feelsalike.comSign in
Chernobyl poster

Shows that feel likeChernobyl (2019)

The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.

If you loved Chernobyl, the closest series we have are When They See Us (2019), Silo (2023) and The Last of Us (2023). All three share Chernobyl's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Unbelievable (2019).

★ 9.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗1 season · HBOcreated by Craig Mazinbleakdreadgrittycontemplative
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu
Stream it:HBO Max ↗

If Chernobyl hit the spot, these will too

When They See Us poster
When They See Us
2019 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.8dramaNetflix

Institutional lies destroying ordinary lives, meticulously told

The difference: American injustice, five boys

Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.

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

Both are built on the same subject: disaster

The difference: Trades the dread of Chernobyl for an angle of its own

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 Last of Us poster
The Last of Us
2023– · 2 seasons · HBO
★ 8.4dramaMax

Bleak and contemplative in the same breath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less dread-soaked than Chernobyl does

Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.

True Detective poster
True Detective
2014– · 4 seasons · HBO
★ 8.8drama · mysteryMax

Both lean on dread more than on drama

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Chernobyl does

An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

Dark poster
Dark
2017–2020 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.7crime · drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Drama with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.

Band of Brothers poster
Band of Brothers
2001 · 1 season · HBO
★ 9.4drama · war & politicsMax

The same preoccupation in both: miniseries

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name.

Narcos: Mexico poster
Narcos: Mexico
2018–2021 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.3drama · crimeNetflix

One thread runs through both: a true story

See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in 1980s Mexico.

Shōgun poster
Shōgun
2024– · 1 season · FX
★ 8.6drama · war & politicsHuluDisney+

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

In Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

The Witcher poster
The Witcher
2019– · 4 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.8sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventureNetflix

Both sit in the same gritty register

Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster-hunter for hire, journeys toward his destiny in a turbulent world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.

Unbelievable poster
Unbelievable
2019 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 8.3drama · crimeNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks.

Lioness poster
Lioness
2023– · 3 seasons · Paramount+
★ 7.8drama · war & politicsParamount+

Both run bleak where it counts

Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA's Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program, is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

Spartacus poster
Spartacus
2010–2013 · 3 seasons · STARZ
★ 8.4dramaStarz

A streak of grit through both

Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment.

In the mood for more bleak?

all bleak shows →

The best-reviewed series that share Chernobyl’s defining feeling.