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Narcos: Mexico poster

Shows that feel likeNarcos: Mexico (2018–2021)

See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in 1980s Mexico.

If you loved Narcos: Mexico, the closest series we have are Godfather of Harlem (2019), Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ (2017) and El Chapo (2017). All three share Narcos: Mexico's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

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

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

If Narcos: Mexico hit the spot, these will too

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

An empire builder navigating politics as much as violence

The difference: 1960s Harlem period piece — swagger over procedural realism

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.

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

What happens to cartel men after the empire collapses

The difference: A prison survival story — the grand rise happened offscreen

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

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

A trafficker's whole arc from errand runner to untouchable kingpin

The difference: Flatter TV-movie staging — none of Netflix's cinematic polish

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.

When They See Us poster
When They See Us
2019 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.8dramaNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.

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

Investigators grinding against institutions that fail them

The difference: An intimate survivor story — no cartels, no sweep, more hurt

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

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

Decades of drug-war history compressed into one man's ascent

The difference: Telenovela pacing — 70-plus episodes where Narcos runs lean

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.

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

True crime rebuilt with care for how power protects itself

The difference: Anthology courtrooms and celebrities, not cartel territory

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

The Americans poster
The Americans
2013–2018 · 6 seasons · FX
★ 8.4crime · dramaHulu

The dread of living a double life the state is closing in on

The difference: A slow-burn marriage drama — espionage, not narco spectacle

Set during the Cold War period in the 1980s, The Americans is the story of Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and their neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI Counterintelligence agent.

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

A charmer forced to survive among men far more dangerous

The difference: One tight limited series — a two-man duel, not an epic

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.

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

One nobody's climb through the trafficking world's ranks

The difference: Telenovela melodrama — pulpy where Narcos stays sober

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

Locked Up poster
Locked Up
2015–2019 · 4 seasons · FOX España
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

Corruption and power games where one wrong move is fatal

The difference: A women's-prison thriller — lurid pulp over true history

Set up to take the blame for corporate fraud, young Macarena Ferreiro is locked up in a high-security women's prison surrounded by tough, ruthless criminals in this tense, provocative Spanish thriller.

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

A drug economy swallowing everyone who thinks they can manage it

The difference: Fictional and family-scale — no true-story historical weight

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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