Critical reception Reviews of the show were generally positive, and Cecilia Suárez has been repeatedly singled out and praised for her performance as Paulina; her role on the show was reverently described by Javier Zurro as: "And here she entered, Cecilia Suárez, a whirlwind discovered in
La casa de las flores who took everything. She was the star. Her Paulina de la Mora is a revelation, a poster girl buried to the eyebrows in meds who, however, was the most modern and determined character in the story." Kayla Cobb of
Decider called
The House of Flowers "the Mexican
Desperate Housewives", and praised "its willingness to be seedy." Cobb's review looks positively on the melodrama and the characterizations of Paulina and Virginia, but concedes that while exciting and fun to watch, it is "not great television". Brenden Gallagher of
The Daily Dot similarly called the series light-hearted and adventurous, but he noted that character development was lacking and that the show could have gone further to challenge the usual parameters of the telenovela genre; Greg Wheeler of
The Review Geek agrees that it does not do much different from other shows, but conversely thinks that it has "a good amount of character development". In terms of pushing generic conventions, David Lopez of
Instinct wrote that the show, especially considering season 2, marked a turning point in Mexican television and its approach to modernity, keeping the telenovela classics but embracing more open topics both intelligently and humorously. Guillermo Espinosa of
Mujer Hoy said that the show "has shaken the foundations of the telenovela genre". José Antonio Martínez of
Juego de series celebrates that the show gives "a very different image of Mexico to that offered by U.S. cinema", and noted in particular that Elena's story in the second season is similar to one from the British comedy
Fleabag. Writing about the series in 2020,
Variety's John Hopewell said that it confirms Caro's ability "to transfer his auteurist personality from big to small screen", with the series being "one of the first premium series from Mexico to break out internationally". Hopewell writes that the series has become a
cult hit in Spain. Going the other way, María Alba said that the show has made Paco and María León household names in Mexico. Several reviews also comment on the show's
Spanish-language nature, suggesting that rather than watch the available
dubbed version, which has been described as "truly horrendous", the show is better in Spanish anyway, with
subtitles if necessary. Suárez, Yazbek Bernal, and Medina all dub their own characters into English for the show, with Medina also providing other voices. Jonathon Wilson of
Ready Steady Cut argued that the show's dub was at least better than that of
Welcome to the Family, a similar
Catalan-language show picked up by Netflix. In November 2018,
ABC wrote that the series (season 1) was the latest of Netflix's worldwide successes, and that it was then one of the most-watched current series around the world, marking it as part of the Mexican boom of new media. Diego Da Costa for
Cinemagavia wrote that the "sparkle,
mamarrachería" ("craziness") and "visual
histrionics" were missing in season 2.
Perú.21's Esther Vargas said that the third season is "a manifesto of love and a cry against homophobia and transphobia", and at the end of April 2020,
Film Daily reported on the show as one of their 'our obsessions' features, calling it "one of, if not the most underrated Netflix original comedy".
Popular response The show has been popular internationally, including in non-Spanish-speaking countries, and is said to be most watched by
millennials. British daily newspaper
Manchester Evening News singled it out above all other Netflix shows as a valuable language-learning tool because of how it "switches between English and Spanish and [is] not too fast paced". Balán's season 2 review said that some viewers saw this season as more boring and forced than the first. Regarding the show in general, Pere Solà Gimferrer for
La Vanguardia wrote that it "works because it's like a meme on legs", saying that, likely by design, Caro has made each scene feature something that people immediately want to start talking about on social media. Solà says that it is either a good black comedy, or a "
Sharknado telenovela" spoof. In early 2020, the de la Moras were described as "one of the most recognized families in Mexico". During the
2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Falls suggested people could watch the series if they were "not getting enough family drama in quarantine". The unusual speech pattern of Paulina became popular, spawning the '#PaulinaDeLaMoraChallenge' on social media, where fans imitate the slow, enunciated, way of speaking, often with some of the character's lines. The challenge was started by Mexican actor Roberto Carlo, with the stars of
Cable Girls taking it up. When Netflix and Suárez responded with their own version of the challenge on Twitter, it became a trending event on the website, based on popularity and coverage; until March 2020, this was the only time that Suárez had spoken in Paulina's voice outside of the show, which she says is due to Netflix restrictions. She has clarified this as being "a suggestion" that she follows to not break the magic of the fiction. By the time Suárez responded, over 69,000 fan videos had been shared; only a few days after the first season was released, a petition had been started to include Paulina's voice as an option on the GPS navigation app
Waze. Suárez posted another social media video in character during the COVID-19 pandemic from
quarantine in Madrid, telling everyone in Mexico to stay at home and reminding them that male relatives can also look after elderly family members (comparing this to Julián and their grandmother on the show) – she followed the post with one of her own, where she reiterated the request and said that
the situation in Madrid was "really scary". In response to Paulina saying in one episode that she is "addicted to Tafil", the
BBC ran an article explaining what
Tafil is, also suggesting that the anti-anxiety medication is the cause of Paulina's slow speech as this is one of the more severe side effects of overuse of the drug. It noted, however, that the character's voice and Tafil use are creatively coincidental as they were conceived of separately during the show's development: Suárez said that the voice came through a process of improvisation during filming, with Caro liking it and having her re-record some of the early scenes to match. Verónica Calderón of
Vogue also notes that Paulina's voice is demarcating of the
fresa stereotype ("
yuppie") that her character plays with, and is not unusual in upper-class neighborhoods like
Las Lomas, suggesting that it could be used as part of the show's socio-economic commentary.
Clarín's Pablo Raimondi said that the style of diction establishes her as a "daddy's girl" and a character who can know everyone's secrets. Scholar Smith explained that clips of Paulina's memorable lines uploaded to the Internet by fans have received hundreds of thousands of views, and that t-shirts featuring the quotes were shortly after being sold on
Amazon. Suárez has also suggested that Paulina became popular because she "does not discriminate" by race, class, or sexual identity. Despite gaining a following, Suárez has refuted the idea that Paulina may have a spin-off, assuring that she does not believe Caro would choose to do that because the character belongs in the show's story. In opposition to Suárez's popularity, Martínez has said that some fans of Verónica Castro did not like when Castro left the show and were not happy with Suárez becoming the leading actor, because of her differing views on traditional telenovelas, like those which Castro starred in, and similar refusal to portray typical Mexican stereotypes.
The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Castro's return to acting was a key contributor to the show's initial popularity in Mexico in 2018. Taibo reported that fans "haven't liked it very much" but that Caro had made her absence "as painless as possible". Espinosa also suggested that the show has had a positive social effect on families in Mexico; León affirmed that he had been told stories of parents in
Guadalajara who now "no longer fear that their son is gay", adding with laughter that "what makes them panic is that they might be trans", but confirming that the show has at least brought the topic of transsexuality to discussion in more conservative Mexican families. Suárez believes that these aspects have been more easily accepted because of the familiar genre of telenovela that all Mexicans relate to, and because of Caro's intelligent writing around taboo subjects that allows audiences to be entertained by them as an opening to discussion. The drag queens from the show also gained popularity, and in 2019 began touring in character with a drag show called 'Las Reinas del Cabaret'. The drag queens performed live during the show and impersonated other artists beyond their characters, as well. Preceding the tour was the promotional opening of a
The House of Flowers-themed cabaret, running from October 16 to October 18, which included more immersive features for fans of the show, like a 'prison meeting' area to speak to El Cacas and a 'Drag Lounge' makeover space with the performers from the show. Tickets were available through promotions on social media. Parts of this show were broadcast live on the series'
Facebook page. An unconnected gay club in
Monterrey, which was open between October 2018 and October 2019, was called 'La Casa de Pau li na' after the show. In November 2019, Netflix launched a line of book companions to some of its series. From a deal made with
Grupo Planeta in July 2019 to produce Spanish-language books for Spain and Latin America, the first four launched on November 26 across the Spanish speaking world. One of these is the official fanbook of
The House of Flowers, published by the imprint Libros Cúpula and said to compile all the behind-the-scenes secrets of the show with a tone that reflects the show's style.
Comparisons to Almodóvar The style of the show has been widely compared to that of Spanish filmmaker
Pedro Almodóvar; creator Manolo Caro is said to be a "shameless admirer" of him, and has taken influence from him in his own works. Espinosa refers to Caro as a "young Mexican Almodóvar". When asked why he thinks the show is successful, actor Paco León said that the characters and style drove it, and "it's like, all of a sudden Almodóvar had made a television series in the eighties", while Manuel Betancourt, in a write-up before the show premiered, described it as "what would happen if Almodóvar finally caved and wrote a TV show, sprinkled some of
Las Aparicio family melodrama in, and decided that it needed some of the queer vibe that Paco León's own films have been mining". is seen as a large influence on the series Critic Nader notes that these Almodóvar "aesthetics" may annoy some viewers, but that he enjoyed "[t]he colors, the faces and mouths, the absurd situations, the masculine nudes, the obviously tacky costumes and scenery" that make it this style. Mariana Motta said that the satirical takes on telenovela tropes allowed comparison to Almodóvar, herself comparing the show's handling of topics that traditional society sees as perversion to
The Skin I Live In and saying that "the use of angles and colors that express more than dialogue can, and the use of music and intertextuality, translate for the Mexican experience what the acclaimed director does with Spanish society". Writing for
Fuera de series, Marina Such said that the darkly comedic melodrama and the contrasting settings of the two House of Flowers establishments give the show its Almodóvar feel from the outset, noting that the character María José could be from
Todo sobre mi madre (
All About My Mother); Carlos Aguilar suggested that the "Almodóvar-esque drama" may be an aspect that endears the show to English speakers, while Andrew Pulver of
The Guardian compared the aesthetics, writing that since the show is "heavily influenced by Pedro Almodóvar, it's a visual treat". In his scathing review, Pavel Gaona negatively compared the two, saying that "there is a huge difference between taking something [Almodóvar] as a reference and another in practically making a carbon copy and doing it wrong", and that Manolo Caro should "seek his own voice and aesthetics" rather than emulate Almodóvar's techniques without the same naturalness. Smith refers to the series as showcasing an innovation in aesthetics through "the appeal to a lush 'Almodóvarian' style". However, he writes that "the series' tone comes too close to early Almodóvar for comfort" with the inclusion of a drag bar, particularly one featuring campy eighties Spanish pop.
Accolades Awards and nominations At the
2019 Platino Awards, the main international film and television awards for
Ibero-American media, the show was nominated in two categories. Also co-hosting the ceremony, Cecilia Suárez was nominated as
Best Actress in the television category, which she won. In the Best Miniseries or Television Series category,
The House of Flowers was nominated but lost to the Paco León-created
Arde Madrid. At the , Paco León was nominated in the Best Actor in an International Production category for
The House of Flowers, though he did not win; he was notably not nominated for his role as Manolo in his own show,
Arde Madrid, which won in each category it was nominated. For the 2018/19 PRODU Awards, the show was nominated in five categories, with three nominations for Manolo Caro, and won in two. Verónica Castro won as Best Actress and Caro as Best Director. In 2020, the show received nominations for the for both León siblings; Caro was also nominated in these awards, but for acting in
Brigada Costa del Sol. For the
2020 Platino Awards, the show received the third-most television acting nominations (three), including two for Mariana Treviño and Juan Pablo Medina in the new Supporting categories; only Suárez won, repeating her Best Actress win from 2019. At the
2021 Platino Awards, Suárez was the show's only nominee, in the same category, with Caro's second Netflix show also being in contention. Suárez won the IB Public Choice award for TV actress but not the main award.
Best-of lists The show has made two 'best-of' lists created by
The Hollywood Reporter. In 2018, it was listed in its own entry (separate to the entry for
Spanish-language Netflix originals in general) on the list of the top 10 international television moments of the year, being celebrated for "[putting] a racy and decidedly more contemporary spin on the telenovela genre" to save it from "losing viewers to melodramatic, action-packed narco series". In 2019, Caro was included on their list of the best showrunners for creating, writing, and directing it, with Scott Roxborough saying that he "has a knack for [mixing] telenovela plots with a sharp ear for dialogue and a stand-up's sense of timing". Suárez and her role as Paulina in
The House of Flowers were included in an
Entertainment Tonight list in December 2018 as the only Spanish-language star and show of the thirteen shows said to have contributed to the "rise of the Latinx TV Star" in the US that year. In February 2019,
Screen Rant listed it as the eighth best Spanish-language show available on Netflix in its top 10, saying "there is absolutely no going wrong with [it]". The series was listed as the sixth best foreign-language TV show on Netflix in
The Daily Dot's top 15, which said that "there's a winking comedic playfulness throughout the show, which offers good old-fashioned soapy gloss with some modern renovations". Media reviewers for
La Tercera placed the series as number 70 of its '70 best series of all time that you can watch on Netflix' list, saying that it is "certainly going to be a classic". On April 17, 2020, the show, about to release its final season, was included on
The Guardian's 'Best home entertainment' list. ==See also==