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The Queen's Gambit poster

Shows that feel likeThe Queen's Gambit (2020)

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.

If you loved The Queen's Gambit, the closest series we have are Looking for Alaska (2019), Euphoria (2019) and The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022). All three share The Queen's Gambit's contemplative and wistful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Carrie (2026).

★ 8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗1 season · Netflixcreated by Scott Frankcontemplativewarmwistfulmelancholy
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If The Queen's Gambit hit the spot, these will too

Looking for Alaska poster
Looking for Alaska
2019 · 1 season · Hulu
★ 8drama

The same two preoccupations: growing up, and miniseries

The difference: Takes it somewhere less melancholy than The Queen's Gambit does

Miles enrolls in a new boarding school seeking adventure. There, he befriends a group of quirky students led by the captivating and troubled Alaska. As they pull pranks and explore dark secrets, a night of celebration takes a tragic turn, forcing the group to grapple with loss and the complexities of growing up.

Euphoria poster
Euphoria
2019–2026 · 3 seasons · HBO
★ 8.1dramaMax

Addiction rendered as something seductive as well as ruinous

The difference: Neon, explicit and unrelenting where Beth's story stays composed

A group of high school students navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media.

The Summer I Turned Pretty poster
The Summer I Turned Pretty
2022–2025 · 3 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.2dramaPrime Video

A girl transformed by a stretch of life she can never repeat

The difference: Beach-house romance and love triangles, with none of the discipline

Every summer, Belly and her family head to the Fishers’ beach house in Cousins. Every summer is the same ... until Belly turns sixteen. Relationships will be tested, painful truths will be revealed, and Belly will be forever changed. It’s a summer of first love, first heartbreak and growing up — it's the summer she turns pretty.

Heartstopper poster
Heartstopper
2022–2024 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.5dramaNetflix

A young person working out who they are while everyone watches

The difference: Sweet contemporary teen romance, with no addiction and no ambition

Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love.

Young Royals poster
Young Royals
2021–2024 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.2dramaNetflix

Talent and status inside an institution that expects you to perform

The difference: Swedish boarding-school romance across three seasons, far less polished

Prince Wilhelm adjusts to life at his prestigious new boarding school, Hillerska, but following his heart proves more challenging than anticipated.

This Is Us poster
This Is Us
2016–2022 · 6 seasons · NBC
★ 8.7dramaHuluParamount+

Addiction and inherited damage traced patiently across a whole life

The difference: A family weepie engineered to make you cry, running six seasons

Follows the lives and families of three adults living and growing up in the United States of America in present and past times. As their paths cross and their life stories intertwine in curious ways, we find that several of them share the same birthday - and so much more than anyone would expect.

Normal People poster
Normal People
2020 · 1 season · BBC Three
★ 8.4dramaHulu

Loneliness carried by someone who cannot ask for help out loud

The difference: An intimate two-hander about love, with no career and no period gloss

Marianne and Connell weave in and out of each other's lives in this exploration of sex, power and the desire to love and be loved.

Anne with an E poster
Anne with an E
2017–2019 · 3 seasons · CBC Television
★ 8.6drama · familyNetflix

An orphan girl whose strangeness turns out to be her great asset

The difference: Warmer and family-facing, built on belonging rather than on winning

A coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for love and acceptance and for her place in the world. The series centers on a young orphaned girl in the late 1890s, who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly woman and her aging brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform their lives and eventually the small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination.

Time poster
Time
2021– · 3 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.1drama · crime

Both land stillness and melancholy at once

The difference: Easier on the warmth than The Queen's Gambit

Guilt, violence and impossible choices – what does it take to survive? Tense, gritty and heartbreaking – Jimmy McGovern's award-winning prison drama, with an all-star cast.

Carrie poster
Carrie
2026 · 1 season · Prime Video
★ 7.8mystery · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: miniseries

The difference: Trades the warmth of The Queen's Gambit for an angle of its own

After her father's sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.

Love, Victor poster
Love, Victor
2020–2022 · 3 seasons · Hulu
★ 7.9comedy · dramaHuluDisney+

A newcomer trying to belong somewhere that keeps testing them

The difference: Light teen comedy about coming out, gentler and much lower-stakes

Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.

The Good Doctor poster
The Good Doctor
2017–2024 · 7 seasons · ABC
★ 8dramaHulu

Warm and wistful in the same breath

Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital's surgical unit. Unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

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The best-reviewed series that share The Queen's Gambit’s defining feeling.