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Narcos poster

Shows that feel likeNarcos (2015–2017)

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

If you loved Narcos, the closest series we have are Godfather of Harlem (2019), El Chapo (2017) and Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (2012). All three share Narcos' gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Unbelievable (2019).

★ 8.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗3 seasons · Netflixcreated by Chris Brancatogrittycontemplative
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Hulu · Apple TV
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If Narcos hit the spot, these will too

Godfather of Harlem poster
Godfather of Harlem
2019–2025 · 4 seasons · Epix
★ 8.1drama · crimeHulu

A crime boss expanding while the law and his rivals close in

The difference: 1960s Harlem politics and civil rights, richer in period drama

Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.

El Chapo poster
El Chapo
2017–2018 · 3 seasons · Univision
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

A kingpin's rise traced decade by decade with the cost kept visible

The difference: Told from the cartel side alone, without an agent's point of view

A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power of during the '90s and his ultimate downfall in 2016.

Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord poster
Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord
2012 · 1 season · Caracol TV
★ 8.4crime · dramaNetflix

The same man's life, from small-time hustle to political power

The difference: Colombian telenovela pacing, far longer and more melodramatic

Pablo is a man with a natural ability for business. Early in his life, Pablo is introduced to the business of cocaine and the power it yields. A young life of crime lands Pablo in and out of jail as he builds his criminal empire. Pablo expands his power through politics but it is not long before his conflicts as a Congressman and a drug lord collide. Pablo has his enemies executed, but not before the United States activates its own war on the Medellin cartel.

Sons of Anarchy poster
Sons of Anarchy
2008–2014 · 7 seasons · FX
★ 8.5crime · dramaHulu

Guns, loyalty and the slow rot inside a criminal organisation

The difference: Fictional and Shakespearean, driven by club politics not policing

The Sons of Anarchy (SOA) are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States and overseas. The show focused on the original and founding charter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, often referred to by the acronym SAMCRO, Sam Crow, or simply Redwood Charter. The charter operates both legal and illegal businesses in the small town of Charming, California. They combine gun-running and a garage, and involvement in porn film industry. Clay, the charter president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax, his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are done. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationship, especially when Jax goes on a personal quest to cleanse the SAMCRO name and image.

Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ poster
Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ
2017 · 1 season · Caracol TV
★ 7.8drama · crime

The same war, seen from inside the cartel after it collapsed

The difference: Colombian production from the hitman's side, no DEA voiceover

As the Medellín Cartel crumbles, Pablo Escobar's No. 1 hit man struggles to stay alive and gain respect in the prison hierarchy.

La Reina del Sur poster
La Reina del Sur
2011– · 3 seasons · Telemundo
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

A rise through the trade told across borders and decades

The difference: Telenovela pacing, and a woman at the centre

After years of blood, sweat and tears, a woman of humble origin ends up becoming a drug trafficking legend, with all that that means...

Ozark poster
Ozark
2017–2022 · 4 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.4crime · dramaNetflix

Cartel money bending an ordinary life until it cannot bend back

The difference: A Midwest family drama, invented and airless rather than reported

A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.

Power poster
Power
2014–2020 · 6 seasons · STARZ
★ 8.1crime · dramaHuluStarz

A drug empire run on business logic under constant risk of exposure

The difference: Glossy New York soap where the personal stakes come first

A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential, all while wanting to escape the underworld and keep his family safe.

American Crime Story poster
American Crime Story
2016–2021 · 3 seasons · FX
★ 8.4crime · dramaHulu

Real cases dramatised with the reporting kept front and centre

The difference: An anthology of American trials — courtrooms, not jungle raids

An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.

Unbelievable poster
Unbelievable
2019 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.3drama · crimeNetflix

Investigators piecing a real case together with patience and detail

The difference: One limited series, intimate and careful, about harm done to women

After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks.

Peaky Blinders poster
Peaky Blinders
2013–2022 · 6 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.7drama · crimeNetflix

A criminal empire built by force while the state pushes back

The difference: Stylised, musical and mythic, not documentary-flavoured reporting

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

Black Bird poster
Black Bird
2022 · 1 season · Apple TV
★ 8.1drama · crimeApple TV+

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

As Jimmy Keene begins a 10-year prison sentence, he gets an incredible offer: If he can elicit a confession from suspected killer Larry Hall, Jimmy will be freed. Completing this mission becomes the challenge of a lifetime.

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The best-reviewed series that share Narcos’ defining feeling.