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There's no doubt that Black Mirror is one of the greatest sci-fi television shows of all time, but there are some that are even darker. Originally written by satirist and producer Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror has grown exponentially on Netflix, with its eighth season currently in production. The series, set in near-future dystopias and exploring advanced sci-fi technology, continues to receive critical acclaim even after 15 years on-screen.
Black Mirror has become well-known for including depressing and harrowing commentaries on our real-world society, with some episodes delivering very dark stories. Episodes such as "Be Right Back," White Christmas," "Shut Up and Dance," and "Common People" are some of thedarkest and grittiest. By expanding the concepts and themes into longer episodic shows, however, some sci-fi series have become even darker and more influential than the Netflix anthology.
Altered Carbon Makes Human Bodies a Commodity
Both Black Mirror and Netflix's Altered Carbon, adapted from Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel by Laeta Kalogridis (Alita: Battle Angel), explore futures where digital consciousness challenges human nature, but Altered Carbon is inherently darker because of its depiction of a permanent and systemic dystopia.
In Altered Carbon, human consciousness is stored in a "stack" implanted in the spine, which can be transferred into any body, known as a "sleeve." It transforms physical bodies into mere commodities.
Altered Carbon originally starred Joel Kinnaman (For All Mankind) as former soldier-turned-investigator Takeshi Kovacs, later played by Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Brave New World). The show envisions a perpetual capitalist nightmare where the ultra-wealthy are literally immortal gods, and violence, bodily commodification, and inequality are the everyday, inescapable reality.
While Black Mirror asks isolated moral questions, Altered Carbon gradually builds its dark noir universe. It results in a far more cynical and violent story.
Dark Matter Is a Character-Driven Multiverse Story
As well as showcasing sci-fi technological developments, Black Mirror also relies heavily on themes of existential dread. Dark Matter's longer format better equips it to examine these themes on an even deeper level.
Created by Blake Crouch for Apple TV, inspired by Crouch's own 2016 novel, Dark Matter stars Joel Edgerton as physicist Jason Dessen. He invents a way to travel between alternate universes, and inadvertently becomes trapped in a twisted world when his counterpart kidnaps him and takes his place.
Dark Matter doesn't just touch on its profound themes; it deeply explores Jason's rich psychology and the toll on those around him through the concept of multiversal travel. It traps its protagonist inside the ultimate labyrinth of self-doubt. The core villain is literally a more ambitious version of the main character.
The show dives into midlife regret and the terror of doppelgängers. With more reliance on character development, psychological torment, and empathetic storytelling, Dark Matter is one of sci-fi's most gripping adventures.
Westworld's AI Focus Is Much Bleaker Than Black Mirror
Even though HBO's Westworld was canceled before its fifth and final season could go into production, the sci-fi Western series is still one of TV's most poignant shows ever. With an all-star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson, James Marsden, Thandiwe Newton, and Ed Harris, Westworld rivals Black Mirror's star power. It takes the anthology's themes of artificial intelligence and advanced technology to the next level.
Westworld is initially set in an Old West-themed park inhabited by robotic "hosts." It explored themes involving human cruelty, systemic and institutionalized depravity, and existential crises more than Black Mirror ever could. When the hosts gain sentience and stage a rebellion against their human creators, the show blows open its story to span the entire globe.
The series explores generational suffering and loops of trauma while suggesting that true freedom or happiness is practically impossible to achieve. It's seriously bleak but compelling from start to finish.
Dark Doesn't Have a Happy Ending
Netflix's German sci-fi thriller series Dark is right up Black Mirror's alley. It follows the residents of the small town of Winden as they become embroiled in a century-spanning time-travel and alternate-reality conspiracy after a young boy goes missing in caves in the woods.
Dark relies on continuous, interconnected suffering as it explores themes of existentialism, determinism, and fatalism. Over three tight and complex seasons, it revealed the universe itself is corrupt and broken, making it considerably darker than Black Mirror.
Heavily serialized over three seasons, Dark builds its bleakness cumulatively, unlike Black Mirror's single standalone stories. There are no happy endings. Every action a character takes to prevent a catastrophe ultimately guarantees it will happen. Even Dark's finale is one of the most bittersweet conclusions in television history.
The show avoids any semblance of a satisfying, joyful end. It delivers relentless gloom that perfectly matches the heavy themes of grief, murder, and the apocalypse.
Severance Develops Its Surreal Nightmare Gradually
Dan Erickson's Severance premiered in February 2022 to critical acclaim, but the Apple TV series' second season in early 2025 really took the world by storm. It follows the employees of the enigmatic Lumon Industries, some of whom have been "severed" to separate their memories between work and their personal life, creating two separate identities.
Severance abandons the traditional technological warnings we see in Black Mirror for more relentless, prolonged psychological horror. The concept of partitioning human consciousness means the "innie" lives perpetually at work, and the "outie" has no memory of their colleagues, workplace relationships, or the actual purpose of the mysterious biotechnology company itself.
This introduces themes of enslavement, the illusion of consent, human rights, and an otherworldly dystopia. The story pushes forward and develops gradually, creating a brilliant slow-burn that Black Mirror doesn't really have access to. Severance is striking and surreal, and significantly darker.
Devs Argues Humanity's Free Will Is Meaningless and Nonexistent
Alex Garland's Devs is an underrated sci-fi show thatexplores an idea we could easily see taking place in an episode of Black Mirror. A mysterious quantum computing company CEO, Forest (Nick Offerman), develops a machine based on the idea of causal determinism. He hopes to prove that free will is an illusion and to use the machine to grieve by resurrecting his deceased family in a simulated reality.
It pits determinism against free will, personified by software engineer Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno). Devs is deeper, richer, and darker than many Black Mirror installments.
It explores the idea that humanity is trapped in a bleak, predetermined loop where the most sinister threat isn't rogue technology, but the loss of autonomy. The show argues that every action is a chain reaction of cause and effect, meaning humanity's perceived choices are a meaningless illusion.
So, while someBlack Mirror episodes provide hope, such as "San Junipero," "Hang the DJ," and "USS Callister," Devs dismantles concepts of freedom, original thought, and choice. The series is considerably darker, yet still a thrilling and beautiful viewing experience.
