
Shows that feel likeThe Last of Us (2023–)
If you loved The Last of Us, the closest series we have are Shōgun (2024), Lioness (2023) and 12 Monkeys (2015). All three share The Last of Us' contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Last Ship (2014).
If The Last of Us hit the spot, these will too

A stranger led through hostile country, learning the rules to survive
The difference: Danger comes from politics and etiquette, not anything infected

A hardened handler and a young recruit bound by a job that costs them
The difference: Present-day black ops with no lost world to mourn, just the mission

One person carrying the only chance humanity has left
The difference: Time-travel plotting, propulsive rather than mournful

The same preoccupation in both: life after the end
The difference: Sits closer to sci-fi & fantasy than The Last of Us does

Survival organised into a system, and the lie holding it together
The difference: Enclosed and procedural — nobody crosses a country

A ruined America explored on foot, beautiful and lethal by turns
The difference: Retro-futurist black comedy where this is grief

People grieving their way across a country that has stopped working
The difference: European and cerebral, with no journey to organise it

Two young siblings crossing a poisoned country together
The difference: Scandinavian and small — the relationship never gets this good

A hardened adult escorting an extraordinary child across ruined country
The difference: Storybook warmth and hope, not dread

A cure, a long journey, and the cost of protecting it
The difference: Military procedural, adults only, mission-focused

Both are built on the same subject: life after the end

One thread runs through both: survival
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative shows →The best-reviewed series that share The Last of Us’ defining feeling.









