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Which dystopia would you rather live in: the year we’re currently having, or one of these fictional universes? For many people, it seems the answer is anywhere but here. At a time when everything feels like it’s falling apart, people have taken more interest than ever in dystopian sci-fi, worst-case scenario visions of what past authors feared would come to pass. Maybe watching others fight through unprecedented grimness makes us feel better about fighting our own — or maybe the universe just has a dark sense of humor. Either way, dystopian fiction is blessedly back on the rise, and it makes for some seriously bingeable TV. From classics like Westworld and Black Mirror to cult favorites 3% or The 100, your dystopian TV playlist is waiting below.
While the worlds represented in these various dystopian worlds vary greatly, ranging from an infiltration of zombies to eyesight being wiped out, theocratic rulers taking over, and more, the central question of many of these TV shows remains the same. How will the irrepressible human desire to be known, loved, and free fight its way out of these new confines? In a world where all seems lost, how does that first spark of humanity flicker back?
Dystopian cinema has plenty to offer in terms of CGI and production design, and the aesthetics of these imagined worlds alone are awe-inspiring. But I have a feeling it’s this triumph of the human spirit that keeps us returning to the dystopian genre now more than ever, when we need inspiration from heroes whose mounting obstacles mirror our own.
Art imitates life in these dystopian TV shows — by watching them, and being inspired by their heroes, we can make sure life imitates art right back.
A version of this story was originally published in 2020.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, shows a theocratic society where women are delegated as noblewomen’s Wives or Handmaids, and the latter are forced to bear children for their Commander and wife. This chillingly realistic depiction of the war on women’s rights is always good for a scare.
‘Snowpiercer’
After the world has become a frozen wasteland, humanity is stuck in a moving train that’s corrupted with war, social injustice, and more. Starring Jennifer Connelly and Sean Bean, Snowpiercer gets as crazy as it can be.
‘Dark Matter’
Dark Matter is all about a group of strangers and a female android team up to find answers after they wake up abandoned in a spaceship in the 27th century, with no memory of what happened before.
Watch it on Netflix.
‘Humans’
In Humans, every wealthy household has a highly-developed robotic servant, but Gemma Chan‘s character Mia, who’s slowly learning how to mimic a human. This dark sci-fi deserves a lot more attention, to be honest.
‘Into the Badlands’
Into the Badlands follows a boy and a young man who share a supernatural gift that helps them make a group to take down the feudal barons that control America in this timeline.
Watch it on Netflix.
’12 Monkeys’
12 Monkeys follows a time traveler who travels back to the present time to destroy a deadly plague that’ll eventually wipe out the human race. Anything with a pandemic hits too close to home right now, right?
‘Station Eleven’
HBO Max’s Station Eleven, based on the hit novel by Emily St. John Mandel, has managed the impossible: It’s a successful show about a deadly pandemic airing while we are still in the midst of our very own deadly pandemic. While the early episodes of this show may feel all too real, the story goes on to show a post-pandemic world that, while brutal, channels the best of humanity and genuine hope.
Watch here.
‘Black Mirror’
Black Mirror helped bring dystopian TV back in a major way, with each episode envisioning a different, slightly-to-very terrifying dystopia with its own consequences.
Watch here.
‘Brave New World’
Peacock’s Brave New World, based on the classic Aldous Huxley novel, takes a look at what happens when John the Savage joins the World State elites in New London as seeds of carefully bred-out dissatisfaction begin to creep back in to their mindless, painless world.
Watch here.
‘Continuum’
In 2077, corporations have taken over North America, and a resistant group called Liber8 are determined to set things right through time travel. They go back to 2012, but accidentally bring a law enforcement officer along who tries to sabotage them at every turn.
‘The Leftovers’
The Leftovers, based on Tom Perrotta’s novel, imagines a world where 2% of the world suddenly vanishes. Years later, no one knows how, why, or where they went — and it’s the not knowing that haunts this new world as much as the grief, sending those driven mad by one or the other into the arms of new religions, cults, or radical apathy. Bonus: It’s some of Justin Theroux’s best work.
‘The Man in the High Castle’
Here’s some (scary) food for thought: What if Germany and Japan won WWII? As the Axis powers continue to spread unchecked through North America, we see an alternate timeline of civil unrest — and then another, and another.
‘See’
Jason Momoa’s Apple TV series See looks at a future world where a virus wiped out most of the population and left those who survived blind. Centuries later, Momoa’s twins are born with sight, and he does everything in his power to protect them from those who view it as a threat.
Watch here.
‘The Walking Dead’
Truly the mother of all dystopias, The Walking Dead gives us a straight-up zombie apocalypse — with poor Rick Grimes waking up from a coma right into the thick of it. There are 10 seasons of zombie-bashing, heart-crushing episodes, so get watchin’!
‘Fringe’
This special Federal Task Force supported by the FBI deals with mysteries on the fringe of science and science fiction. The more they find out, the more the fabric of their world falls apart, and reveals its many secrets.
‘3%’
In Netflix’s 3%, three percent of the population lives on a secluded island and enjoys wealth and luxury. When the citizens of São Paulo, Brazil turn 20, they can sign up for the “Process” for a chance to join them, a series of life-threatening challenges with everything at stake.
Watch here.
‘Westworld’
Westworld‘s dystopia involves a theme park full of programmed hosts to let humans live out their ugliest fantasies — it also involves an uprising of those hosts, exploration of memory and identity, and larger questions about the programming in our society.
‘Weird City’
Weird City is a rare comedic addition to the dystopian TV genre, and follows the future city of Weird, where “Haves” live above The Lines and “Have Nots” live below. Each episode looks at a different character’s life.
Watch here.
‘The Society’
Big Little Lies‘ Kathryn Newton takes center stage in The Society, a drama about a Connecticut town from which everyone but a group of teenagers disappears. Their town is cut off from the outside world, and they need to figure out how to survive with only what they have.
Watch here.
‘The 100’
When the world is destroyed in a nuclear apocalypse, only those who had been living on orbiting space stations survive. Years later, a group of juvenile delinquents are released back on to Earth in the hopes of repopulating the planet.
‘Jeremiah’
This one hits a little close to home — but for our beloved Luke Perry, we’re willing to make an exception. Perry is one of a few survivors of a virus that wiped out nearly the whole population, only leaving those who hadn’t yet hit puberty to survive and rebuild the world on their own.
‘Incorporated’
Incorporated pictures a 2074 world where powerful corporations rule the world. Aaron Sloane has been working undercover for years rising through the ranks in order to rescue his childhood sweetheart, who works as an escort for company executives.
‘Colony’
In Colony, an alien race has taken over Earth and enforced a militant rule under obedient human leaders. The Bowman family try to survive while doing what they can for a growing Resistance — but most of all, they try to keep their family together.
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