12 Best Dystopian TV Shows Streaming Right Now

Our first dystopian TV show is Snowpiercer, similar to the 2013 film. Seven years after the world turned into a frozen wasteland, the remaining survivors live on a perpetually moving train that circles the globe. While the train continues to move through snow and ice, the show moves through the varying classes, social injustices, and politics hidden inside the metal walls.

–IMDb score: 6.9

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What if you lost the ability to see? This is exactly what happens in our eleventh selection See. Starring Jason Momoa, the humans in this dystopian future have lost their sense of sight, and have built their society around new ways to interact, build, hunt, and survive. This all changes when a set of twins are born with the ability to see.

–IMDb score: 7.6

Our next selection, Foundation, flings us into space and the numerous planets humans now inhabit. All the planets are under the rule of the Galactic Empire, which is about to face a reckoning, unlike anything it’s ever faced. Several millennia of chaos have been predicted by the galaxy’s psycho-historian, Hari Seldon. Will the Galactic Empire be able to stop the disaster before it begins?

–IMDb score: 7.6

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Based on the 1995 Terry Gilliam film of the same name, 12 Monkeys puts two unlikely allies together to stop a plague that will destroy the human race. Cole uses an untested method of time travel from 2043 to the present day, trying to rid the world of the source of a plague that has decimated the human race. With the help of virologist Dr. Cassandra Railly, the two must save the world at any cost.

–IMDb score: 7.7

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What if the Allied Powers had lost WWII so Japan and Germany ruled the United States? In our eighth selection The Man in the High Castle this question becomes a reality. While Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan dominate the country, a young woman discovers a mysterious film that may hold the key to toppling the harsh regimes.

–IMDb score: 7.9

While Snowpiercer has a train to protect the remains of humanity, Silo instead has a colossal silo deep underground to protect its people. This bleak dystopian future follows Juliette, an engineer tasked with unpacking the mystery of a colleague’s death. When the investigation uncovers startling secrets, it unravels the tenuous reality of their enclosed world.

–IMDb score: 8.1

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One of the most famous dystopian TV shows on our list is The Walking Dead, lasting for over a decade and now includes several spin-offs. In the original show, Sheriff Deputy Rick Grimes is shot and falls into a coma. When he awakes, it’s to a zombie apocalypse. Grimes sets out for his family and joins a group determined to survive amidst the chaos.

–IMDb score: 8.1

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Our fifth selection Fringe dives into the world of unexplained phenomena and the edges of science while trying to find answers in this dystopian world. An F.B.I. agent teams up with an institutionalized scientist and his son to investigate crimes seemingly part of a larger pattern, which could be connected to a company called Massive Dynamic.

–IMDb score: 8.4

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale brings us to a dystopian future where women live as second-class citizens in Gilead. Comprising most of the United States, Gilead is a religion-based autocracy that punishes those who try to escape, and keep women in the lower ranks of society. This series tells the story of Offred, a woman who tries to escape with her husband and child and is now forced to bear children for government officials.

–IMDb score: 8.4

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A reimagined past and near future collide in our third selection Westworld. Inspired by Michael Crichton’s Westworld from 1973, this series is set at a Wild West theme park created by Dr. Robert Ford. The park features human-like androids, and guests are encouraged to indulge their fantasies and desires, some of which become deadly.

–IMDb score: 8.5

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One of the newest TV shows on our list is The Last of Us, based on the hit dystopian video game of the same name. Twenty years have passed since modern civilization was destroyed by a pandemic that turned humans into mindless creatures. Joel, a hardened survivor, must team up with 14-year-old Ellie as they travel across the U.S. and may be humanity’s last hope at salvation.

–IMDb score: 8.7

Of course, we cannot forget the best dystopian TV show Black Mirror. Each episode is a stand-alone drama featuring satirical tales that explore the world of techno-paranoia. Set just minutes into the future, each episode brings in a new cast of characters who must combat different types of technology set to hurt them. Fans of “The Twilight Zone” will surely enjoy this series.

–IMDb score: 8.7

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