Shows Like Ozark – The Best Dark Dramas To Stream Right Now

Ozark is one of the most popular and successful shows of its kind on Netflix. Created by Bill Dubuque, it stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde and Laura Linney as his wife Wendy, who have won three Emmys together for their performance.

With a strong criminal plot, full of drama and suspense, Ozark follows Marty Byrde, a financial advisor involved in a money-laundering scheme.

When the scam goes wrong, Marty moves his family from Chicago to the suburbs of Lake of Ozark, where he promises the leader of a Mexican drug cartel to elaborate an even bigger plan.

However, they find a dark and savage side to capitalism, being intimidated by other criminals in the business and involved in the dark world of drugs, where they have to do whatever it takes to survive.

If you couldn't take your eyes off the TV while watching Ozark, we have a list of the 7 perfect series that will keep you thoroughly entertained.

With plenty of compelling plots and exciting adrenaline scenes, this selection will involve you in a world of crime, drama and some humour in between.

Check out this list and choose your new favourite series.

Enjoy and leave us your opinion in the comments below.

Breaking Bad

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a worn out and dispirited high-school chemistry teacher who is coping with a recent diagnosis of stage-three lung cancer.

Running out of options, he turns to a life of crime and partners with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) by making crystal meth to secure his family's financial future before he dies.

With five seasons for a total of 62 episodes plus a follow-up movie and a spin off series, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad is a phenomenally successful show.

Snowfall

Snowfall is a crime drama series that is set in Los Angeles in 1983. The show revolves around the first crack epidemic and its impact on the city.

It follows the lives of several characters including 20-year-old drug dealer Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), Mexican luchador Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), CIA operative Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), and a Mexican crime boss's niece, Lucia Villanueva (Emily Rios).

With five seasons already available on FX and other streaming services, Snowfall has been renewed for a sixth and final season.

Queen of the South

Queen of the South is an adaptation of the telenovela La Reina del Sur, both of which are adapted from the novel by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

The series centers around Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga), a poor Mexican woman who becomes wealthy by building a vast drug empire after she falls in love with a member of a drug cartel.

But the more successful Teresa becomes, the more problems she has especially with both rival cartels and the government after her.

Power

Next on our list of shows like Ozark is Power which tells the story of James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a smart but ruthless drug dealer who wants to leave the criminal world.

Attempting to go legit as a nightclub owner, the problems start when he tries to balance the two lives.

Avoiding police capture, a crumbling marriage and keeping track of alliances and rivals is a lot to handle, especially when his criminal partner and best friend Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) doesn't want to leave the drug world.

With six seasons all available on Netflix, Power is an incredible show and well worth watching.

Ray Donovan

With six seasons and a follow-on movie, Ray Donovan is a superb dark drama. Ray (Liev Schreiber) is a professional “fixer” who arranges bribes, payoffs, threats, crime-scene clean-up, and other illegal activities to protect his celebrity clients.

Devoted to his family, Ray's problems really start when his father, Mickey Donovan (Jon Voight), is unexpectedly released from prison.

As the FBI try to bring down Mickey, Ray struggles to escape the fallout.

Where Was Ozark Filmed?

Ozark is named after the place in Missouri where it takes place. However, it wasn't filmed there.

Instead, the series was mainly set in Atlanta, a popular shooting location for several different productions.

Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier in Georgia were double filmed for the purpose of Lake of the Ozarks. Lake Allatoona is actually a reservoir created by the US Army in the late 1940s.

Lake Lanier is also a manufactured reservation, built around the same time due to the construction of the Buford dam.

A large part of Ozark is also based in and around the cabins at Alhonna Resort & Marina, where the production team extensively studied the actual lifelike locations and then recreated them as a brand-new Georgia-built set.

Why Are the Scenes In Ozark So Dark And Blue?

One of the main features of Ozark is the obscure themes and the intense storyline, but it is also visually dark and very blue.

The Ozark creator explains that they used a cyan tint on the camera and practical single source lights and ensured that the episodes received the exact colour correction they wanted in post-production.

The series' creative team wanted to combine the cinematography with the overall humour of the show, and the effect was indeed outstanding.

How Accurate Is The Ozark Storyline?

Ozark is purely fictional, but the fact is that there is nothing fake about the drug cartels.

Award-winning journalist Sam Quinones, who has been writing about them for nearly 20 years, has shared his experience.

For a decade, he lived in Mexico and spent another season working for the Los Angeles Times, covering drug trafficking, gangs and immigration.

He explains that this world of drug trafficking works because they have people on a lower level working with them, and others constantly find ways to launder money.

Both in Mexico and the United States, there are inevitably drug dealers and people who will agree to be corrupted and work for their financial gain.

Recently, one of the most used ways is through the Fashion District in Los Angeles. It's called a peso exchange, where you pay for products here, but then they are made in Mexico, and you sell the items and get the money.

It's a complicated process, but it's been used a lot in money transfer services, restaurants, markets, etc.

He also mentions that the series is quite realistic. Although it may seem somewhat far-fetched that a holiday town in Missouri can be home to drug trafficking, money laundering and local drug with opium fields, it is an actual situation.

Often, people in Mexico, especially the higher-ups, are looking for places to be their drug conduits for local people and companies, particularly cash businesses, as places to launder their money. They are constantly looking for those sources.

How Many Seasons Does Ozark Have?

Ozark has a total of 4 seasons with 44 episodes. A fifth season was mentioned, but the producers decided to adjust the ending by extending the fourth season's episodes.

Nominated for 18 Emmys in 2020 and taking home the best-supporting actress in a drama series award for Julia Gardner, the production had its fourth and final season confirmed by Netflix.

All four seasons have now aired and Ozark is officially over.

Overall

For years we have been spoiled with gritty crime drama so choosing a select few shows like Ozark is not easy.

If you think we've overlooked some gems let us know in the comments!