Best tv shows like The Leftovers
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. The drama series 'The Leftovers' is the story of the people who didn't make the cut. Based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta, 'The Leftovers' follows Kevin Garvey, a father of two and the chief of police in a small New York suburb, as he tries to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the notion no longer applies.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 109000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, mind bending, offbeat, serious, touching, stylized, surreal, psychological thriller, apocalyptic, spooky
Best tv shows and movies like The Leftovers (2014):
Similar in 77%
Vanished (2006)
Plot Summary:
Vanished is an American serial drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox. The series premiered on August 21, 2006 on Fox and its last episode aired on November 10, 2006. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the series begins with the sudden disappearance of the wife of a Georgia senator, which is quickly revealed to be part of a wider conspiracy. The family of the missing woman, a pair of FBI agents, a journalist and her lover/cameraman, are all drawn into an evolving mystery with political and religious undertones. The show was created by CSI writer Josh Berman, and executive produced by Mimi Leder, who is also directed the show, and Paul Redford. On October 26, 2006, USA Today reported that the planned 22-episode series was ordered to be wrapped up after the 13th episode. The story arc of finding Sara Collins was to be concluded, with the mystery of a larger conspiracy left dangling in the event the series was extended. On November 16, 2006, Fox confirmed that the show would end after a final episode in December. On December 8, 2006, the final episode of Vanished appeared online. The production team was told a few months before the show was taken off the air to at least reveal Sara's fate by the 13th episode, but none of the other plotlines were resolved.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, realistic, exciting, tense, captivating, cerebral
Similar in 84%
The Second Coming (2003)
Plot Summary:
Steven Baxter is the Son of God, and can produce the miracles to prove it. How does the world react when he announces it has to produce a Third Testament within five days, or else it's Judgment Day?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, captivating, apocalyptic
Similar in 83%
The Returned (2015)
Plot Summary:
A small town that is turned upside down when several local people, who have long been presumed dead, suddenly reappear; their presence creates both positive and negative consequences. As families are reunited, the lives of those who were left behind are challenged both physically and emotionally.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: captivating, mind bending, tense, touching, surreal, atmospheric, sitcom, serious
Similar in 90%
Revelations (2005)
Plot Summary:
Set just before the start of Armageddon, the mini-series will follow two central characters, a physicist and a nun, who are racing against the clock to see if the end of the world apocalypse can be averted. Bill Pullman plays Dr. Richard Massey, a Harvard professor whose daughter is murdered by satanists while McElhone stars as a nun who recruits Massey to help investigate whether what's told in the Book of Revelations is starting to come true.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Fantasy, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, suspense, controversial, bleak
Similar in 75%
Carnivàle (2003)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, surreal, erotic, psychedelic, dramatic, apocalyptic, period piece, costume drama
Similar in 86%
Godspeed (2009)
Plot Summary:
Joseph McKelheer and Cory Knauf (The Hamiltons, The Violent Kind) star in this intense thriller set in the lingering light of the Alaskan midnight sun. Charlie Shepard, a modern day faith healer with a small flock of believers, is stunned when his family is brutally murdered. Six months later a young, mysterious girl (Courtney Halverson) appears and becomes the link to his family's killing and the murderers themselves, ultimately leading to violent consequences for all.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 558
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, psychological, captivating, rough, serious, suspenseful, stylized, independent film, suspense
Similar in 85%
American Gods (2017)
Plot Summary:
Based on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel about an ex-con who becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, psychedelic, serious, supernatural thriller, erotic, atmospheric, spiritual, absurd, anime, dread
Similar in 81%
The Booth at the End (2011)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious man sits in the booth at the end who people make a deal with to get what they want. They do the task or they don't - that is up to them, but there are no rule changes.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, mind bending, psychological thriller, mind blowing, contemplative, independent film, serious, talky, psycho film
Similar in 89%
The Nines (2007)
Plot Summary:
A troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, confusing, mindfuck, thought provoking, surreal, cerebral, mind bending, psychological thriller, mind blowing
Similar in 90%
The Returned (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the shadow of an enormous hydraulic dam, the lives of the residents of a small French town are changed to their core when hundreds of previously dead relatives all return home on the same day.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: France
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: mind bending, atmospheric, surreal, captivating, touching, suspenseful, serious, exciting, enigmatic, sexy
Similar in 75%
Happy Town (2010)
Plot Summary:
The residents of Haplin, Minnesota - also known as "Happy Town" - have enjoyed an uneasy peace while haunted by a number of unsolved kidnappings. Now facing a disturbing new crime that brings unresolved fears to the surface, Haplin's most prominent citizens come under scrutiny as their own secrets are revealed.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, detective, sweet, offbeat
Similar in 75%
Six Feet Under (2001)
Plot Summary:
A darkly comic look at members of a dysfunctional L.A. family that run a funeral business. When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as--and far less predictable than--the one inside.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 145000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: emotional, surreal, clever, captivating, dark comedy, tense, contemplative, dramatic, psychological, spiritual
Similar in 88%
Resurrection (2013)
Plot Summary:
Resurrection is an American fantasy drama television series based on the book The Returned by Jason Mott that follows the residents of Arcadia, Missouri, whose lives are upended when their loved ones return from the dead, unaged since their deaths.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, captivating, mind bending, tense, touching, surprise ending, teen, spooky
Similar in 82%
Wayward Pines (2015)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, mind bending, serious, captivating, psychological thriller, exciting, retro, surprise ending, thought provoking, mysterious
Similar in 82%
Cruel Summer (2021)
Plot Summary:
An unconventional thriller that takes place over three summers — 1993-95 — in a small Texas town when a beautiful popular teen, Kate, is abducted and, seemingly unrelated, a girl, Jeanette, goes from being a sweet, awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town and, by ’95, the most despised person in America.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, tense, enigmatic, captivating, suspense, intellectual, thrilling, anthology, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Awake (2012)
Plot Summary:
Michael lives in two separate realities after a car accident. In one reality, his wife Hannah survives the accident; in the other reality, his son Rex survives. Michael does not know which reality is "real", and uses the wristbands to differentiate the two. He sees two therapists: Dr. Jonathan Lee in the "red reality" and Dr. Judith Evans in the "green reality". At work, Michael's erratic behavior triggers clashes with his team; they do not know about Michael's uncanny ability to solve crimes using details from both realities.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: psychological, mind bending, detective, serious, emotional, suspenseful, mysterious, dramatic, allegory, spooky
Similar in 85%
The Messengers (2015)
Plot Summary:
When a mysterious object crashes to Earth, a group of seemingly unconnected strangers die from the energy pulse, but then awaken to learn that they have assigned the task of preventing the impending Apocalypse.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, suspenseful, bleak, apocalyptic, action adventure, demonic
Similar in 90%
Flashforward (2009)
Plot Summary:
When the entire world blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds, everyone sees a flash of their own future 6 months from the present. For some, the future is hopeful, while for others, it is unexpected. For a few, it doesn't seem to exist. Knowing their fate will alter each person's life, destinies will be changed.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: mind bending, suspenseful, stylized, surreal, apocalyptic, tense, thought provoking, captivating, futuristic, cliffhanger
Similar in 82%
The OA (2016)
Plot Summary:
Prairie Johnson, blind as a child, comes home to the community she grew up in with her sight restored. Some hail her a miracle, others a dangerous mystery, but Prairie won’t talk with the FBI or her parents about the seven years she went missing.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 113000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, bleak, suspense, mysterious, spiritual, twist ending, esoteric, erotic, psychological thriller, atmospheric
Similar in 88%
Touch (2012)
Plot Summary:
Martin Bohm, a widower and single father, is haunted by an inability to connect to his autistic, mute 11-year-old son, Jake. Their relationship and their lives take an extraordinary turn when he discovers his gifted son has the ability to see things that no one else can and the patterns that connect seemingly unrelated events.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, suspenseful, touching, intellectual, spiritual, dramatic, gloomy, emotional, interesting
Similar in 88%
Dark (2017)
Plot Summary:
A missing child causes four families to help each other for answers. What they could not imagine is that this mystery would be connected to innumerable other secrets of the small town.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 429000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 1455 min
Plot tags: mind bending, atmospheric, suspense, mysterious, suspenseful, mind blowing, philosophical, thought provoking, intellectual, apocalyptic
Similar in 89%
Twin Peaks (2017)
Plot Summary:
Picks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town are stunned when their homecoming queen is murdered.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 1032 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, mind bending, captivating, tense, offbeat, atmospheric, disturbing, experimental, esoteric
Similar in 83%
Donnie Darko (2001)
Plot Summary:
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 837000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, mind bending, philosophical, cult classic, clever, psychological thriller, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 78%
Twin Peaks (1990)
Plot Summary:
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 211000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 1505 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, enigmatic, suspenseful, mind bending, neo noir, surreal, offbeat, captivating, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Revolution (2012)
Plot Summary:
Revolution focuses on the struggle to survive 15 years after a global blackout.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, apocalyptic, suspenseful, cliffhanger, atmospheric, stylized, epic, mind bending, interesting
Similar in 82%
Survivors (2008)
Plot Summary:
Survivors was a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC. It depicts the lives of a group of people who survived a virulent unknown strain of influenza which has wiped out most of the human species. According to the producers, the series is not a remake of the 1970s BBC television series Survivors, created by Terry Nation, but is loosely based on the novel of the same name that Nation wrote following the first series of the 1970s series. Two series were produced of the new series. Series 1 ran on BBC One and BBC HD in November–December 2008, and series 2 ran in January–February 2010, ending with a cliffhanger. The BBC announced on 13 April 2010 that, due to poor viewing figures and other considerations, Survivors had been cancelled. The series had its premiere in South Africa on BBC Entertainment in September 2009, in France on DTTV channel NRJ 12 on 12 January 2010, and on BBC America in the United States on 13 February 2010. The series' Australian premiere was on Channel Nine, on 21 March 2010.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, serious, tense, captivating, stylized, atmospheric, cliffhanger, clever, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
The X-Files (1993)
Plot Summary:
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 243000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating, atmospheric, psychological, mind bending, detective, suspense, exciting, spooky, thrilling, psychological thriller
Similar in 78%
Under the Dome (2013)
Plot Summary:
Under the Dome is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. It tells the story of the residents of the small town of Chester's Mill in Maine, where a massive, transparent, indestructible dome suddenly cuts them off from the rest of the world. With no Internet access, no mobile signals and limited radio communication, the people trapped inside must find their own ways to survive with diminishing resources and rising tensions. While military forces, the government and the media positioned outside of this surrounding barrier attempt to break it down, a small group of people inside attempt to figure out what the dome is, where it came from, and when (and if) it will go away.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 111000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: exciting, mind bending, surreal, teen, tense, atmospheric, sitcom, grindhouse, action packed, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Lost (2004)
Plot Summary:
Stripped of everything, the survivors of a horrific plane crash must work together to stay alive. But the island holds many secrets.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 584000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: exciting, psychological, atmospheric, enigmatic, mind bending, emotional, thought provoking, suspense, captivating, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Black Mirror (2011)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary British re-working of The Twilight Zone with stories that tap into the collective unease about our modern world. Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone - a black mirror of our 21st Century existence.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 622000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: philosophical, serious, thought provoking, anthology, clever, bleak, stylized, cynical, disturbing, biting