13 Best TV Shows Like Silo

One of the best new sci-fi shows on streaming, "Silo" has taken the genre by storm, heading into its third season in 2024 with a fourth already secured. From the mind of Graham Yost — the creator of "Justified" (arguably the best modern TV Western) — "Silo" is set in a not-too-distant future where a worldwide cataclysm forces the population underground and into the cylindrical confines of a massive subterranean silo. 

Within the silo, humanity has separated and restructured under the thumb of a tyrannical ruling class, with Sheriff Holston Becker (David Oyelowo) and security chief Robert Sims (Common) maintaining order. Rebecca Ferguson stars as Juliette Nichols, one of the community's best engineers, who helps maintain the generators that power the silo. But when she inadvertently learns a dark truth about the silo, it compels her to reexamine her entire worldview.

A hit with fans and critics, "Silo" is a gritty story about one woman who learns that everything she knows about her world may be wrong. If you've loved "Silo" so far, but can't wait for the next season, check out these 13 shows that capture the same spirit and tone.

Based on a book by Stephen King, "Under the Dome" may not be the most obvious choice if you're looking for a show like "Silo." Produced in the early 2010s and airing on CBS, it has a decidedly more family-friendly tone, and seems influenced by the likes of "Lost" with its series-long mystery. But at its core, the show is the story of a diverse group of people forced to live on their own, while trying to discover why they've been forced together, with devastating secrets learned along the way.

The story takes place in the small backwater town of Chester's Mill, where the community suddenly finds itself isolated from the outside world thanks to an enormous, impenetrable, and invisible dome that appears out of nowhere one fateful day. Unable to leave or communicate with anyone beyond their borders, a small group of townspeople set out to learn more about what's happened to them and why. But tensions get heated as the town begins to run out of resources, factions emerge, and before long they risk an all-out civil war, while strange egg-like relics are found that could hold the key to freeing Chester's Mill.

Only lasting three seasons, "Under the Dome" was never a hit, but its first season is some of the most underrated sci-fi drama of the era. 

If there was a new series from Erik Kripke, J.J. Abrams, and Jon Favreau now, it might be the hottest show of the year. But back in 2012, all three sat atop the creative team of "Revolution," a post-apocalyptic drama starring Billy Burke, Giancarlo Esposito, Tracy Spiridakos, and Zak Orth, yet few remember it. Like "Silo," it takes place in a world where society has crumbled and follows a hero determined to find out what really happened to the world as we knew it.

Unlike "Silo," "Revolution" begins in the immediate aftermath of a societal breakdown, caused by a mysterious force that has somehow destroyed mankind's ability to generate electricity. Fifteen years later, the world is still recovering when we meet former Miles Matheson (Burke), who possesses a strange pendant — one of many of its kind — that may reveal why the world went dark. But he's not the only one looking for answers.

Running for two seasons, "Revolution" was unfortunately overlooked, despite the enormous talent behind and in front of the cameras. After its cancellation in 2014, the series returned for a third season in comic book form, wrapping up the story in a four-part series from series writers David Reed and Ryan Parrott.

While it bears the name of the 1995 cult classic sci-fi movie starring Bruce Willis, "12 Monkeys" was also a TV series, albeit a sorely underseen one. Airing on SyFy for four seasons beginning in 2015, "12 Monkeys" hailed from showrunner Terry Matalas and starred Aaron Stanford as James Cole, a man from a post-apocalyptic near-future who is thrust back in time to the present on a mission to find the source of a deadly plague that nearly wipes out humanity.

Expanding on the film's story, the TV adaptation adds multiple layers of drama, including a faction of militant survivors known as West VII, led by a dangerous radical known as Deacon (Todd Stashwick). While the film is a fairly straightforward thriller, the series also explores two separate time periods, following both Cole's adventures in the present and the parallel efforts of his superiors in the future to reclaim Earth for mankind. 

Like "Silo," the sprawling, time-twisting "12 Monkeys" follows one man's efforts to unravel a mystery from the past that could help decide the future of human civilization. Critically acclaimed, its complicated timeline may need to be explained, but by the end, it's one of the most satisfying time travel stories TV has ever produced. The show helped Matalas land helming duties on "Star Trek: Picard" and the upcoming "VisionQuest" series on Disney+.

Like "12 Monkeys," the TNT series "Snowpiercer" is a small-screen adaptation of a big screen favorite, in this case the 2013 film from director Bong Joon-ho starring Chris Evans, John Hurt, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, and Octavia Spencer. The TV version has an equally impressive cast, led by Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, and is set in a dark future where the world has become almost entirely uninhabitable and frozen in a new Ice Age. To keep humanity from extinction, survivors have piled aboard a massive train that continually circles the globe.

Known as the Great Ark Train, the Snowpiercer runs non-stop, but over time, the population of its massive 1,001 cars has become deeply segregated in a bitter class structure. The wealthy and elite live in luxury at the front of the train, while the poor, lower classes live at the back. A series of mysterious deaths kicks off the story as a homicide detective (Diggs) from the rear of the train is recruited by Snowpiercer's head of hospitality, Melanie Cavill (Connelly), to find the killer. As the story unfolds, however, new revelations about a coming revolution — and the nature of the current Ice Age — threaten to unravel civil order aboard the Snowpiercer.

Expanding on the film in new and exciting ways, the "Snowpiercer" series never feels superfluous, offering up unexpected surprises and plenty of dark thrills.

Based on the legendary series of novels by sci-fi luminary Isaac Asimov, "Foundation" is a story so truly sprawling that it was once deemed unfilmable. After decades of trying to get an adaptation off the ground it was Apple TV+ that finally cracked it. "Mad Men" star Jared Harris stars as Hari Seldon, a brilliant scientist in the far future who develops a new field of study called psychohistory, through which he's able to examine not just the past but also the future. He makes the shocking discovery that the Galactic Empire that has reigned for more than 10,000 years will soon fall.

Knowing that all of human civilization is on the verge of collapse, with the very real possibility of wiping out the entire species, Seldon creates a group called The Foundation. This alliance of brilliant minds is collectively dedicated to preserving the knowledge of mankind so that it might survive to be reactivated at some point in the even more distant future. But not everyone is convinced, and some fear the results of Seldon's work, leading to rising tensions within the Empire and the Foundation itself.

Set much further in the future than "Silo," "Foundation" is a sweeping sci-fi epic, a dynamic cross between "Star Wars" and "Dune," both of which were heavily influenced by Asimov's work. 

"Westworld," which premiered in October 2016, is a modern reinvention of a 1973 sci-fi movie written and directed by Michael Crichton. Critically acclaimed and an instant modern classic, the series impressed viewers and critics alike with a layered story swimming in commentary on the human condition. The show takes place in a future where artificial intelligence and android technology have led to theme parks like Westworld, an immersive Wild West experience where guests can indulge their greatest — and darkest — desires, without any fear of harming real people.

The show's first season follows William (Jimmi Simpson), who takes an excursion to the park with his brother-in-law to be, Logan (Ben Barnes). What he finds shocks him: guests routinely rape and murder the artificial "host" androids, making him wonder what is really at the heart of human nature. A parallel storyline involves a twisted gunslinger in black (Ed Harris), who seems to have no qualms about doing evil deeds within the park, while the android's creator (Anthony Hopkins) may have been keeping dark secrets about his technology all along.

A mix of Western action and sci-fi drama, "Westworld" examines the complicated nature of morality while pondering what it really means to be human. Later seasons also went outside the park through an android uprising, revealing a world where technology portends an even darker future for humanity.

In 2016, "Lost" alum Josh Holloway and "The Walking Dead" star Sarah Wayne Callies teamed up for the sci-fi thriller "Colony," which aired on the USA Network for three seasons. The world of "Colony" is a dystopian near-future where a totalitarian regime known as the Transitional Authority rules over Los Angeles. This regime emerged following the arrival of an enigmatic race of beings from the stars known only as the Hosts. Their origins and motives are at first shrouded in mystery; when they first arrive, Earth is plunged into chaos and the Hosts quickly take control, walling off large metropolises like Los Angeles.

In this new world order, classes are separated and various groups of resistance to the Hosts have arisen. As the series begins, we meet former Army Ranger Will Bowman (Holloway), who works for the Transitional Authority hunting down resistance fighters. But unbeknownst to him, his own wife (Callies) is a member of the resistance. The couple become embroiled on opposing sides of the conflict, all while trying to find their young son who went missing years before when the Hosts arrived.

Blending sci-fi conspiracies with global geopolitics, "Colony" is brimming with allegory and social commentary about the rise of fascism while examining the concept of moral corruption as part of human nature. 

Take the dark future of "Silo" and give it a "Blade Runner" twist and you might get something like "Altered Carbon," a Netflix original based on a series of novels by Richard K. Morgan. Though not set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, the far future of "Altered Carbon" follows a global uprising against a new world order. In this dark future, human consciousness is uploaded into a computer chip that can be inserted into artificial bodies, with the wealthiest using human clones to achieve immortality.

The show's first season follows Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), a former rebel soldier who is brought back to life after 250 years and given a new body. He's revived by wealthy magnate Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy), who was recently murdered and given a freshly cloned body. Bancroft wants Kovacs to find the man who killed him, and Kovacs' distinctive skills and reputation make him uniquely qualified for the job. As his investigation proceeds, however, Kovacs learns that not all is as it seems.

At times, "Altered Carbon" is a sci-fi show that can be difficult to understand, but if you're willing to pay close attention, you'll be rewarded. The show ended after its second season, which added Anthony Mackie to the cast and further explored Kovacs' mission decades later.

Playing up the political aspects of "Silo" is the 2019 genre-bending sci-fi series "Counterpart," starring J.K. Simmons. Here there is no apocalypse, as the series is set more or less in the present day, but one completely different from our own. Because at the headquarters of a clandestine intelligence agency based in Berlin is a portal to a parallel universe. 

Simmons stars as a low-level agent in the Office of Interchange who stumbles upon the secret of the doppelganger Earth. He soon discovers that there is another, more experienced version of himself from the other world who holds a more important role in the agency. Before long, he makes startling new discoveries about the true nature of the alternate dimension as factions on both sides are engaged in a rapidly heating cold war.

One of the best sci-fi shows that nobody seemed to notice, "Counterpart" has a lot of the same tone and energy as "Silo." It sadly only lasted two seasons, despite universal acclaim and even an Emmy win.

There are lots of shows you'll love if you're enjoying "Silo," some of which skirt the edges of other genres. You might think of "Severance" as more of a psychological thriller than a sci-fi adventure, but at its core it's another story about a draconian system and an unusual way of life that obscures a darker truth. Starring Adam Scott, the series follows the men and women who work at Lumon Industries, a biotech company involved in cutting-edge medical advances. To work there, one must undergo a procedure called "severance," where one's memories are manipulated so that when on the job you have no knowledge of your civilian life — and vice versa.

The series follows Mark (Scott), a Lumon employee who becomes increasingly suspicious of the corporation and its strange culture when he must train new employee Helly (Britt Lower). When he's not at work, we learn that Mark was once a history professor whose motives for becoming severed involve a devastating personal tragedy. Inside Lumon, Mark has no memory of his other life, and he comes to believe that Lumon's severance requirement may be about far more than simply creating an efficient workforce.

A mind-bending story, "Severance" is a critical darling and a smash hit that we labeled "the best mystery on TV" in our Season 2 review.

No, we're not talking about the identically-titled outer space adventure series from 2015. This "Dark Matter" began airing on Apple TV+ in 2024, a fresh new series that takes place right here on Earth. "Snowpiercer" star Jennifer Connelly joins "Obi-Wan Kenobi" cast member Joel Edgerton as a husband and wife, Jason and Daniela Dessen, who find themselves thrust into a conspiracy involving parallel worlds when Jason's doppelganger from another reality brings Jason through a gateway between dimensions.

The alternate Jason Dessen quickly moves into his counterpart's life and takes over his family, while in the parallel world, the "original" Jason discovers that his twin is a world-famous but highly reclusive physicist who hasn't been seen in over a year. As the fates of both men change in the other's world, the "first" Jason sets out to return home, teaming with his wife's counterpart to find out what his alternate self is really up to.

Met with solid reviews in its first year and renewed for a second, "Dark Matter" also features a strong supporting cast that includes "Westworld" star Jimmi Simpson, Dayo Okeniyi, and Alice Braga.

Blending "Star Trek" with "Silo," the 2015 sci-fi gem "The Expanse," based on the book series by James S. A. Corey, is set in a future when mankind has colonized outer space. But just because humanity has reached the stars doesn't mean that everyone gets along, as various political factions — including the United Nations of Earth and Luna, the Martian Congressional Republic on Mars, and the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) — vie for power.

Tensions are high between these organizations and the lawless colonies that exist in between, and even the slightest nudge risks plunging the solar system into all-out war. At the center of the story is space cop Joe Miller (Thomas Jane), a detective who gets caught up in political intrigue while tackling a missing persons case. In the process, he stumbles across a vast conspiracy that threatens the system's tenuous grip on cosmic peace.

More of a space opera and action-drama than "Silo," it still explores many of the same themes. It also happens to be one of the best-reviewed sci-fi series of the last decade, and thanks to Amazon — which rescued the series after it was briefly canceled by SyFy in 2018 — it lasted for stellar six seasons.

If it's the post-apocalyptic setting you like about "Silo," and are looking for something that leans into that part of the story, try HBO's "Station Eleven." The series, based on a novel by Emily St. John Mandel, stars Mackenzie Davis and Matilda Lawler as older and younger versions of Kirsten Raymonde, a young woman who manages to survive a global pandemic that wipes out most of the world's population (filming of the series was actually interrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, one of many facts only huge fans know about the show). 

The series follows two parallel timelines: In the past, at the outset of the pandemic, we meet the younger Kirsten (Lawler), who finds herself in the care of a reluctant but good-hearted stranger named Jeevan (Himesh Patel) when society begins to crumble around them. Over time, conditions deteriorate and the pair are forced to flee and find community in the wilderness. In the present, an adult Kirsten (Davis) now travels with a group of theater performers who entertain survivors as they criss-cross the countryside. But they soon encounter a dangerous, cult-like group of survivors whose leader has an unexpected connection to Kirsten's past.

Possibly the best post-apocalyptic series in recent years, "Station Eleven" is gripping, edge-of-your-seat television. Despite its often grim tone, it's ultimately an inspiring and uplifting story of human connection.