15 Best TV Shows Like Silo

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Why is dystopian media so popular? Perhaps it's to remind us that no matter how bad our world seems, it can always be much worse. Whatever the reason is, there's no denying that many of the post-apocalyptic movies and TV shows out there are very good, and that goes double for "Silo," one of the best shows on Apple TV+.

"Silo," based on the "Silo" trilogy of novels by Hugh Howey, follows a society that is forced to live in a silo stretching 144 stories underground. Those inside of the structure must obey various rules to maintain order and avoid being forced into the outside world. The show explores themes of how those in power manipulate others to maintain order, and the whole thing gets bolstered by a powerhouse performance from Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette Nichols, who soon begins unraveling why everyone's kept inside the silo.

"Silo" has two seasons under its belt with at least two more in the works. As you wait for more episodes to drop, here are some other shows like "Silo" to tide you over that utilize science fiction and/or twist-filled narratives to keep you on the edge of your seat while offering commentary on our world. 

Seeing as you must already have an Apple TV+ subscription to watch "Silo," it only makes sense to also check out "Severance." While there's no apocalyptic event, "Severance" explores how corporations can have an over-arching reach into people's lives. Individuals undergoing the "severance" procedure separate their personal and work lives so that there are effectively two selves in one person. This leads to Mark S. (Adam Scott) searching for true freedom beyond his workspace at the mysterious Lumon Industries.

In several ways, "Silo" and "Severance" share a lot of DNA. Both shows involve characters feeling trapped underground and wanting to know what exists in the outside world. While "Silo" focuses on how government can have too far of a reach in how it dictates our lives, "Severance" focuses on how companies can do the exact same thing. The lines between politics and corporations in our real world have become increasingly intertwined, and once you start "Severance," you'll keep coming back to see it resolves all of its biggest mysteries.

For folks who like their post-apocalyptic TV shows to have more action, "Fallout" is just the ticket. Based on the best-selling video games, "Fallout" avoids a common apocalypse trope by not being so dour. Hundreds of years in the future, things are zany and colorful. There's still death around every corner, but Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) sets out in this wasteland to find her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), after being trapped in a bunker for all her life. The first season was a smash hit for Amazon Prime Video, and Seasons 2 and 3 are already in the works. 

One thing you begin to notice about all these sci-fi shows is that they typically involve people trapped somewhere, wanting to break free. "Silo" has people living in a silo, and "Fallout" sees Lucy and her family stuck in an underground bunker until raiders attack and kidnap her father. It's a common plot point in any story for the protagonist to want to see what the world offers beyond their limited worldview. But for shows like "Silo," this idea makes for great political allegories in showing that power structures try to limit what its citizens can do, lest they learn how the world really operates. 

Themes of powerful entities controlling individuals are also present in "Westworld." Only this time, the individuals are highly realistic androids, designed to allow visitors to a western-themed amusement park to live out any fantasy they want. But problems begin with the androids become self-aware and want better lives for themselves rather than being cannon fodder for rich jerks, leading to Dorothy Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) staging a revolution.

HBO cancelled "Westworld" because it became too costly, but it was one of HBO's prestige shows for a while. We use the word "was" because "Westworld" is absurdly no longer available to watch on HBO Max. To watch it, you'll need to purchase the episodes on platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV or expand your physical media collection by purchasing the complete "Westworld" series on Blu-ray. Still, it's a must-watch for anyone who enjoys dystopian sci-fi that touches on the ramifications of creating a genuine artificial intelligence.

Post-apocalyptic science-fiction tends to fall into one of two categories: Thoughtful explorations on the human condition and balls-to-the-wall action insanity. When you're in the mood for the latter, you need to turn on "Twisted Metal" on Peacock. The video games the show is based on mostly focus on vehicular combat as you attack other competitors in an array of tricked-out cars. The series hones in more on the story of John Doe (Anthony Mackie), who's tasked with delivering a mysterious package in exchange for being allowed to enter a community and get away from the open road filled with marauders.

Shows like "Silo" tend to focus on breaking free from societal restraints and exploring more of the world. "Twisted Metal" basically has the opposite kind of plot, where John has already seen what this world has to offer and just wants to settle down. There's something to be said about simply wanting to be part of a community, but don't get it twisted. "Twisted Metal" has all of the action anyone who's a fan of the games could want. 

Finding oneself trapped in a singular location is a naturally horrifying prospect, which is why it's nice to see a show like "FROM" fully lean into the horror of its central premise. The series, which originated on Epix and then moved to MGM+, sees sheriff Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau of "LOST") and other residents of the Township realize they're trapped by creatures in the neighboring forest that only come out at night. They search for whatever mysteries their town holds to find a way out.

"FROM" is so scary it's even earned a horror stamp of approval from Stephen King himself. The show manages to find new ways to deliver scares, which is a real asset for a horror TV series that could easily recycle the same plot points repeatedly. But "FROM" doesn't skimp on the character development. "FROM" is the kind of show you watch and endlessly speculate as to what's going to happen next with your friends. 

HBO Max's trend of removing shows (and true cultural pillars) from the platform even extends to its own original "Raised by Wolves," which ran for two seasons before it got the axe. Ridley Scott of "Blade Runner" and "Alien" fame produced the show about two androids — Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim) — who are tasked with raising a new civilization of humans after the Earth is destroyed and must find a way to control humanity's beliefs. 

"Raised by Wolves" is for true sci-fi heads. The show didn't merely utilize sci-fi aesthetics but truly dove into philosophical concepts of what it means to be human. This not only extends to how human Mother and Father appear to be but what an integral role religion plays in building a society. Beliefs can allow humans to work on something greater than themselves, but it can also lead to individuals becoming fanatics and taking their systems too far. "Raised by Wolves" may not have been as commercially viable as other sci-fi series, but it might just prove to be one of the most important series of the 2020s. 

There's a good chance you've already seen the 2013 film "Snowpiercer" directed by Bong Joon Ho, but you shouldn't sleep on the TNT series of the same name if you like "Silo." The "Snowpiercer" show takes place in its own continuity, so you don't need to worry about remembering every little detail from the film or graphic novel both are based on. All you need to know is that the planet has entered an Ice Age, and a train keeps civilization afloat. However, the poorest are kept in the back of the train while the elite enjoy far more amenities the closer you get to the front.

While the "Snowpiercer" film is great, there's something to be said about this series getting multiple seasons to tell its story. The movie is mostly about overthrowing the corrupt system, but the TV series gets a chance to show that overthrowing is only part of the battle. What happens after revolution? Someone needs to pick up the pieces and build something new and (hopefully) better, which makes TNT's "Snowpiercer" such an engaging watch. 

Don't cancel your Apple TV+ subscription just yet. You still need to watch "Foundation" if you're a fan of hard science-fiction from the mind of Isaac Asimov. "Foundation" takes place in the far-off future where the galaxy if ruled by a despot. However, a young woman, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), finds herself embroiled in a massive conspiracy where the empire is about to fall, and it's up to her and a select group of individuals to ensure all of humanity's knowledge lives on even when society crumbles.

"Foundation" definitely isn't the kind of show you can watch passively while staring at your phone. Its complex storyline may prove unwieldy for some, but ultimately, the series is worth investing in for the visual effects alone. It's truly one of the best-looking shows on streaming right now with an ambitious scope to boot. Throw in a pair of stellar performances from Lee Pace and Jared Harris, and you'll be astonished more people aren't talking about "Foundation" online. 

"Under the Dome" is incredibly similar to "Silo" in that both shows involve people trapped somewhere. In these cases, under a dome and within a silo, respectively. There's also a mystery to unravel with "Under the Dome" in that no one is certain where the dome came from, who made it, and why it was placed over a town. Regardless, this society needs to figure out how to survive when resources begin dwindling as people try to figure out how to escape. 

It's interesting that the book "Under the Dome," written by Stephen King, and "The Simpsons Movie," which involves Springfield being placed under a dome, came out around the same time. It shows the power of parallel thinking and how sometimes society is ready for a certain idea to bubble to the surface. Gives the rise of shows like "Silo" where people are trapped together, "Under the Dome" was ahead of its time in exploring how society crumbles when isolationism kicks in.

Alex Garland, who's written "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation," created his own twisty miniseries with "Devs," which hones in on the nature of free will. The show follows Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), who investigates the death of her boyfriend after he begins working with the tech company Amaya. Lily knows there's more to her boyfriend's death than what the CEO of the company, Forest (Nick Offerman), is telling her, sending her down a dark, mysterious path to uncover the truth of not just her loved one but life itself.

One thing you can rarely say about Garland's projects is that he takes the easy way out. "Devs" is incredibly ambitious, and it's a great sci-fi series for fans of the genre to tackle since it tells a complete story within its eight episodes. The show feels like it'll simply be a commentary on modern Silicon Valley ethos infiltrating much of society at large, but once you really get into it, it becomes something so much grander.

"1899" is one of many Netflix shows cancelled for strange reasons. Despite a passionate fanbase, the series only lasted one season before Netflix canned it due to a low completion rate of viewership, leading to a fan-driven campaign to bring it back. It's understandable fans would feel this way, as "1899" has a mystery box-style structure where there's a lot to unravel and plenty more storylines the show could've explored. 

The series follows a group of Europeans traveling from their homeland to the United States, but along the way, their ship encounters an abandoned vessel. After that, they begin experiencing all kinds of supernatural-seeming occurrences and an unwieldy mystery to solve. Unfortunately, "1899" didn't answer all of its questions before it got prematurely cancelled, but it's still worth checking out due to the way the show builds atmosphere. Plus, watching "1899" will make you appreciate when a show like "Silo" manages to get enough time to allow its story to grow and breathe. 

"Scavengers Reign" is one of the most underrated shows on HBO Max that, once again, got cancelled far too soon. While more episodes were certainly possible, the final episode does end in a place that tells something of a complete story. The series conveys three separate accounts of survivors of the Demeter 227 spaceship that crash lands on an alien world. These survivors must traverse the hostile terrain, filled with bizarre and often dangerous plants and animals, to make it back to their ship.

"Scavengers Reign" is a wonderful blend of science-fiction, horror, and beauty. Rarely is anything as it first appears, as something completely innocuous-looking threatens the lives of the characters. It's a truly alien world in that viewers never know what they're going to get next, leading to some truly fantastic creature designs. That's nothing to say of the animation quality, which is some of the best you'll find in recent years. 

You may notice a theme among all these shows like "Silo" in that they involve people mysteriously trapped somewhere. That goes double for "Wayward Pines," which begins with Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) investigating the town, and after a car crash, he finds that he's stuck there like everyone else. Anyone who tries to escape is punished severely, but that's really only half the story. "Wayward Pines" goes in a pretty different direction for season 2, and it would've been fun to see what would've happened later if it hadn't been cancelled after that. 

The first episode was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who's also a producer on the series and was hoping for a three-season run, so you know to expect some twists along the way. Similar to "Silo," "Wayward Pines" plays with the idea that humanity will always seek what it's told not to explore. Telling people not to explore beyond your confines will only make them want to seek it out further. 

"Colony" could've been just another alien invasion series, but it morphs into something pretty great when given the chance. The series is set in a world overtaken by an alien invasion that has isolated cities via massive walls. Aliens have recruited humans for their own labor but have assigned many, including the show's protagonist, Will Bowman (Josh Holloway), to serve as their own military presence to keep the rest of humanity in check and dampening the efforts of the Resistance. The one wrinkle in all this is Will's wife, Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies), is part of that Resistance and spies on her husband for the greater good. 

With intense world-building and themes dabbling in the gray area of morality, "Colony" feels like it belongs on a modern streamer rather than the USA Network in the mid-2010s. It's even more impressive that "Colony" is as entertaining as it is with the aliens mostly functioning as an unseen threat, allowing the show to hone in on the human drama. 

"Silo" is a great show to watch for fans of science-fiction thanks to its dystopian setting and grappling with advanced technology. As such, if you're a fan of it, it only makes sense to check out what some would call the most accurate sci-fi series in recent memory with "The Expanse." It fully leans into its genre with a galaxy-spanning plot as political tensions have arisen between Earth and those residing on Mars, known as Belters. But "The Expanse" really succeeds in weaving together disparate storylines into one cohesive narrative that explores social inequality and the perils of unchecked technological advancement. 

"The Expanse" does what all great sci-fi should: It takes modern real-world themes and transposes them into a fantastic setting. It shows how even with greater resources and more knowledge, humanity will always have its hubris, but hopefully, it also retains its compassion and wonder. Unlike other shows on this list that were cancelled and then stayed dead, "The Expanse" got a second lease on life. After three seasons on Syfy, it lasted for three more on Amazon Prime Video, meaning there's plenty to get through until more "Silo" comes around.