entertainment / Tuesday, 26-Aug-2025

9 Best Shows & Movies To Watch On Streaming If You Already Miss Severance

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2.Now that Severance season 2 is over and the wait for season 3 has begun, fans of Adam Scott's intense sci-fi mystery show may need a new series or movie to watch to bide the time, and these nine options are all tremendous in their own rights. The cliffhanger ending of Severance season 2 likely has fans on edge and wanting more of the show. Severance season 3 has been confirmed, but it's still a long ways off, and many of the show's biggest mysteries seem to be at least a year away from being answered.

Luckily, there are plenty of movies and shows that can help make the time between Severance seasons 2 and 3 pass quicker. Severance is also such a varied show - it touches on everything from mystery to sci-fi dystopias and tragic love stories - that it has a lot of parallels. These nine movies and shows all offer something that fans of Severance will enjoy, and while they can't solve all the questions Severance season 3 needs to answer, they can scratch the itch of the acclaimed series' absence.

9 From

Stream On: MGM+, Fubo

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Your Rating

From
8/10
779
9.5/10
Release Date
February 20, 2022
Network
Epix, MGM+

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Harold Perrineau In The World premiere event for Disney+ original series 'Rennervations'
    Harold Perrineau
    Boyd Stevens
  • Headshot Of Catalina Sandino Moreno
    Catalina Sandino Moreno
    Tabitha Matthews

Severance is a deeply disturbing show on an existential level, but for anyone who wants a more outright unsettling series to binge, From is a perfect option. From is a horror/mystery show that centers around a town that traps and terrorizes everyone who enters. Without getting into spoilers, Severance fans will find quite a bit to like about From, including its hellish town that feels like a prison in the same way Lumon's severed floor does to its interesting cast of characters that are as easy to root for as the innies.

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10 Biggest Mysteries & Unanswered Questions From Season 4 Must Solve

Some of From's biggest mysteries were solved in season 3, but there are still major unanswered questions that remain heading into season 4.

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The main reason to watch From after Severance, however, is the mystery of it all. Severance's various mysteries, like Gemma taking the crib apart or countless others, are reflected in From's confusing details, like the Man in Yellow. Viewers will have no shortage of questions that are enthralling to see answered and confusing twists that no one could predict. It may be a bit scarier than Severance, but From is just as delightful to unravel.

8 Lost

Stream On: Netflix, Hulu

Lost Poster

Your Rating

Lost
9/10
158
8.4/10
Release Date
2004 - 2010-00-00
Network
ABC

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Evangeline Lilly In The UK Gala Screening of
    Evangeline Lilly
  • Headshot Of Naveen Andrews In The 12th Annual SAG Awards
    Naveen Andrews

Showrunner
Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse

Severance has captured viewers' attention and spawned countless fan theories since it debuted in 2022, which is very reminiscent to the cultural impact Lost had in 2004. Lost follows a group of plane crash survivors who are stranded on a supernatural and deeply mysterious island. It's not a bleak corporate setting, but Lost's island is just as confusing and deeply intriguing as Lumon is in Severance. Anyone who can't stand waiting for Severance to unravel all of its conspiracies and hidden agendas can get some instant satisfaction out of Lost, which had its controversial finale years ago.

7 Minority Report

Stream On: Paramount+

Your Rating

Minority Report
8/10
9.6/10
Release Date
June 21, 2002
Runtime
145 minutes

While it is much more of an action movie than Severance, Tom Cruise's Minority Report can more than scratch the itch of fans looking for another sci-fi mystery thriller. Minority Report follows John, a member of the "Precrime" division of the Washington D.C. police who targets people who are going to commit murder with the help of psychics who can predict the future. John is then singled out as a future killer, and he goes on the run in the cyberpunk dystopia. The plots differ significantly, but the dystopian world of Minority Report is quite similar to that of Severance.

6 Devs

Stream On: Hulu

Your Rating

Devs
11
8.4/10
Release Date
2020 - 2020-00-00
Network
FX

Cast

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Showrunner
Alex Garland

Lumon, the mysterious, possibly tech-based, evil company is one of the best parts of Severance, and Devs has one of the best counterparts to it. In Devs, Lily begins investigating the shady company Amaya, who is somehow involved in the realm of quantum computing, after the death of her boyfriend, Sergei. Devs blurs the line between science fiction and mystery in a similarly compelling way to Severance, and its mystery is just as engaging. Unfortunately, Devs only ran for one season, so unlike Severance, there probably won't be any answers in store.

5 Westworld

Stream On: Max

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Your Rating

Westworld
6/10
57
8.5/10
Release Date
2016 - 2022
Network
HBO

Cast

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Showrunner
Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy

Long before Severance coined the idea of innies and outies, HBO's Westworld already tackled the idea of a workforce comprised of sci-fi slaves who rise up against their oppressors. In Westworld, a group of androids known as hosts go from entertaining guests at a Western-themed resort to taking over the entire human race. The earlier seasons of Westworld touch on a lot of the same oppressive workplace drama that made Severance the sensation it is, but it added a new layer of dehumanization on top.

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The true purpose of Macrodata Refinement's job and the meanings behind the number clusters are finally revealed in Severance's season 2 finale.

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Westworld may be a bit more high-concept sci-fi than Severance, as it does deal with artificial intelligence, but it asks all the same biting questions. Viewers who watch either Westworld or Severance will walk away wondering what it means to be human, and what amount of abuse and pain crosses the threshold of being intolerable. Plus, with four seasons, Westworld should more than help bridge the gap between Severance seasons 2 and 3.

4 Sorry to Bother You

Stream On: Hulu

Your Rating

Sorry to Bother You
9/10
8.0/10
Release Date
July 13, 2018
Runtime
112 Minutes

Cast

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There are quite a few baffling moments in Severance that later proved to be strokes of genius, and no movie captures that uncanny ability to find profundity in the ridiculous like Sorry to Bother You. In Sorry to Bother You, LaKeith Stanfield plays Cash, a Black man who takes on a white voice to succeed at his job as a telemarketer, only to discover that the company he works for is involved in weapons contracts, slave labor, and truly bonkers genetic experimentation. Sorry to Bother You has all the anti-corporate messaging of Severance, and it has the same thrilling sci-fi mysteries to unravel.

Sorry to Bother You has all the anti-corporate messaging of Severance, and it has the same thrilling sci-fi mysteries to unravel.

One of the best parts of both Severance and Sorry to Bother You is their morally questionable protagonists. Mark Scout spends much of Severance being a jerk and caring only about himself, while Cash's journey through Sorry to Bother You is similarly self-serving. Both Mark and Cash experience a huge amount of character development, however, and they both end up tearing at the fabric of their dystopian corporations.

3 Nineteen Eighty-Four

Stream On: MGM+, Fubo

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Your Rating

Nineteen Eighty-Four
Release Date
October 10, 1984
Runtime
113 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of John Hurt In The UK premiere of Melancholia
    Winston Smith
  • Cast Placeholder Image
    Richard Burton
    O'Brien
  • Cast Placeholder Image
    Suzanna Hamilton
    Julia
  • Cast Placeholder Image
    Cyril Cusack
    Charrington

A large part of life as an innie in Severance, particularly in the first season, was characterized by constant and omnipresent surveillance. The very idea of such an authoritarian power system was basically created by George Orwell's timeless novel "1984," and there's no better film adaptation than 1984's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Like in Severance, Nineteen Eighty-Four follows Winston Smith, a man who lives under the constant surveillance of "Big Brother," a boogeyman created to compel the people of Oceania to obey the powers that be even in the inner workings of their minds.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is possibly even more bleak and dystopian than Severance is, but the similarities run deeper than that. A major part of Nineteen Eighty-Four is the romantic relationship between Winston and Julia, just as Severance is largely about the different Marks and their relationships to Helly R. and Gemma. Winston even faces a similarly devastating choice at the end of Nineteen Eighty-Four that Mark S. does at the end of Severance season 2, though the former is (hopefully) more depressing than the latter.

2 The Truman Show

Stream On: Hulu, The Criterion Channel

Your Rating

The Truman Show
10/10
26
8.7/10
Release Date
June 5, 1998
Runtime
103 minutes

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Ed Harris
    Ed Harris
  • Headshot Of Natascha McElhone
    Natascha McElhone

In the sub-genre of stories about people questioning the very foundation of their reality, as the innies do in Severance, no movie has ever been able to top Jim Carrey's The Truman Show. In The Truman Show, Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man who has had every second of his life televised to a worldwide audience. The film follows Truman as he slowly whittles away the confines of his fake life to emerge in the real world, free from his TV producer overlord, Christof (Ed Helms). The Truman Show is an utter masterpiece, and it was no doubt one of many inspirations for Severance.

Related
What Happens To Jim Carrey’s Truman After The Truman Show

Though The Truman Show's ending is perfect, some viewers may wonder what Jim Carrey's Truman does after entering the real world for the first time.

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The Truman Show and Severance have countless similarities, but it's their differences that makes the former such a good option to watch. The Truman Show is infinitely more hopeful than Severance, which may help make the wait for Severance season 3 more bearable. Truman's happy and triumphant ending can act as a bandage to help heal the wound of Mark's less than decisive finale in Severance season 2.

1 Maniac

Stream On: Netflix

Maniac Show Poster

Your Rating

Maniac
7.0/10
Release Date
2018 - 2018-00-00
Showrunner
Patrick Somerville

Cast

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I only recently found out about Netflix's Maniac, starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, and I was immediately blown away by how similar it is to Severance. At the surface level, both shows feature a retro-futuristic corporate dystopia, both follow a depressed male lead and an enigmatic female lead, and they both have the same dry, deadpan sense of humor. Those similarities alone are almost uncanny, but the actual meat and potatoes of Maniac and Severance are astonishingly alike. I won't get into too many spoilers, however, because Maniac also has a mystery that's just as gripping as Severance's.

Related
Netflix Already Released A Thrilling Psychological Drama To Watch While Waiting For Severance Season 2

Apple TV+ renewed Severance for season 2 in 2022, but a release date is still unknown. So, in the meantime, fans can watch a similar show on Netflix.

For example, Hill's Owen Milgrim is almost a blueprint for Scott's Mark Scout, the only difference being he has schizophrenia instead of alcoholism. Maniac also features the exact same mind-bending traipse into a sinister corporation that Severance does, though it swaps the severance procedure for a "wonder" drug that takes its recipients on otherworldly trips through their own minds. Really, the only problem with Maniac is that it's only one season long, but that one season is a truly wild ride from start to finish. If anything is a near-perfect replacement for Severance, it's Maniac.

Your Rating

Severance
8/10
241
9.2/10
Release Date
February 18, 2022
Showrunner
Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
Directors
Ben Stiller
Writers
Dan Erickson

Cast

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