always interactive, and often the plot changes to suit the viewer. For example, there are two versions of The New Victim. Because the identity of the murderer did not satisfy viewers, the series was simply reshot.

Ribeirão do Tempo

• Rating IMDB – 6.9
• Genre: Drama
• Production Brazil / 2010
• Directed by Vicente Barcellos, Guto Arruda Botelo, Daniel Givelder
• Cast: Caio Junqueira, Angelou Paes Leme, Bianca Rinaldi, Giuliana Baroni, Angelina Muniz, Jacqueline Lawrence, Heitor Martinez Melo, Antonio Grassi, Liliana Castro, Humberto Magnani

Although Ribeirão do Tempú is a very small town, it is a very hot place to live. Recently, a businesswoman named Elleonor Darrel has appeared in the town, who wants to build a huge business center, which most of the residents are not happy about. The woman hides many secrets, one of which has to do with her abandoned son in his youth. And at the same time, a terrible murder of one of the residents, which is investigated by the local police, is committed in the town.

The series has 250 episodes and was broadcast for an entire year. Both of these facts are considered the norm for a Brazilian series that does not have subsequent seasons.