Netflix has a new number one show - and it's a must-watch for true crime fans

Netflix has a new number-one TV show and it's a must watch for true crime fans.

Griselda is a biopic of one of the most notorious Columbian criminals of all time - a business woman who, throughout the '70s and '80s, turned herself into a prominent Columbian drug lord.

Modern Family's Sofia Vergara stars as the drug lord and it's directed by Andrés Baiz who also had a stint on Netflix show Narcos. Another Narcos connection is writer Doug Miro, who helped create that show. He wrote Griselda with Ingrid Escajeda.

Vergara had to go through extensive make-up and don prosthetics for the role of Griselda Blanco, and showed off this process on Instagram in a post that thanked everyone for getting the show to number one in just 24 hours of it being on the site.

According to FlixPatrol this is indeed the case, with the show hitting the top spot in some 63 countries, including... Columbia.

Addictive drama

The show has had to overtake the might of Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once but it's managed that, and then some.

While being a popular show on Netflix doesn't mean that it has the critics' seal of approval - Lift is still the number one movie and the critics weren't kind with that one - Griselda is currently sitting at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes right now.

To put that into context: HBO's fourth season True Detective is at 78% on the site and Apple TV+'s WWII drama Masters of the Air is at 82% - and both of these have been heralded as massive critical successes.

This is what the critics are saying:

Empire notes that "Griselda is a satisfying, if formulaic, exploration of murder, drugs, and the corrupting properties of power."

The Times reckons: "Griselda sometimes feels like a triumph of style over moral substance. But Vergara commands the screen — and this drama — beautifully."

The Guardian says: "There isn’t a weak performance in it and it functions always as a much-deserved showcase for all that Vergara can do."

Variety believes that it's a "fast-paced and well-acted, the show is brutal, fascinating and full of high drama."

TheWrap notes: "Despite some creative license to make the story more enjoyable, watching Griselda’s complex journey unfold over the Netflix limited series is about as satisfying as it gets."

Griselda is streaming now and is one of the best crime dramas on Netflix right now. And if you fancy reading more about the true life exploits of the drug baron, then head to Netflix's Tudum which charts the wild later years which aren't showcased in the limited series. It does go into spoiler territory, though, so might be worth bookmarking until you've watched the whole show.