'The Mess You Leave Behind': Why did Elvira end her life? Here’s why Raquel tries to unravel the mystery

The creators of 'Elite' are returning to Netflix with yet another intriguing Spanish thriller series called ‘The Mess You Leave Behind’, whose original title is ‘El desorden que dejas’. The series is based on the novel of the same name authored by Carlos Montero himself and promises to leave you spellbound with the story of Raquel. 

The official synopsis for ‘The Mess You Leave Behind’ reads, “A teacher starts her job at a high school but is haunted by a suspicious death that occurred there weeks before... and begins fearing for her own life.” Meanwhile, the trailer shows the protagonist take up a job at a small town in the interior of Galia as a substitute teacher. As time progresses she learns about the death of her predecessor Elvira and takes it upon herself to find the truth behind it. 

But why did Elvira take her life in the first place? And why is Raquel so deeply impacted by a stranger’s death? Montero told in an interview with Variety that Elvira commits suicide unable to deal with her bullying students. The series focuses on the less-talked-about topic of students harassing teachers. Even though the actions of a few led to the death of Raquel’s predecessor, the new teacher isn’t spared the treatment. She is received with hostility and tormented by the behavior of her students, she begins to dig deep into Elvira’s life and death. 

The director says, “That main plotline is the theme of the novel: the mess left behind by the absence of a recently deceased person or a loved one when they leave and you find yourself rebuilding your life.” The statement also teases a possible relationship between Raquel and Elvira, which also explains why the former is unduly curious about what happened to the previous teacher. 

Dubbed as ‘domestic noir’, the Spanish series is expected to show mystery from a domestic point of view. Furthermore, the series uses Galicia as the background, the same place where Montero penned down his novel.  “ I knew that if I made it take place here, even if the story had a lot of mystery and intrigue, it was always going to feel true because I knew the world of the characters. I know what’s going on in their heads. I understand these Galician teenagers very well because I was one of them,” he explained. 

Can Raquel evade the toxicity of harassment and unravel the mystery surrounding Elivar’s death or will she also fall prey to bullying? ‘The Mess You Leave Behind’ drops on December 11 on Netflix.