Kitchen (2012-2016)
Genre: sitcom
Watch if: you’re looking for a perfect mix of comedy and drama
A young and ambitious cook moves from his small hometown to Moscow to become a celebrated head chef. As the protagonist finds his way into an elite French restaurant, the series starts to bring the kitchen chaos to the screen: a fiery character in the lead, love triangles, a generation gap, a persistent threat of the restaurant closing, and much more – all peppered with wit and philosophy.
Watch on Kinopoisk and other streaming platforms
One Call Bar (2023)
Genre: fantasy thriller
Watch if: you’re a fan of somber vibes and life-and-death conversations
While searching for his missing stepson, an investigator stumbles onto a mysterious pop-up bar. Inside is a bartender, sarcastic and cynical, who offers visitors to make a one-minute call and talk to the loved ones they have lost. The price is a round of Russian roulette; the more calls they decide to make, the more bullets they have to put in the gun.
Watch on KION
Method (2015-present)
Genre: true-crime thriller
Watch if: you need to feed your sleuthing obsession
In this series, a gifted law graduate gets under the wing of an experienced yet erratic detective who has always been a lone crime solver. She seeks answers about her mother’s death, and he has his own methods on how to deal with the “big bad” – together, they start to hunt down serial killers.
Watch on Kinopoisk and other streaming platforms
Peace! Love! Chewing Gum! (2020-2023)
Genre: coming-of-age dramedy
Watch if: you want to learn more about the “wild 90s”
This story follows a group of fourteen-year-olds swept into a whirlpool of all kinds of events after they steal and crash the car of a powerful crime lord. All this happens against the backdrop of the turbulent 1990s Russia. One of the show’s stars is the Anora breakout star Yura Borisov, who plays a Soviet-Afghan War veteran in the series.
Watch on Premier
Pishcheblok (2021-present)
Genre: mystical fantasy
Watch if: you’re into vampire horror and late-Soviet aesthetics
A summer camp in the 1980s, campfire stories, and first loves. But strange things start to happen from the start – turns out, there are vampires among the campers. A teenager teams up with his counselor to fight against the demonic forces and bring down the original vampire.
Watch on ivi and other streaming platforms
Missed the first part of this series? Catch up on it here – and expand your TBW list even more via our TV Shows and Movies tags.
