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Severance poster

Shows that feel likeSeverance (2022–)

Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.

If you loved Severance, the closest series we have are The OA (2016), Devs (2020) and Lanterns (2026). All three share Severance's contemplative and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Carnivàle (2003).

★ 8.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗3 seasons · Apple TVcreated by Dan Ericksoncontemplativetwistycerebraldreamlike
12 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Apple TV ↗

If Severance hit the spot, these will too

The OA poster
The OA
2016–2019 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.8sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · dramaNetflix

A strange premise taken seriously, with identity and belief coming apart

The difference: Earnest and spiritual rather than clinical — no satire, no office

Seven years after vanishing from her home, a young woman returns with mysterious new abilities and recruits five strangers for a secret mission.

Devs poster
Devs
2020 · 1 season · Hulu
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · drama · mysteryHulu

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists

Young computer engineer Lily Chan investigates the secretive development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in San Francisco, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend.

Lanterns poster
Lanterns
2026– · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.8drama · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyMax

Cosmic strangeness dropped into deliberately drab American surroundings

The difference: A superhero property with a murder case to solve, not an interior puzzle

Two intergalactic cops, new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, are drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.

Locke & Key poster
Locke & Key
2020–2022 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.3sci-fi & fantasy · drama · mysteryNetflix

Memory used as a mechanism, its cost hidden until it suddenly is not

The difference: A YA family adventure — warmer, simpler and aimed much younger

After their dad's murder, three siblings move with their mom to his ancestral estate, where they discover magical keys that unlock powers — and secrets.

Ragnarok poster
Ragnarok
2020–2023 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.3sci-fi & fantasy · drama · mysteryNetflix

A quiet town where a respectable institution is hiding something huge

The difference: Norwegian teen mythology, plainer and much lighter on atmosphere

A small Norwegian town experiencing warm winters and violent downpours seems to be headed for another Ragnarök -- unless someone intervenes in time.

Manifest poster
Manifest
2018–2023 · 4 seasons · NBC
★ 7sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · dramaNetflix

Lives split by something inexplicable, with an institution circling them

The difference: Network mystery pacing and broad sentiment where Severance stays cold

After landing from a turbulent but routine flight, the crew and passengers of Montego Air Flight 828 discover five years have passed in what seemed like a few hours. As their new realities become clear, a deeper mystery unfolds and some of the returned passengers soon realize they may be meant for something greater than they ever thought possible.

Wayward Pines poster
Wayward Pines
2015–2016 · 2 seasons · FOX
★ 7.3drama · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyHulu

A place with rules nobody explains and no way to leave

The difference: Faster and stranger, and it answers itself sooner

Imagine the perfect American town... beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets. Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you're going insane. You must be in Wayward Pines.

Fringe poster
Fringe
2008–2013 · 5 seasons · FOX
★ 8.4sci-fi & fantasy · drama · mysteryPrime VideoHulu

Fringe science procedure, cold labs, and a conspiracy at the edges

The difference: Case-of-the-week structure with far more warmth between its leads

FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina poster
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
2018–2020 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.4mystery · sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

A double life with two sets of rules and no way to keep them apart

The difference: Camp teen witchcraft, arch and colourful, with no quiet menace

Magic and mischief collide as half-human, half-witch Sabrina navigates between two worlds: mortal teen life and her family's legacy, the Church of Night.

Sleepy Hollow poster
Sleepy Hollow
2013–2017 · 4 seasons · FOX
★ 7.3drama · mystery · sci-fi & fantasyHulu

Cerebral where it counts, dreamlike underneath

Ichabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.

Carnivàle poster
Carnivàle
2003–2005 · 2 seasons · HBO
★ 8.4sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · dramaMax

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Carnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes Christian theology with gnosticism and Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar.

Alchemy of Souls poster
Alchemy of Souls
2022–2023 · 2 seasons · tvN
★ 8.7drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureNetflix

Twisty mystery in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into action & adventure than Severance does

She was named Naksu because wherever she went, a trail of heads followed. She performs the alchemy of souls, magic that can change people's bodies and souls, which is forbidden in Daeho, and ends up being chased. Naksu hurriedly abandons her body and attempts the alchemy of souls on a woman passing by. Jang Wook, the son of the King of Daeho, realizes that Mudeok's soul has been changed and helps her. Jang Wook wants to learn Naksu's martial arts and become a sorcerer, and Naksu, in the body of Mudeok, stays by his side so she can recover her strength.

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