It’s been an eventful 2023 for international TV and film. As the strikes shut down Hollywood and streamers retrenched from the mega-spends of the Covid era, shows and movies from far and wide came were already in demand like never before, as viewers look to new countries for inspiration. Call it the Squid Game effect, or whatever you want, but neither subtitles nor geographical boundaries are an impediment to content getting seen any more. Here, we run down each Deadline International journalist’s top pick from the year, for the most part avoiding spoilers (there are some though, so this is a fair warning). You’ll find big-ticket U.S. fare, Japanese anime, restaurant TV dramas and Australian newsroom stories among our eclectic selections.