3%

3% (Tres Por Cento) is a Brazilian dystopian thriller created by Pedro Aguilera and the first Brazilian and first Portuguese-language original series produced by Netflix. Set in a future society split into the impoverished Inland and the utopian, technologically advanced Offshore, the story centers on a ritual called the Process. Every young adult, upon turning twenty, gets a single chance to undergo a punishing series of tests; only the top three percent earn passage across the divide to a life of comfort and abundance.

The first season follows a cohort of candidates through the Process under the watchful eye of Ezequiel, the enigmatic official who runs it, while idealistic newcomer Michele arrives carrying a hidden agenda tied to an underground resistance known as the Cause. As candidates are sorted, tested, and pitted against one another, the series probes who deserves to advance and at what moral cost, balancing tense competition with questions of loyalty, sacrifice, and belief.

Across four seasons the scope widens from the testing grounds to the Offshore, the Inland, and the wider conflict over whether a society built on extreme inequality can or should be reformed. The show treats its central peril in broad, thematic terms, focusing on rebellion, faith, and the seductive promise of merit. With a largely Afro-Brazilian and diverse cast, 3% became an international breakout that helped open the door for Netflix's global non-English programming.