Sex, scandal and floral arrangements permeate La Casa de Las Flores, Manolo Carlos' latest Mexican telenovela series, now showing on Netflix.
Set in Mexico City, this 13 part series tracks the lives of the Moras—a secretive, affluent family who owns a prestigious flower shop. In the opening scene, the camera pans through a beautiful high–end flower shop and settles on a pair of dangling stilettos—Roberta has hung herself. As we soon find out, Roberta, the narrator, is the estranged mistress of the Mora family patriarch. Roberta is about to get her revenge, spilling the Mora family secrets and kickstarting a slew of steamy, lurid revelations that threaten to ruin their picture–perfect reputation.
Veronica Castro plays Virginia de la Mora, the matriarch of the Mora family, a chic and wealthy business woman intent on keeping up appearances at any cost. Think Kris Jenner with fabulous floral scarves and a secret drug–dealing side–hustle. Meanwhile, Paulina de la Mora, the straight–laced eldest sibling, fights for her place as the successor of the family dynasty while managing her father’s second business, a seedy cabaret also named La Casa de las Flores. Played by Cecilia Suarez, Paulina’s quirky, control–freak personality and habit of enunciating every syllable somehow manages to both aggravate and endear audiences.
Elena de la Mora is the second–oldest daughter, an architect student in New York who returns to Mexico City to find her family in chaos. Sweet and wide–eyed, Elena means well but manages to unwittingly trap herself in a salacious love triangle. Sporting luscious curls and permanent half smirk, Julian is the charming, unemployed, youngest son of the Mora family played by Dario Yazbek Bernal. Julian lives a double–life as the boyfriend to demanding Lucia and the secret lover to silver–fox Diego, the family’s financial advisor. A hopeless romantic whose sexual exploits range from blowjobs in the office to sex on a squash court, Julian wins over fans with his good looks and puppy–dog demeanor. Aside from eye candy, Julian presents a progressive depiction of LGBT love and sexuality and the struggle of a bisexual man to come out to his conservative parents.
As a telenovela, some of the plot twists are borderline ridiculous, if not predictable. Further, one of the characters, Dominique, Elena’s black boyfriend, seems to inexplicably disappear after Episode 4. His name gets tossed around sporadically as Elena falls for the somewhat creepy Claudio, son of her father’s dead mistress. Nevertheless, what La Casa de Las Flores lacks in originality it makes up in sharp dialogue, dark humor, and endearing characters. The show is downright gorgeous to watch—striking monochromatic outfits, luscious floral scenery, and studded with fabulous drag queen performances at the cabaret.
Check out the first season of this binge–worthy series on Netflix. The second and third seasons are slated to be released in 2019 and 2020, so watch out for the next installment of Mora family drama.
