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Dark Matter poster

Shows that feel likeDark Matter (2024–)

Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his life. To get back to his real family, he embarks on a harrowing journey to save them from the most terrifying foe imaginable: himself.

If you loved Dark Matter, the closest series we have are The Peripheral (2022), Shadow and Bone (2021) and The Magicians (2015). All three share Dark Matter's cerebral and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Travelers (2016).

★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗2 seasons · Apple TVcreated by Blake Crouchcerebraldreamlikecontemplative
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Apple TV ↗

If Dark Matter hit the spot, these will too

The Peripheral poster
The Peripheral
2022 · 1 season · Prime Video
★ 7.5sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

Cerebral and dreamlike in the same breath

Stuck in a small Appalachian town, a young woman’s only escape from the daily grind is playing advanced video games. She is such a good player that a company sends her a new video game system to test…but it has a surprise in store. It unlocks all of her dreams of finding a purpose, romance, and glamour in what seems like a game…but it also puts her and her family in real danger.

Shadow and Bone poster
Shadow and Bone
2021–2023 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.5drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

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

In a world cleaved in two by a massive barrier of perpetual darkness, a young soldier uncovers a power that might finally unite her country. But as she struggles to hone her power, dangerous forces plot against her. Thugs, thieves, assassins and saints are at war now, and it will take more than magic to survive.

The Magicians poster
The Magicians
2015–2020 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Cerebral drama in both cases

Brakebills University is a secret institution specializing in magic. There, amidst an unorthodox education of spellcasting, a group of twenty-something friends soon discover that a magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity.

Travelers poster
Travelers
2016–2018 · 3 seasons · Showcase
★ 8drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Sci-fi & fantasy built on dream logic, twice over

Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These "travelers" assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible future.

Resident Alien poster
Resident Alien
2021–2025 · 4 seasons · USA Network
★ 8sci-fi & fantasyNetflixPeacock

Drama with a pulse of ideas, in both cases

The difference: Trades the stillness of Dark Matter for an angle of its own

Crash-landed alien Harry takes on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor. Arriving with a secret mission, he starts off living a simple life…but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world. As he does, he begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his mission and asking the big life questions like: “Are human beings worth saving?” and “Why do they fold their pizza before eating it?”

Continuum poster
Continuum
2012–2015 · 4 seasons · Showcase
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaPrime VideoPeacock

Contemplative sci-fi & fantasy, and it commits to that

The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than Dark Matter does

The series centers on the conflict between a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC, in 2012, and a police officer who accidentally accompanies them. In spite of being many years early, the rebel group decides to continue its violent campaign to stop corporations of the future from replacing governments, while the police officer endeavours to stop them without revealing to anyone that she and the rebels are from the future.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: scientist

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?

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

Both are built on the same subject: alternative reality

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.

The Wheel of Time poster
The Wheel of Time
2021–2025 · 3 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

Dreamlike drama, and it commits to that

The lives of five young villagers change forever when a strange and powerful woman arrives, claiming one of them is the child of an ancient prophecy with the power to tip the balance between Light and Dark forever. They must choose whether to trust this stranger – and each other – with the fate of the world before the Dark One breaks out of His prison, and the Last Battle begins.

Doom Patrol poster
Doom Patrol
2019–2023 · 4 seasons · DC Universe
★ 7.7sci-fi & fantasy · dramaMax

A streak of stillness through both

The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find.

Invasion poster
Invasion
2021– · 3 seasons · Apple TV
★ 6.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaApple TV+

Cut from the same sci-fi & fantasy cloth

Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.

Fate: The Winx Saga poster
Fate: The Winx Saga
2021–2022 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.8sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

The same drama instincts

The coming-of-age journey of five fairies attending Alfea, a magical boarding school in the Otherworld where they must learn to master their powers while navigating love, rivalries, and the monsters that threaten their very existence.

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