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12 Monkeys poster

Shows that feel like12 Monkeys (2015–2018)

The provocative story of Cole, a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.

If you loved 12 Monkeys, the closest series we have are Raised by Wolves (2020), Falling Skies (2011) and Sweet Tooth (2021). All three share 12 Monkeys' cerebral and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Into the Badlands (2015).

★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗4 seasons · Syfycreated by Terry Matalascerebraldreamlikecontemplativebleak
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

If 12 Monkeys hit the spot, these will too

Raised by Wolves poster
Raised by Wolves
2020–2022 · 2 seasons · HBO Max
★ 7.4sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Common ground: life after the end

After Earth is ravaged by a great religious war, an atheistic android architect sends two of his creations, Mother and Father, to start a peaceful, godless colony on the planet Kepler-22b. Their treacherous task is jeopardized by the arrival of the Mithraic, a deeply devout religious order of surviving humans.

Falling Skies poster
Falling Skies
2011–2015 · 5 seasons · TNT
★ 7.1action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: life after the end

The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than 12 Monkeys does

Falling Skies opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

Sweet Tooth poster
Sweet Tooth
2021–2024 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.7drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

The same mix in both: ideas, then dream logic

On an epic adventure across a postapocalyptic world, a lovable boy who's part human and part deer searches for family and home with a gruff protector.

Snowpiercer poster
Snowpiercer
2020–2024 · 4 seasons · TNT
★ 6.9sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime VideoHulu

Both land stillness and bleakness at once

More than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe as class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out.

Into the Badlands poster
Into the Badlands
2015–2019 · 3 seasons · AMC
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Cerebral sci-fi & fantasy in both cases

In a land controlled by feudal barons, a great warrior and a young boy embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment. A genre-bending martial arts series very loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West.

The Last Ship poster
The Last Ship
2014–2018 · 5 seasons · TNT
★ 7.4action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Drama built on dream logic, twice over

Their mission is simple: Find a cure. Stop the virus. Save the world. When a global pandemic wipes out eighty percent of the planet's population, the crew of a lone naval destroyer must find a way to pull humanity from the brink of extinction.

Has Fallen poster
Has Fallen
2024– · 2 seasons · Canal+
★ 6.5action & adventure · war & politicsHulu

Both are built on the same subject: based on movie

The difference: Easier on the ideas than 12 Monkeys

A protection officer and an MI6 operative team up after a terrorist attack. They suspect a mole as they race to thwart a larger conspiracy threatening Paris.

War of the Worlds poster
War of the Worlds
2019–2022 · 3 seasons · Canal+
★ 6.5sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on sci-fi & fantasy

When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. They do not have to wait long. Within days, mankind is all but wiped out by a devastating attack; pockets of humanity are left in an eerily deserted world. As aliens hunt and kill those left alive, the survivors ask a burning question – who are these attackers and why are they hell-bent on our destruction?

Van Helsing poster
Van Helsing
2016–2021 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 6.3mystery · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventurePrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: based on movie

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than 12 Monkeys does

Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of famous vampire hunter and Dracula nemesis Abraham Van Helsing is resurrected five years in the future to find out that vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.

The Rain poster
The Rain
2018–2020 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.3sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Bleak drama, and it commits to that

After a brutal virus wipes out most of the population, two young siblings embark on a perilous search for safety. A Scandinavian thriller series.

Silo poster
Silo
2023– · 4 seasons · Apple TV
★ 8.1sci-fi & fantasy · dramaApple TV+

Sci-fi & fantasy with a pulse of ideas, in both cases

In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo.

The Man in the High Castle poster
The Man in the High Castle
2015–2019 · 4 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.9sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflixPrime Video

Dreamlike drama in both cases

Explore what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States. Based on Philip K. Dick's award-winning novel.

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The best-reviewed series that share 12 Monkeys’ defining feeling.