# The Mess You Leave Behind (2020)

> A new high school teacher becomes haunted by a suspicious death at her school and begins to fear for her own life.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79783

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery, thriller
- Created by: Carlos Montero
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Inma Cuesta, Bárbara Lennie, Tamar Novas, Arón Piper, Roque Ruiz, Isabel Garrido, Roberto Enríquez, Alfonso Agra
- TMDB rating: 6.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9731242/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tense, suspenseful, unsettling, dark, brooding

## What critics say

Reception is mixed, with audiences finding the mystery engaging but the story uneven and the characters' motives hard to sustain across eight episodes.

## Synopsis

The Mess You Leave Behind (2020) is a Spanish limited series created by Carlos Montero and released on Netflix. Inma Cuesta plays Raquel, a new teacher at a high school who is haunted by a suspicious death that occurred there weeks before she arrived. As she starts to probe what really happened, she grows increasingly afraid for her own safety, and her investigation pulls her toward the private lives of colleagues, students and families. Bárbara Lennie, Tamar Novas and Arón Piper appear among the principal cast, their characters entangled in infidelity, blackmail and a drug dealing trade that runs beneath the school's polished surface. The eight-episode run unfolds as a serialized mystery, with each episode peeling back another layer of concealed relationships and motives. The tone is tense and unsettling, with a creeping sense of dread that builds steadily through the story. Fans of Big Little Lies and Money Heist will find resonance in its morally compromised characters, its suburban-adjacent school setting and its patient, secret-driven suspense. Set in contemporary Spain, the series balances the routines of school life against a growing sense of threat.

## Shows like The Mess You Leave Behind

- [The Snow Girl (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/135919)
- [Past Lies (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/158998)
- [The Crystal Cuckoo (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/181740)
- [Control Z (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/86183)
- [Ángela (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/149183)
- [The Teacher (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59808)
- [The Girl in the Mirror (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/105553)
- [Terra Alta (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/173973)
- [Dos tumbas (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/187126)
- [The Pier (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/72503)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt