7 Shows Like Apple TV's Presumed Innocent

Who doesn't love a good murder mystery? Whether it plays out in the courtroom or on the streets, unraveling the tangled web of a well-written thriller is always fun. The genre has become particularly popular on TV over the past decade or so, after previously dominating the movies. That explains why "Presumed Innocent," Scott Turow's 1987 legal thriller novel, was adapted for the big screen in 1990 but filmed again by Apple TV+ for the small screen in 2024.

The latest version of the story stars Jake Gyllenhaal, taking over the role played by Harrison Ford in the film. Both adaptations follow Rusty Sabich, a prosecutor who gets pulled into a tangled mess of a case when a colleague he once had an extramarital affair with turns up dead. The ensuing investigation and trial lead him through the inner politics of the legal system and ultimately to some jarring revelations about the damage that hidden secrets can do.

If you enjoyed the series and are looking for more TV shows in the same mold, you're in luck. There are a lot of great options that you can stream right now, whether you're more interested in the murder investigation side of the story or the courtroom drama. Here are seven shows as juicy and gripping as "Presumed Innocent" that you should check out next.

One of the older series on this list, "The Killing" began its four-season run on AMC in 2011 and wound up finishing on Netflix in 2014 after getting canceled by its original network. The show is an adaptation of a Danish series transplanted to rainy Seattle, where the murder of local teen Rosie Larsen (Katie Findlay) kicks off a lengthy investigation into the city's political world.

What makes "The Killing" unique is how it splits the screen time between different sides of the story. Viewers see the aftereffects of Rosie's murder from three angles: the two detectives assigned to the case — Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) — the victim's family, and mayoral candidate Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell), whose campaign gets implicated in the murder early on. These three strands intersect at various points throughout the show's first two seasons, while seasons 3 and 4 move on to other material outside the Larsen case.

Like "Presumed Innocent," "The Killing" is a story about how the machinery of politics, police work, and the justice system can become just as culpable in the crimes it seeks to stop as the criminals. Linden, like Rusty, is far from a perfect person, and secrets from her own past emerge alongside her murder investigation. It's a tangled narrative soaked by the neverending Seattle rain, and it's just as good now as it was a decade ago.

Everyone knows the story of O. J. Simpson and the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. We all know about the Bronco chase, the glove, and the acquittal. And yet, the first season of Ryan Murphy's "American Crime Story" still manages to imbue every step of the case and trial with high drama, thanks to sharp writing and a fantastic ensemble cast.

There are a ton of layers to the real-life story, and the show reflects that well. Yes, it dramatizes things here and there, but when your source material is the most high-profile murder trial of the modern age, you don't need too many stretches of the imagination to make it work as scripted television. The show is carried by excellent performances from the likes of Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, and of course, Cuba Gooding Jr. as O. J. Simpson. But the real show-stealer is Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, who delivers one of the best performances you'll see in the genre. Brown rightfully received an Emmy award for his work.

While the story is true, the show follows much of the same genre formula that you'd find in other legal dramas or murder mystery shows. It's well-paced, exciting, tense, and certainly never boring. And while it's probably the most grounded season of television he's ever produced, you can still see Ryan Murphy's campy, zany fingerprints at certain times, which gives the heavy drama some unexpectedly humorous moments.

Hulu's "Under the Bridge" wrapped up its run just before "Presumed Innocent" premiered on Apple TV+ earlier this year. And, like "American Crime Story," it's a true crime series. The show is a dramatized account of the murder of 14-year-old Canadian Reena Virk, who was beaten to death by a group of other teenagers in 1997. Riley Keough plays Rebecca Godfrey, the journalist who wrote the book on which the series is based, while Lily Gladstone stars as police officer Cam Bentland.

It's an ugly story, and the TV adaptation doesn't shy away from its darkest aspects — a grim tale of cruelty, remorse, and grief. The limited series received strong reviews from both critics and viewers upon its release, which occurred less than two years after Godfrey herself died from lung cancer complications. It's well crafted true crime series with a lot of standout moments, and it's anchored by Gladstone's incredible performance as Cam, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Michael Connelly's "Lincoln Lawyer" novels are great, and the 2011 Matthew McConaughey film adaptation made Looper's list of the best lawyer movies of all time. But sometimes you want to watch a show instead. Enter Netflix's recent streaming adaptation, which stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as the eponymous Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, who handles criminal defense cases in Los Angeles from the comfort of his Lincoln.

While less of a thriller than "Presumed Innocent" or some of the other shows on this list, "The Lincoln Lawyer" is a solid legal drama series with two seasons already completed and a third just days away at the time of this writing. Garcia-Rulfo does a great job in the role of Mickey, balancing the complicated protagonist's competence with a healthy amount of personal demons. While more focused on its core plot than other true crime serials, "The Lincoln Lawyer" also has some of the fun, bingeable stylings of a more traditional network TV procedural.

It doesn't totally revamp the genre, but it's a competent, cleanly crafted, satisfying show. And for those who mostly enjoyed "Presumed Innocent" for the courtroom scenes themselves, this show has plenty of classic legal drama to dig into. Plus "The Lincoln Lawyer" is based on a lot of real-life legal cases, so while it is fictional, it's also not as fantastical as other shows on this list.

Set in the American Southwest during the 1970s, AMC's "Dark Winds" is a masterclass in modern Western television, led by the exquisite onscreen talents of Zahn McClarnon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and Kiowa Gordon. McClarnon plays Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo tribal police officer investigating a pair of grisly murders. That case ends up being tied to a high-profile bank robbery, and Joe has to navigate both a racist FBI power structure and dark forces within Navajo County to get to the bottom of it.

While this is probably the farthest away from "Presumed Innocent" of all the shows on this list, we've included it for a few reasons. Like the Apple TV+ series, it's a great murder mystery with protagonists who have their own complicated ties to the case. It's also just an amazing show, shot with gorgeous visual flair. And, best of all, it's still currently airing, so you can hop on now for the first two seasons and be ready to catch Season 3 when it premieres on AMC.

The show is more neo-noir-meets-Western-meets-supernatural-thriller than traditional crime drama, but that's also why it's great. The core tenets of tangled mystery, complex characters, and dark undertones are here, just as they are in "Presumed Innocent." But it's the cast of "Dark Winds" that really makes the show so special.

While not the highest-rated show on this list by the critics, "Your Honor" is probably the most similar to "Presumed Innocent." The story follows Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston), a New Orleans judge who gets pulled into a world of deception after his son Adam (Hunter Doohan) accidentally kills the son of a major local crime lord (Michael Stuhlbarg) in a hit and run. Michael's efforts to protect his son lead him further and further away from the legal tenets he claims to uphold and further down a dangerous path.

Although the Showtime series was meant to be a simple one-and-done, it was renewed for a second season that premiered in 2023. We won't divulge any of the details of that season, though, as it deals directly with the aftermath of Season 1. Fans of Cranston's past dramatic work will likely jump at the chance to watch him sink his teeth into another meaty, morally conflicted role, and the rest of the cast includes strong performances from the likes of Hope Davis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sofia Black-D'Elia, and Carmen Ejogo.

While the show holds a relatively low 49% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score is much higher at 67%. If you're a fan of the genre already and enjoyed "Presumed Innocent," then you'll likely come out on the more positive end.

"True Detective" Season 1 is arguably one of the most important seasons of modern television ever produced, pushing the limits of what thrillers could be in the age of streaming and prestige TV. While the show has always aired on HBO, its model of high-production-value, star-driven, narratively complex drama has been widely embraced by plenty of other networks and streamers since. It was also an early adopter of the modern anthology TV model, which "American Horror Story" helped popularize and which has since become widely embraced.

That structure means that every season is a totally new case with totally new characters. While the original run of episodes starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey is still widely viewed as the best, and one of the finest seasons of TV ever made, every subsequent season of the show brings its own unique themes and great performances.

Despite being called "True Detective," the show isn't true crime. Rather, it's a dark exploration of the human psyche in various fictional circumstances, always channeled through the lens of some major criminal investigation. It's not necessarily recommended viewing for more squeamish viewers, and yes, the grotesquerie can be a bit much at times. But at its best, "True Detective" is a show that sweeps you up in its twisted web of mystery and doesn't let you go.