Sainte Amélie, 2001

I once visited a jewelry shop in a Croatian town. I happened upon it. They kept the door propped open to lure potential customers in from the medieval street, and you could hear, smell, and feel the sea from inside of the tiny shop. This shop only played Yann Tiersen’s Amélie soundtrack on repeat (I went back the following day to confirm). I had been floating in the Adriatic Sea moments before I walked past the shop and heard the music. I arrived in Croatia via ferry the night before after being very fortunately stuck in Venice earlier in the week. The ensuing string of equally beautiful and off-plan happenings landed me here in this pearl shop, and it seemed that the music had come from the notably red and green scenes of Amélie’s Paris (i.e. my subconscious) to tell me that this would be one of the perfect times of my life because, to me, Amélie is a perfect movie about chance. I’d go so far as to call it formative to who I am.

If Amélie is a film that has an equally special place in your heart, here is my working list of seven female-forward, international films and series with perspective for your streaming pleasure.

Killing Eve, Hulu

A London based MI5 officer (Sandra Oh) catches feelings in her cross-European pursuit of the psycho-chic female assassin, Villanelle (Jodie Comer), and the feeling is unstably mutual. Visually, each episode is a dreamy (and twisted) European vacation, and the series is crowned with a killer soundtrack, too. Killing Eve was written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also wrote Fleabag (which I might have added to this list if it were a list of eight).

Derry Girls, Netflix

This series set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles could resonate with anyone who lived through the nineties (Cranberries and corded phones, anyone?). My mother and I watched this together, and we could not stop laughing. Watching my super Catholic aunt’s crossed-arm reactions to the first episode made it even better for me. As someone who had to endure twelve years of repressed Catholic schooling, this show really spoke to me. Lovely accents, nineties music, harsh nuns, and devout Catholics mistaking dog pee for blessed virgin miracle tears: yes, please!

Girls From Ipanema (Coisa Mais Linda), Netflix

Maria Luiza creates a fabulous life for herself when she moves from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s. Her husband’s abandonment turns out to be the best thing that could have happened (shocker) as she goes against convention to open a Bossa Nova club that will make musical history with her girl gang. Sun, sea, and bossa nova: you either get it or you don’t.

Babylon Berlin, Netflix

This darkly alluring series follows a female detective in Berlin near the end of the roaring twenties. It’s historically informative and alarmingly relevant nearly a century later. I had some trouble getting through the first episode, but then I could not stop watching.

The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix

This series reminded me a bit of Killing Eve in that it takes its viewers on a glamorously cosmopolitan and broody journey around the world (via chess tournaments). Similar to Killing Eve, stunning cinematography is only enhanced with a perfect(ly sixties) soundtrack However, it follows a prodigy of a different type: chess. It’s less murderous and more retro.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani), Amazon Prime

Not all streaming recommendations need to be contemporary, right? Sophia Loren has become my second pandemic obsession after experimenting with sourdough. This 1964 Italian film is really three films, all of which star Sophia Loren in a very different relationship. Take yourself to Italy for a few hours and eat it up.