13 Shows Like The OA to Watch if You Like The OA

There was a brief time following Netflix's announcement that The OA was canceled when many fans may or may not have been convinced the news was some meta-style trickery meant to confuse us before the streaming service surprise-dropped the next season. After all, the end of Part II saw Prairie/Nina/OA (Brit Marling) and Hap (Jason Isaacs) seemingly dance their way into a new plane of existence -- perhaps even ours -- where they were actors starring in a show quite like the one we were watching them in. It would've been a cool twist for the streaming service to play into that plotline by announcing the end of The OA while secretly producing another season to continue on with Marling's five-season vision for the series.

Alas, enough time has now passed that we're no longer optimistic about The OA coming back to tie up those loose ends. We'll probably never get to see OA and Homer (Emory Cohen) actually get to touch one another or see how Steve Winchell (Patrick Gibson) handles his first hard-won interdimensional jump, and no, we are not OK with any of it.

The Best Fantasy Shows to Stream Right Now

The OA created a one-of-a-kind fantasy/sci-fi experience, and without it, there's a major void in our viewing options. However, we put together a list of a few shows that offer a little something The OA fans might enjoy and are available to stream right now. (Also worth noting: Marling's own existential sci-fi drama film Another Earth is essential viewing for OA fans. It's available to stream on Cinemax or rent on Amazon.)

Looking for more recommendations of what to watch next? We have a ton of them! And if you're looking for more hand-picked recommendations based on TV shows you love, we have those too.

Awake

Where to watch: Amazon (for rental or purchase)

This Jason Isaacs-led drama was also too short-lived, despite some serious imagination in its conceptual framework. The NBC police-procedural-with-a-major-twist featured Isaacs as Michael Britten, an LAPD detective who finds himself existing in two different dimensions after his wife and son are involved in a serious car accident: one in which only she survived the accident and their son did not, and another in which only their son pulls through. It's spooky, emotional, and confusing, which are all feelings The OA fans know well. Isaacs is no Hap here, but his performance is just as haunting.

Black Mirror

Where to watch: Netflix

Not every episode of Black Mirror is as effective as the rest, but there are some installments in the dystopian-ish anthology series which will burn themselves into your consciousness and leave you feeling like the very act of watching them puts you into the story (a concept that actually bore fruit in the interactive one-off Black Mirror: Bandersnatch). We could argue all day about which episodes are the best and worst, but for those OA fans looking for those installments which might recapture the specific sensation of watching the series, we'd recommend the following: "Playtest" (the mindf---ery in this one is very familiar), "Be Right Back" (there's a crushing loss of consortium plotline that OA/Homer 'shippers will certainly empathize with), and "Bandersnatch" (which gets increasingly eerie as you guide the characters' decisions from the fourth wall).

Dark

Where to watch: Netflix

Fair warning: You won't want to go into this series with any expectation of an easy binge session. Keeping track of how all of the characters and timelines are connected is a pretty heavy lift. But the series' mind-bending tale of how one child's disappearance affected everyone in town across time and space is thrilling through and through.

Devs

Where to watch: FX on Hulu

Fellow TV-loving philosophers may also find themselves sucked into the novel world created in Alex Garland's Devs, a series which quietly condemns the advent of boundless technological pursuits while simultaneously dissecting the concepts of determinism and the very purpose of human existence. Like The OA, the series is filled with surprises, has its own ever-changing rules, and keeps you guessing right until the very end.

Dispatches from Elsewhere

Where to watch: AMC

If you're in the mood for some more of that eerie puzzle-solving action we saw in The OA: Part II, AMC's chaotic mystery-drama with an existential twist is a great fit for you. Like The OA, the major characters of this series are all brought together to discover that there is much more to their world than they ever knew.

Fringe

Where to watch: IMDb TV (free with ads), Amazon (for rental or purchase)

J.J. Abrams has served up plenty of brainfood throughout his television production history, including Lostand Alias, but Fringe is the series that will most likely delight and excite OA fans. The series centers on an FBI task force that investigates unexplained occurrences and eventually stumbles into the realm of a parallel universe that feels just as disconcerting as some of the dimensional hops we experience in The OA.

The Leftovers

Where to watch: HBO, HBO Max

One series that absolutely captures the same sense of dread and intrigue which prevailed over The OA is HBO's apocalyptic drama The Leftovers, which presents a vision of the modern world in which 2% of the global population disappears without a trace, and those who remain are left with anguish and uncertainty about what happened and what might happen next. The show was created by Damon Lindelof (who also brought us that very excellent Watchmen series) and, over the course of its three seasons, makes an indelible impact on audiences with its thoughtful and often provocative explorations of life, love, and loss.

Maniac

Where to watch: Netflix

Like The OA, Maniac centers on characters (portrayed by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill) whose desperation leads them to stumble into a science experiment that takes them to all-new worlds of experience, for better and for worse. The tone of the show errs on the side of being quirky, but the varying versions of reality experienced by the characters is still invigorating to behold.

Paradox

Where to watch: Hulu or Amazon

This British mini-series wasn't exactly a critical favorite, but its concept of a police team trying to prevent calamities before they happen will still ring familiar for everyone who taught themselves to do those five moves after watching The OA.

Russian Doll

Where to watch: Netflix

Those fans of The OA who happened to enjoy the philosophical underpinnings of the series should get a kick out of this dark comedy series which explores the concept of quantum immortality with aGroundhog Day-style death spree. The atmosphere and mood of the series is certainly different than The OA, but the cosmic journey of Russian Doll's deliciously brash lead -- Natasha Lyonne's Nadia -- is still gripping and contemplative for similar reasons.

Sense8

Where to watch: Netflix

This electric sci-fi series from the Wachowskis brings together eight strangers from across the world who have cerebral connections to one another and must force a fellowship to survive the cat-and-mouse game they suddenly find themselves in. It's not exactly the same kind of connection forged by our heroes in The OA, but that theme of togetherness and shared fate rings true here, too.

Travelers

Where to watch: Netflix

This Canadian-American sci-fi series was a critical favorite and has a lot to offer fans of challenging shows like The OA. The series centers on a group of special ops who are sent back in time to prevent global catastrophes by taking over the bodies of those who would otherwise die shortly thereafter and live double lives as agents of the future pretending to be the person whose form they now occupy. It's suspenseful and fun and presents a unique take on the well-worn time travel genre.

Twin Peaks: The Return

Where to watch: Showtime

As with The OA, audiences of David Lynch's return to the world of Twin Peaks (note: the original series is available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, and CBS All Access) are in for a richly WTF experience with this convention-busting drama series which leaves people simultaneously scratching their heads and clapping after they let the episodes just wash over them and stop asking questions.

Looking for more TV recommendations? We have a ton, organized by genre, mood, and network.