Debapriya Bhattacharya
Based on Tamara Trottner’s memoir of the same name, ‘No One Saw Us Leave’ tells the story of the author’s mother, Valeria Goldberg (Tessa Ia). A young wife and mother of two, Valeria feels trapped in her marriage with Leo Saltzman (Emiliano Zurita), son of a Jewish business tycoon in Mexico. When she falls in love with another man, her orthodox father-in-law arranges for Leo to take away his children, Tamara (Marion Siro) and Isaac (Alexander Varela), away from their mother.
After Valeria finds her children missing, she sets out to get them back with the help of a former Mossad agent-turned-private investigator. The chase takes her across the Atlantic to Paris, and then to more places as Leo remains desperate to avoid her despite doubting his own endgame. Originally titled ‘Nadie nos vio partir,’ the Netflix limited series created by Maria Camila Arias wrecks the heart with the dramatic true story. If you are looking forward for more shows similar to ‘No One Saw Us Leave’ to binge, the following list is perfect for you.
10. Absentia (2017-2020)
From the minds of Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick, ‘Absentia’ centers around Emily Byrne (Stana Katic), a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who drops off the face of the Earth while on the tail of a notorious serial killer in Boston. Six years later, Emily turns up in a cabin in the woods with no memory of the years she has been missing. Returning home, she discovers that she has been declared dead in absentia, and her husband is raising their child with his new wife. Things turn further south as a series of new murders points to Emily as the prime suspect. Similar to Valeria in ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ Emily receives a nasty shock when she sees her husband moving on with her children without her.
9. The Family (2016)
Created by Jenna Bans, ‘The Family’ revolves around the politically powerful and influential Warren family in the fictional city of Red Pines in Maine. Matriarch Claire Warren (Joan Allen), the Mayor of the city, decides to run in the gubernatorial race. However, things go off the rails for her when her son Adam (Liam James) returns home after a decade of being kidnapped. Much like ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ the mother and her child are reunited after a long time, while an illicit affair splits up the family.
8. Little Bird (2023)
Helmed by Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch, ‘Little Bird’ tells the story of Bezhig Little Bird, a five-year-old indigenous girl from the Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan, who gets taken away from her loving family by Child Protection Services after getting involved in an incident with the Canadian police alongside her brother. Placed in foster care, she is adopted by a Jewish family in Montreal and is renamed Esther Rosenblum. After becoming a lawyer and getting engaged years later, when Esther has trouble with her fiancé’s family, she is motivated to return to her birthplace and search for her original family. The show focuses on a woman trying to reunite with her family, similar to ‘No One Saw Us Leave.’
7. Found (2023-2025)
‘Found’ by Nkechi Okoro Carroll stars Shanola Hampton as Gabrielle “Gabi” Mosely, a kidnapping survivor who grows up to become a public relations specialist and crisis manager. She leads a team of associates who have been personally affected by kidnapping to help find missing people when the law enforcement department falls short. In a sinister turn of events, Gabi secretly abducts her own childhood kidnapper and keeps him in her basement. She occasionally uses him to gain insight into the minds of kidnappers, aiding her work in reuniting families, much like the one in ‘No One Saw Us Leave.’
6. Thirteen (2016)
From the mind of Marnie Dickens, ‘Thirteen’ tells the story of Ivy Moxam (Jodie Comer), a young girl who gets kidnapped at the age of 13. She escapes from a house in Bristol thirteen years later and attempts to reunite with her family and friends. When police officials seek her help in capturing her abductor, Ivy ends up sharing sketchy details, leading to many believing that she has not always been locked up against her will. However, the situation turns serious when another girl gets kidnapped, likely by the same perpetrator. Similar to the children being abducted by their father in ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ there seems to have been some connection between Ivy and the kidnapper in ‘Thirteen.’
5. DNA (2019-)
Created by Torleif Hoppe, ‘DNA’ follows Rolf Larsen (Anders W. Berthelsen), a police detective in Copenhagen whose baby daughter goes tragically missing. A devastated Rolf spends five years looking for her without success, before realizing that the national DNA database of the Danish police has a serious flaw. This gives him hope that there is a possibility of his daughter being alive. He tries a different approach to finding her by investigating a similar case, which concerns an international child trafficking ring. Much like with Valeria Goldberg in ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ ‘DNA’ is about a parent’s undying efforts to be reunited with their child.
4. Kiri (2018)
‘Kiri,’ also known as ‘National Treasure: Kiri,’ revolves around the kidnapping of Kiri Akindele (Felicia Mukasa), a nine-year-old black girl in Bristol. Prior to the incident, Kiki has been living with her foster parents, Jim (Steven Mackintosh) and Alice Warner (Lia Williams), and their teenage son. The white couple took her in when she was four and has been working towards adopting her. The child’s care has been overseen by Miriam Grayson (Sarah Lancashire), a social worker who has been taking her to visit her grandfather, Tobi Akindele (Lucian Msamati), once a month. Meanwhile, Kiki’s birth father, Nathanial (Paapa Essiedu), has been forbidden to get in touch with her because of his criminal history. Like ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ Kiri’s disappearance brings the entire family under investigation.
3. The Missing (2014-2016)
Helmed by brothers Harry and Jack Williams, ‘The Missing’ is about Tony (James Nesbitt), an Englishman whose son gets abducted during a family holiday to France. The incident devastates Tony, and he continues to look to him for the next eight years. His obsession with getting his son back puts a strain on his marriage and his life in general, but Tony refuses to give up hope. The French detective assigned to the case, who is retired in time, is persuaded by Tony’s relentless spirit to believe that the boy may still be around. Similar to ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ the show centers on a parent’s obsession with being reunited with their child.
2. The Stolen Girl (2025)
Adapted from Alex Dahl’s novel ‘Playdate’ by Catherine Moulton, ‘The Stolen Girl’ chronicles the harrowing incident that upends the life of Elisa (Denise Gough) and Fred Blix (Jim Sturgess). Upon her 9-year-old daughter’s request, Elisa allows her to spend the night at her new best friend’s home during a playdate. However, the following day, when she returns with her husband to pick up the child, they are shocked to discover that the house is a holiday rental and their daughter has disappeared, along with the people Elise left her with. A manhunt is conducted across Europe as the police get involved, similar to what is seen in ‘No One Saw Us Leave.’
1. A Friend of the Family (2022)
Created by Nick Antosca, ‘A Friend of the Family’ is a dramatic retelling of the true story of the Broberg family in the 1970s. Robert Berchtold (Jake Lacy) becomes a dear friend of the family, charming every member with his easygoing and sincere manners. However, a more sinister character presents itself over time, as Bob integrates himself into the family and kidnaps young Jan Broberg twice, and tries to turn her against her family. Much like Valeria’s children being abducted by her husband in ‘No One Saw Us Leave,’ the Broberg couple has their child taken away by a person they considered to be one of their own.
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