Best tv shows like Wayward Pines
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Wayward Pines (2015):
Similar in 88%
Glory Days (2001)
Plot Summary:
Wunderkind author Mike Dolan achieved literary fame at age 21 with a steamy expose on his seemingly idyllic Maine town. Four years later, he hasn't written another word and reluctantly returns home in search of an antidote ... where he is welcomed back with all the warmth of a lynch mob.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 400
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: scary, rough, serious, suspenseful, atmospheric
Similar in 76%
Siren (2018)
Plot Summary:
The coastal town of Bristol Cove is known for its legend of once being home to mermaids. When the arrival of a mysterious girl proves this folklore all too true, the battle between man and sea takes a very vicious turn as these predatory beings return to reclaim their right to the ocean.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, enigmatic, suspense, suspenseful, tense, captivating, grindhouse, bleak, queer cinema
Similar in 82%
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 Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978)
Plot Summary:
A young couple moves to a quiet New England village, only to soon find themselves mixed up in mysterious rituals.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: gothic, slasher, satanic, spooky, thrilling, scary, tense, atmospheric, rough, mind bending
Similar in 79%
Black Spot (2017)
Plot Summary:
In the small bordertown of Villefranche, lost in the heart of a large forest, crime rate is six times higher than elsewhere in the area. Each new crime Major Laurène Weiss solves with the help of her unusual team makes her sink deeper and deeper into secrets of the area.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, scenic, dark, suspense, detective, spooky, mysterious, crime drama, crime thriller, bleak
Similar in 89%
Surface (2005)
Plot Summary:
Surface is a science fiction television series that premiered on NBC on September 19, 2005. The program aired ten episodes before going on hiatus on November 28, 2005 due to NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics. It returned for five more episodes, beginning January 2, 2006. On May 15, 2006, NBC officially announced the series' cancellation.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, suspenseful, cliffhanger, tense, enigmatic, mystical, anthology, grindhouse, mythical
Similar in 75%
Coma (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young medical student discovers that something sinister is going on in her hospital after routine procedures send more than a few seemingly healthy patients into comas on the operating table. Remake of Coma 1978.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, bleak, serious, suspenseful, medical horror, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Prisoner (2009)
Plot Summary:
An update to the cult favorite series from the 1960s about a government agent who is kidnapped and sent to a remote island known as "the Village".
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: mind bending, psychological, atmospheric, serious, captivating, suspenseful, surreal, stylized, postmodern, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
11.22.63 (2016)
Plot Summary:
An English teacher travels back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but discovers he is attached to the life he has made in a bygone era.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, suspense, period piece, tense, light, emotional, intense, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The Crossing (2018)
Plot Summary:
Refugees from a war-torn country start showing up to seek asylum in an American town. Only the country these people are from is America and the war they are fleeing is 250 years in the future. The local sheriff with a past, a federal agent and a mother in search of her missing refugee daughter drive this allegory with a surprising conspiracy at the center.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, suspense, non-linear, spiritual
Similar in 89%
Between (2015)
Plot Summary:
Between is the story of a town under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody except those 21 years old and under. The series explores the power vacuum that results when a government has quarantined a 10-mile diameter area and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, rough, bleak, apocalyptic, independent film
Similar in 89%
Hemlock Grove (2013)
Plot Summary:
One cannot quench his all-consuming thirst. The other cannot tame the beast clawing its way out. In the sleepy Pennsylvania village of Hemlock Grove, two young men struggle to accept painful truths: about family, themselves, the mystery of the White Tower - and a terrifying new threat so powerful it will turn them from predators into prey.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: gothic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, scary, erotic, bloody, avant garde, grindhouse, spooky
Similar in 82%
Helix (2014)
Plot Summary:
Helix is an intense thriller about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that holds the key to mankind's salvation...or total annihilation.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, tense, suspenseful, apocalyptic, exciting, spooky, scary
Similar in 90%
The Prisoner (1967)
Plot Summary:
After resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is really a bizarre prison. His warders demand information. He gives them nothing, but only tries to escape.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: surreal, mind bending, psychological, exciting, thought provoking, serious, suspenseful, atmospheric, captivating, witty
Similar in 79%
Castle Rock (2018)
Plot Summary:
Based on the stories of Stephen King, the series intertwines characters and themes from the fictional town of Castle Rock.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: bleak, suspenseful, enigmatic, anthology, rough, supernatural thriller, suspense, spooky, psychological, psychological thriller
Similar in 80%
Haven (2010)
Plot Summary:
FBI agent Audrey Parker arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve a murder and soon discovers the town's many secrets—which also hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of her lost past.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, stylized, detective, suspenseful, supernatural thriller, bleak, scary, mystic, grindhouse, spooky
Similar in 89%
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 83%
From (2022)
Plot Summary:
Unravel the mystery of a nightmarish town in middle America that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive the threats of the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 52 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, suspenseful, enigmatic, tense, disturbing, mystic, lovecraft, mindfuck, slasher horror
Similar in 83%
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 86%
Persons Unknown (2010)
Plot Summary:
Persons Unknown is an American mystery drama television series that revolves around strangers who are imprisoned inside a small ghost town. The thirteen-episode summer series premiered on June 7, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. on NBC. On June 30, NBC moved the show to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday from its Monday time slot. It completed its run on August 28, 2010. The series was canceled shortly thereafter.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, captivating, mind bending, offbeat, tense, psychological thriller, exciting, thrilling, psychological
Similar in 76%
Bates Motel (2013)
Plot Summary:
A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, psychological, serious, slasher, psychological thriller, spooky, realistic, thrilling
Similar in 82%
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 84%
The Mist (2017)
Plot Summary:
A small town family is torn apart by a brutal crime. As they deal with the fallout an eerie mist rolls in, suddenly cutting them off from the rest of the world, and in some cases, each other.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: bleak, suspenseful, disturbing, breathtaking, psychological thriller, apocalyptic, sitcom, grindhouse, lovecraft, interesting
Similar in 75%
Jericho (2006)
Plot Summary:
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, apocalyptic, serious, suspenseful, atmospheric, epic, mysterious, anthology, rough
Similar in 78%
12 Monkeys (2015)
Plot Summary:
The provocative story of Cole, a time traveler from a decimated future in a high-stakes race against the clock. Utilizing a dangerous and untested method of time travel, he journeys from 2043 to the present day on a mission to locate and eradicate the source of a deadly plague that will all but annihilate the human race.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, mindfuck, intense, suspense, exciting, spiritual
Similar in 82%
Zoo (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set amidst a wave of violent animal attacks sweeping across the planet, a young renegade scientist is thrust into a race to unlock the mystery behind this pandemic before time runs out for animals and humans alike.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, captivating, tense, cliffhanger, exciting, apocalyptic, costume drama, realistic
Similar in 89%
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 90%
Utopia (2013)
Plot Summary:
The Utopia Experiments is a legendary graphic novel shrouded in mystery. When a group of strangers find themselves in possession of an original manuscript, their lives suddenly and brutally implode.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, surreal, mind bending, suspenseful, atmospheric, captivating, offbeat, stylized, clever, serious
Similar in 75%
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 78%
The Society (2019)
Plot Summary:
When everyone else mysteriously vanishes from their wealthy town, the teen residents of West Ham must forge their own society to survive.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: suspense, ambiguous ending, mysterious, captivating, emotional, apocalyptic, sitcom, anime, teen, queer cinema