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The sci-fi psychological thriller series, Severance, brings viewers into a strange world of surgical procedures and a work-life balance from hell. In the series, a group of people are hired by the mysterious company Lumon, a place where, in order to be an employee, you must go under a procedure that separates their memories. While at work, they remember nothing of the outside world, and while outside of work, they remember nothing of the office. The suspenseful, mysterious, and downright terrifying premise of lost memories and the concept of a corporate takeover make Severance a must-watch thriller. And it isn’t the only show out there with those psychological themes and dystopian concepts.

With series such as Silo and Station Eleven, viewers are brought into dystopian futures where pandemics rage across the land, bringing in people who think they know what’s best for the population. In Orphan Black, viewers watch as the main character realizes her life has been manufactured, and she is nothing more than a clone in a larger conspiracy. So, buckle up because these psychological thrillers are great options for anyone who enjoys the series Severance.

10

‘Station Eleven’ (2021-2022)

Created by Patrick Somerville

Image via Max

Based on Emily St. John Mande’s 2014 novel, Station Eleven brings viewers into a dystopian future where a flu pandemic is the cause of a collapse in civilization. The series follows a group of traveling performers known as the Traveling Symphony in the post-pandemic world, a group of people who try their best to find happiness in an otherwise pretty bleak world. While on their journey, they stumble upon a violent cult, one of whom is, unknowing to the troupe, linked to one of their members. What happens next is a mystery that unravels everything that people thought they knew.

The miniseries looks into the themes of healing and how literature, music, and theater are both therapeutic while also having a way for people to escape the circumstances in which they find themselves living. Station Eleven is a slow-burn thriller, jumping between alternating timelines before the pandemic and the present day. It is an interesting take on what people will do when given even a little bit of power and how they will hold that power over other people’s heads until they get what they want.

9

‘Silo’ (2023-)

Created by Graham Yost

Tim Robbins as Bernard wearing round glasses with his hands folded in Silo Season 2.
Image via Apple TV+

Based on Graham Yost’s Silo novels, Silo follows Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson), an engineer who works on the generators on the bottom levels of the homestead. Set in a dystopian future and living in a Silo diving 144 stories underground with 10,000 other people, Juliette begins to question the inner workings of the place. The Silo is shrouded in mysteries and secrets, as no one knows why they went there or what is on the surface, if anything. With all the histories of their past destroyed, the people within the Silo have no idea how they came to live there or why. All they know is that discussing anything to do with the outside world or the past is punishable. The punishment is being thrown to the surface, and people never return.

The series is interesting as it moves from a conspiracy thriller and police procedural to an end-of-times romance and big-picture social commentary on government control. It is an intense story of lies and deception, or people wanting to learn the truth about their past so they can pave a new way for their future and future generations. Like Severance, it is a story about people getting out from under the control of others and learning the truth about themselves and society as a whole.

8

‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)

Created by Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta

Carrie Coon clutches her heart after falling to her knees as she weeps in anguish in The Leftovers.
Image via HBO

The Leftovers explores a dystopian world full of people who were left behind during what is known as the “Sudden Departure.” After 2% of the world’s population mysteriously disappears, the remaining people have to deal with the “new normal” in a place where everything has changed: family members have disappeared, friends are gone forever, and there is no semblance of an actual society. In a new era of religious cults, the characters are stuck with more questions than answers.

The story is artfully told, with plot twists around each corner and thought-provoking questions that will leave viewers in suspense and yet wanting to figure out what happened to the population. The Leftovers is one of those shows that gets better as the seasons progress, with relevant characters who are just trying to find answers in the world around them and the mystery surrounding each episode. One of those shows that is amazing from start to finish, The Leftovers, shows viewers what happens when society is at a standstill, and people take matters into their own hands, for better or for worse.

7

‘Fringe’ (2008-2013)

Created By J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, & Roberto Orci

John Noble holds Anna Torv who is scared, while Joshua Jackson & Jasika Nicole are nearby in Fringe.
Image via Fox

Fringe follows FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) as she works alongside Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson) in a pretty mysterious department. The series shows the team dabbling in fringe science in order to understand unnatural instances in time that are linked to a parallel universe and an alternate timeline. While working on that, they come across the impossible (more impossible?), alternate versions of themselves. Actually, more so, evil versions of themselves make it impossible to know who they can and cannot trust as their “fringe selves” try to take over their world.

This particular sci-fi series is mixed with “monster of the week” episodes and an overarching mythology that rules the narrative. It shows the consequences of human action and the theme of good vs. evil, which, in this case, the evil, antagonistic characters aren’t random. With actors playing two different versions of themselves, it makes it difficult to know who is telling an accurate side of the narrative. Even so, the suspense and themes are what make Fringe a series worth watching. It is one of the best sci-fi series of the 2000s.

6

‘Black Mirror’ (2011-)

Created by Charlie Brooker

Wyatt Russell as Cooper in Black Mirror Playtest looking like he's in pain.
Image via Netflix

Black Mirror looks into the human psyche, what people would do, and how society would act with certain technologies out in the world. With things like video-recording contact lenses, a mind chip that allows sick, elderly people to go into an alternate universe, and even a ranking system that boosts people’s standing in society, the anthology is a terrifying look at what life would be like if these things were real. It digs into social issues, similar to that of the corporate world taking over lives in Severance.

Speculative fiction, Black Mirror is a mind-bending sci-fi series that hangs on paranoia and social issues to display a complex narrative in each episode, something that is thought-provoking and sinister at the same time. With plot twists and horrible circumstances awaiting select characters, the sci-fi thriller anthology contains short stories about what would happen to the world if humans let technology rule their lives. The anthology is similar to that of Severance, with new technology being utilized and people thinking they can take over aspects of others’ lives without their consent.

5

‘Westworld’ (2016-2022)

Created by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy

Jeffrey Wright as Berard in Westworld Season 3.
Image via HBO

Based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film, Westworld starts off as a fun premise but quickly turns into a nightmare full of artificial intelligence ruling the world. The story is set in Westworld, a Wild West-themed amusement park run by android “hosts.” It is a place where literally anything goes, as long as you pay the entrance fee, without fear of retaliation from the robots. But, with most robot-led entertainment, they take over. Years later, the androids are now in charge, and the concept of Westworld is no longer for only those who are able to afford it.

Westworld is one of the best sci-fi thriller series out there, mixing together a horrifying world of AI control and people getting their consciousness programmed into androids. It is similar to Severance, as people’s minds are being taken over by some sort of technology and free will being thrown to the wayside. With powerful visuals and a thought-provoking, intelligent narrative, Westworld is a bingeworthy series that people who enjoy Severance will thoroughly like.

4

‘Mr. Robot’ (2015-2019)

Created by Sam Esmail

Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson wearing a hoodie and looking to his right on a crowded street in Mr. Robot.
Image via USA Network

The thriller Mr. Robot is unique in that the plot revolves around an unreliable protagonist, Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek). A senior cybersecurity engineer working for AllSafe Cybersecurity while also hacking his way through peoples’ personal finances as a vigilante hacker, Elliot is interesting because he has dissociative identity disorder (DID) and other mental disorders, circumstances that prompt him to take drugs. Due to this, viewers never really know if Elliot is telling the truth or if he is just talking his way out of sticky situations. Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) doesn’t care about that, though. He just wants Elliot’s cyber expertise to take down corporate America by any means necessary.

The psychological thriller is dark and mysterious, taking viewers on a journey through the hacking underground where nothing is off the table. Yet, they might be unsure if Elliot is doing this for the right reasons. Like Severance, Mr. Robot deals with the corporate world, something Elliot believes is taking over and ruining the world as he knows it. It is an interesting and thought-provoking series, even if the main character is an anti-hero who viewers can’t really trust!

3

‘The Man in the High Castle’ (2015-2019)

Created by Frank Spotnitz

A woman sits in a darkened room and looks worried in The Man in the High Castle.
Image via Prime Video

The Man in the High Castle is a sci-fi thriller based on Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name and brings viewers to a shockingly horrifying alternative timeline. Taking a journey back to the 1960s, two decades after World War II, when the Axis Powers won the war, the series looks at the world through a completely different lens, one where there are rebels, alliances, and Nazi symbols are the norm. The thing is, the rebel alliances have a different thought process, and they aren’t going to sit around and allow the Axis Powers to rule anymore. In fact, they have reason to believe the Allies actually won the war. And there is proof.

A thrilling series that gets more intense as the story goes on. The Man in the High Castle starts with nothing more than a roll of film that holds the truth about the war and progresses to a life-or-death journey. Like Severance, this series is all about finding out the truth of one’s situation, no matter how horrifying that truth may be. It is about going through trials and tribulations in order to get one’s life back, no matter the circumstances or outcome. While it might not have to do with technological implants, The Man in the High Castle is still an amazing sci-fi thriller that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

2

‘Counterpart’ (2017–2019)

Created by Justin Marks

J.K. Simmons talking to a man, seriously, with his hand raised, in 'Counterpart'.
Image via Starz

Counterpart is set in an alternate timeline in Berlin as Howard Silk (J. K. Simmons) learns his spy agency is harboring quite a secret– a gateway to a parallel dimension. The two dimensions are in a Cold War-like feud, and Silk winds up in the middle of it. In a world of government conspiracy, Silk can’t trust anyone. Well, everyone except Prime, his parallel-dimension self, brings Silk into a world unlike anything he knew before. Conspiracy and espionage were not on the table for the low-level agent before he stumbled upon the gate. Now, he is in it for the long haul.

The series has great suspense throughout its two seasons and brings to light a lot of unanswered questions that viewers will want answers to. Simmons gives an outstanding performance, depicting two people with the same face and yet very different personalities as they have to learn to work with one another. While it is a wildly different series than Severance, it still deals with a high-level conspiracy revolving around a group of individuals who believe they know what’s best for the world as a whole. It is an underappreciated sci-fi series that people should not overlook.

1

‘Orphan Black’ (2013-2017)

Created by Graeme Manson & John Fawcett

Tatiana Maslany as Sarah and Helena look worried standing in the woods at night in Orphan Black.
Image via BBC America

Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) is a British con artist who is uprooted to America. That’s when her whole life trunks upside down. She witnesses the suicide of Beth, someone who, weirdly enough, looks exactly like her. So, being the con artist she is, Sarah decides to steal Beth’s identity, becoming Beth’s cop persona and learning that she was actually trying to unravel a conspiracy that led to her death. Throughout all of this, Sarah learns that she is actually a clone, someone whose life was manufactured and is now in the middle of a complex web of lies and coverups.

Orphan Black is a wild ride, to say the least. It brings viewers into a crazy world full of government experiments, conspiracy, and religious groups, all while centering around a woman who wants nothing more than to keep herself, her brother, and her daughter alive while also finding out the truth of her conception. Fans of Severance are bound to enjoy this series’ intense narrative and concepts, bringing to light an innovative premise within the sci-fi thriller genre.

NEXT:The 15 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows of All Time, Ranked

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