10 Best Dark Sci-Fi Series to Scratch That The OA Itch

The OA was such a phenomenal sci-fi project that even five years after it was canceled, it still lingers in the minds of its fans.

But Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's show is not the only sci-fi series that leaves you questioning reality and amazes with its ideas. We have chosen ten projects that should appeal to those who still miss the mysterious story of Prairie.

1. Devs, 2020

Sergei and Lily work for a successful IT company called Amaya, with its office located in the middle of a dense pine forest. One morning, the owner of the company, Forest, makes Sergei an unexpected offer – he decides to promote the employee to a top-secret department, where even the colleagues are not allowed to tell each other what they are developing.

What he sees shocks Sergei so much that on the very first evening he tries to break the rule and takes secret data with him. Without ever returning home, he disappears without a trace, and two days later, the company's employees show Lily a video of Sergei committing an act of self-immolation at the entrance to the office.

2. Counterpart, 2017-2019

Counterpart is an original genre mix of science fiction about parallel worlds and a spy thriller about the connection between characters and their doubles.

According to the plot, an ordinary Berlin employee Howard learns that he actually works not for the UN, but for an organization that guards the transition to another dimension – to an authoritarian version of Berlin called Prime, where a terrible pandemic once occurred, killing 7% of the population.

Representatives of Prime thought that this was the work of Alpha, the world where Howard lives, so a cold war began between the parallel worlds – spies monitored their doubles from another dimension and used them to gather information. One day, Howard meets his Prime double, who may be a member of an opposition group.

3. Wayward Pines, 2015-2016

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke is searching for two colleagues who have disappeared in the Idaho outback. On the way, he gets into a car accident and loses consciousness.

When Ethan wakes up in the hospital in the town of Wayward Pines, he tries to contact his family and superiors, but each time he gets an answering machine. He soon realizes that something strange and inexplicable is happening in the town and that getting out of Wayward Pines will not be easy.

4. Dark, 2017-2020

The small German town of Winden is thrown into turmoil when schoolboy Mikkel disappears into a forest cave. His father, police officer Ulrich, rushes to find his son, not realizing that he should not be looking in any particular place, but in another time: thanks to a wormhole in the cave, the boy has traveled from 2019 to 1986. And this is not the only time travel in the series.

The plot of Dark is a time loop that can be unwound indefinitely, and to understand the intricacies of the series, you need to make a lot of effort. But Dark, even if it seems to be too confusing, is exactly the experience you have to have at least once in your life.

5. 1899, 2022

In 1899, the liner Kerberos left Europe for America and gathered a multinational crowd on board: people from all over the continent decided to leave the lands of their past for the sake of the New World.

Each has his own hidden reasons for embarking on the journey, and each carries his own terrible secret. The voyage is overshadowed by bad news: the steamship Prometheus, built by the same shipping company, has disappeared in the middle of the ocean.

1899 is a project by the creators of Dark that, like its predecessor, will either make you fall in love at first sight or irritate you with its numerous mysteries.

The story is perfectly balanced between thriller, horror and science fiction, thanks to thoughtful details – symbols of terrifying pyramids, crawling Egyptian beetles and mysterious signs.

6. The Devil's Hour, 2022-...

Lucy Chambers wakes up every night at exactly 3:33 a.m. Lucy's son, eight-year-old Isaac, also worries his mother – he keeps talking to people no one else can see.

At the same time, two murders have been committed in the area. And on the wall of the suspect's room, police found an inscription: "Where is Lucy Chambers?"

The single mother has strange, bloody visions: either the future or an alternate life. Lucy is somehow connected to the victims and the criminal, but has no idea what they have in common.

The British series is full of mysteries, which makes the events on screen fascinating to watch. At 3:33 a.m., not only does Lucy wake up, but so does her elderly mother with dementia. Is insomnia hereditary? The main character is plagued by visions, but not all the nightmares come true. The viewers have to figure out what is happening along with Lucy.

7. Constellation, 2024

Jo is part of a team of astronauts who have gone into space on a major mission. Along with Commander Paul and other colleagues, Jo spent nearly a year on the ISS. While the team collected data on the tests, the commander followed other instructions – he tested the scientific hypotheses of scientist Henry Caldera.

But not a single mission was completed – an unknown object unexpectedly crashed into the ISS, which led to the depressurization of the station. Jo manages to escape and return to Earth, but over time she begins to understand that something is wrong with her perception of reality.

Constellation is a fascinating sci-fi series from Apple TV+ that knows how to make your brain work. The first few episodes can easily confuse the unprepared viewer, but by the middle, the laws of physics are explained and everything falls into place.

8. Severance, 2022-...

Ben Stiller's sci-fi thriller Severance tells the story of everyday life at Lumon Industries, a technology company that uses a special medical procedure to separate employees' work memories from their everyday lives.

One day, one of the employees, Mark, begins to suspect that something is wrong and gradually unravels a terrible conspiracy. It remains to understand who can be trusted and what his second personality is hiding.

9. Maniac, 2018

Annie Landsberg and Owen Milgrim are among the many who have agreed to test the latest pharmaceutical drug. Each volunteer has their own reasons. Annie is looking for a way to heal her soul and find her place in the world, and Owen hopes to use the drug to find a way to cope with his illness – the young man was diagnosed with schizophrenia in early childhood.

Dr. Mantleray's drug is supposed to be a real breakthrough in the field of medicine because, according to the brochure, it is universal and can cure any illness.

10. Dark Matter, 2024-...

A career as a teacher has made Jason Dessen a boring man, but the one with a happy family. His scientist friend Ryan has just received an award and invites him to a bar, but Jason doesn't want to go – he can't stand hearing about other people's successes, especially when they are based on his own achievements.

Along the way, Jason is kidnapped by an unknown person and taken to a special lab. After some time, Dessen wakes up and finds himself in a version of his life where everything went differently.

Instead of professional failures, he becomes an honored physicist who changed the world. In his reality, however, Jason's place has been taken by a second Jason, whose motives are far more insidious than they first appear.