7 shows to watch if you liked Netflix’s The Gardener
Miguel Sáez Carral is the author of the Spanish thriller The Gardener (El jardinero). A seemingly heartless young man named Elmer, played by Álvaro Rico in the series, works at a garden center owned and operated by his controlling mother, La China Jurado (Cecilia Suárez).
Unbeknownst to outsiders, the gardening company is actually a front for a murder-for-hire scheme, and Elmer in The Gardener is the ideal contract assassin due to his lack of feeling stemming from a childhood tragedy.
When Elmer is tasked with killing Violeta (Catalina Sopelana), a compassionate kindergarten teacher, everything changes. For the first time in years, he feels love—sparking doubts about his violent life and loyalty to his mother, who grows desperate to finish the job.
If viewers enjoyed The Gardener for its themes of emotional transformation, moral dilemmas, and family secrets, then here are seven other similar shows.
Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.
The House of Flowers (La Casa de las Flores) and 6 other shows to watch if you liked Netflix’s The Gardener
1) La Casa de las Flores
Manolo Caro is the creator of the Mexican drama The House of Flowers (La Casa de las Flores). Starring Verónica Castro, Cecilia Suárez, Aislinn Derbez, and others, the sitcom revolves around an affluent but dysfunctional family that operates a failed cabaret in addition to a posh flower shop.
With LGBT+ characters and themes like homophobia, transphobia, and class injustice, the show modernizes and satirizes classic telenovela aspects. Frequently referred to as a “millennial telenovela,” it challenges preconceptions and reflects modern Mexican life through melodrama and comedy.
Characters in both The Gardener and La Casa de las Flores lead double lives behind seemingly normal facades as they examine intricate family dynamics and secrets.
Where to watch: Netflix
2) You
Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble created the American psychological thriller series You, which is based on Caroline Kepnes' books. The show, which debuted in 2018, centers on Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a bookstore manager who appears to be nice but whose compulsive behavior turns lethal.
From New York to Los Angeles, Joe develops an obsession with women such as Beck and Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti), and he uses violence and manipulation to fulfill his perverted notion of love. Joe marries Love and begins a family as the series goes on, but his compulsions return, resulting in new obsessions and fatal outcomes.
Similar to The Gardener, You centers on a mysterious character named Joe Goldberg, whose violent, compulsive actions reflect Elmer's decline into a morally convoluted world of deceit and deception.
Where to watch: Netflix
3) The Cleaning Lady
Miranda Kwok created the American crime drama The Cleaning Lady, which is based on the Argentine television series La chica que limpia.
Thony De La Rosa, a former Cambodian-Filipino surgeon residing in Las Vegas with an expired visa, is the main character of the series. She works as a cleaner in an attempt to help her sick kid, but she is caught up in a criminal conspiracy run by Arman Morales after witnessing a murder.
Thony starts living two lives, protecting her family and keeping her secret while exploiting her medical expertise in the underground.
Like The Gardener, The Cleaning Lady has a protagonist torn between two worlds: Elmer battles his allegiance to his family's lethal operations, while Thony De La Rosa embraces the criminal underworld to protect her family.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Hulu
4) Sr. Ávila
Marcelo and Walter Slavitch created the Mexican crime drama series Sr. Ávila, which was broadcast on HBO Latinoamérica.
The show centers on Roberto Ávila, a lovely parent, husband, and funeral home employee who is also a contract murderer. The distinction between his violent double life and his regular life becomes hazy when he climbs to become the head of a hitman network.
The dual lives of the main characters are explored in both Sr. Ávila and The Gardener. Roberto Ávila, like Elmer, is an apparently normal man who works as a hitman in secret, and the series revolves around his internal conflict about his violent line of work.
Where to watch: Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV+
5) Hache
Hache is a Spanish crime drama created by Verónica Fernández, set in 1960s Barcelona amid the rise of drug trafficking. The series stars Adriana Ugarte, alongside Eduardo Noriega and Javier Rey.
Season 1, consisting of eight one-hour episodes, premiered globally on Netflix on November 1, 2019. A second season followed on February 5, 2021, but the series was canceled later that year after two seasons.
Hache and The Gardener both depict characters whose personal transformations lead them into a dark world of crime. In Hache, the protagonist’s involvement in the criminal underworld mirrors Elmer’s forced participation in his family’s illegal business.
Where to watch: Netflix
6) El Recluso
The Argentine TV series El Marginal is the inspiration behind the American crime drama series The Inmate (El Recluso), which premiered on Telemundo in September 2018.
To investigate the kidnapping of a U.S. judge's daughter, Lázaro Mendoza (Ignacio Serricchio), a former Marine takes on a false identity and goes undercover inside a maximum-security prison on the Mexico-U.S. border.
Within La Rotunda prison, Lázaro, under the name Dante Pardo, gains entry into a violent gang of inmates and corrupt officials involved in the kidnapping. His task is to identify the mastermind behind the crime and find the kidnapped girl while maneuvering within the ruthless environment inside the prison.
Similar to The Gardener, El Recluso centers around a protagonist who enters a risky situation under false circumstances. Both feature protagonists who encounter moral conflicts and personal struggles within a risky world.
Where to watch: Netflix
7) Riviera
Neil Jordan is the writer of the British-Irish television drama series Riviera, which was released on Sky Atlantic on June 15, 2017. The show—starring Julia Stiles, Anthony LaPaglia, Lena Olin, and others—became Sky's biggest-rated original show.
In Riviera, Julia Stiles stars as Georgina Clios, an American art curator whose life is turned around when her wealthy husband, Constantine, is killed in a yacht accident. Georgina uncovers dark secrets about her husband's death as she delves deeper into the realm of crime, lies, and money.
Similar to The Gardener, Riviera is concerned with a protagonist who becomes involved in a web of deception and crime; Georgina Clios' inquiry into the death of her husband can be likened to Elmer's pursuit to find the truths that would blow his whole universe apart.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+, AMC
Interested viewers can watch all six episodes of The Gardener on Netflix.
