Missing 'Westworld'? Watch These TV Shows and Movies.

altered carbon
'Altered Carbon' | Netflix
'Altered Carbon' | Netflix

After 10 weeks of twists, tests, and more player-piano pop musicWestworld Season 2 came to a climactic and frustrating end. There's plenty of theory fodder to keep redditors busy until whenever Season 3 rolls around (placing our bets on 2020), but what in Arnold's name are we supposed to watch for the next year or two? Let the movies and shows below -- all available to stream -- serve as second-generation hosts: previous projects by Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan, sequels to the 1973 movie that inspired HBO's hit, and tonal clones that'll feel a whole lot like the real thing. Just don't cut them open to see what's inside.

futureworld westworld sequel
AIP

Futureworld (1976)

If you want an immediate fix of Westworldian fiction, look no further than Futureworld, the sequel to Michael Crichton's original movie. Two years after a robot shot his way through the Westworld park labs, Delos is back up and running, secretly cloning world leaders with their robot technology. Creepy stuff we saw emulated in Season 2.
Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime 

person of interest
CBS

Person of Interest (2011-2016)

Jonathan Nolan first teamed up with Westworld executive producer J.J. Abrams on this crime-hacker procedural that originally aired on CBS. A presumed-dead ex-CIA agent (Jim Caviezel) joins forces with a creepy billionaire (Lost's Michael Emerson) who has developed a futuristic "Machine" that predicts future potential crimes. The NYPD gets wise when Agent Reese sets out to save these possible victims, and the Machine raises potent questions about the implications of artificial intelligence.
Where to watch: Stream on Netflix

interstellar like westworld
Paramount Pictures

Interstellar (2014)

Jonathan Nolan wrote the screenplay for this star-gazing space-time saga, which was directed by his brother Christopher. Starring Matthew McConaughey as an intrepid NASA pilot stuck in space and separated from his daughter (Jessica Chastain) for the sake of saving the planet, Interstellar's hero finds himself trapped in an unfamiliar -- and visually dazzling -- new landscape. After the interdimensional adventure, rent the two other Nolan brother collaborations: Memento, which, much like Dolores asking "Where am I? When am I?," asks viewers to puzzle through an amnesiac timeline, and Inception, which explores dreams within dreams within dreams, much like Westworld's nesting doll of consciousness.
Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime

ex machina
A24

Ex Machina (2015)

Before there was Dolores, there was Ava (Alicia Vikander), the deceptively innocent robo-girl at the center of Alex Garland's artificial intelligence mind-bender. When a computer junkie (Domhnall Gleeson, much like William arriving at Westworld) visits a tech titan's (Oscar Isaac's) bot-populated compound, Ava begins to outsmart her human masters -- to perilous results. Ex Machina's slick futuristic feel and wire-packed robots look straight out of Westworld, and its music choices are just as clever.
Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime

cloud atlas
Warner Bros.

Cloud Atlas (2016)

For more interwoven time-jumping epics, look no further than this ambitious three-hour Wachowski adaptation of David Mitchell's pyramidal, generation-jumping novel. Tracking a set of familiar faces through the distant past, pulpy present, and hyper-future, Cloud Atlas is a movie about love, life, loss, and all the little moments in-between.
Where to watch: Stream on Netflix

humans season 1 like westworld
AMC

Humans (2015-Present)

If you want more technophilosophy slathered on to your prestige TV drama, discover AMC's overlooked series Humans, co-produced with the UK's Channel 4. The series scales down Westworld's scope to examine a world accustomed to robotic labor. But a hack to the "synth" system provides a select number of existing robots with souls -- a wrench in the well-oiled machine.
Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime

her joaquin phoenix
Warner Bros.

Her (2013)

William wasn't the first flesh-and-blood mortal to fall for his A.I. guide: in Spike Jonze's sly romance, a lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) strikes up an all-too-real friendship with the Siri-like assistant inside his smartphone (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). If you ever wished Westworld was more like two hours of that steamy train scene William shares with Dolores in Season 1, except set in the modern human landscape and doused in pastels, you'll love Her.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Video

black mirror netflix
Netflix

Black Mirror (2011-Present)

Episodically dabbling in the darker what-ifs of futuristic technology, Black Mirror is a perfect transition out of Westworld. From uploading consciousness to data collection and mining memories, the anthology, which first aired on Britain's Channel 4 before Netflix acquired it, turns out bleak and depraved consequences as teachable moments about society's fondness for unfeeling tech, though occasionally taps a surprising and sweet well of humanity.
Where to watch: Stream on Netflix

lost abc
ABC

Lost (2004-2010)

Season 2 of Westworld has had many-a-viewer comparing its twists and tone to the familiar trappings of Lost. (A hatch! What is reality!) While it has become increasingly hip to condemn the show's later seasons for any number of faults ranging from mawkish sentimentality to an over-dependence on wonky sci-fi tropes to gooey Touched by an Angel spirituality, the show itself retains all its brilliant power when viewed in a Netflix hatch, free of recaps, fan theories, and backlash. If you've never seen it, there's no better time to get wrapped up in its mysteries that go even less answered than Westworld's. And if you have -- well, as Jack would say, we have to go back!
Where to watch: Stream on Hulu

ghost in the shell like westworld
Anchor Bay

Ghost in the Shell (1996)

Nolan and Joy steeped Westworld in modern video-game tropes, but we guarantee they revisited this anime classic before setting out to tell their tale. Set in a world where most people have uploaded their consciousnesses into cybernetic bodies (i.e., ghosts in shells), the emergence of a "ghost hacker" terrorist pulls a security officer into a spiraling, neo-noir mystery with all of Westworld's contemplative detours. You could settle for the Hollywood remake, but we highly recommend seeking out the original 1996 version.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon Video, Steam

roadside attractions
Roadside Attractions

Z for Zachariah (2015)

After the apocalypse, all that's left is Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine. At least, that's the outcome this sci-fi survival story suggests, with three survivors of nuclear war trying to rebuild society on a farm reminiscent of Abernathy Ranch. Their world-rebuilding is similar to, albeit more nature-dependent, Westworld, with the trio's secrets, schemes, and manipulations feel straight out of Sweetwater.
Where to watch: Stream on Hulu, rent on Amazon Video

sense8
Murray Close/Netflix

Sense8 (2015-2018)

If you think interwoven timelines and the hyper-evolution of robotic consciousness make for a whacked-out TV obsession, try Sense8, a global adventure envisioned by the Wachowskis for Netflix. Season 1 introduced viewers to eight "sensates," physically linked strangers who drift in and out of one another's points-of-view and memories, and a recent feature-length finale wrapped the series that felt true to form.
Where to watch: Stream on Netflix

rick and morty
Cartoon Network

Rick and Morty (2013-Present)

Hear us out: yes, it's a comedy, and yes, it's a cartoon, but some lighthearted nihilism goes a long way when you're talking about heady Westworld-ian themes like existentialism and the nature of reality. Don't let the fanboys ruin it: Rick and Morty is worth watching on your own terms.
Where to watch: Stream on Hulu

a.i. spielberg westworld
Dreamworks Pictures

A.I. (2001)

In Steven Spielberg's futuristic fable, a robot ringer for Westworld's tiniest host (Haley Joel Osment) sets out on a quest to achieve humanity of his own. 2001: A Space Odyssey director Stanley Kubrick was working on this movie before he died, and Spielberg's takeover infuses a chilling story with warmth while maintaining a sense of futuristic realism.
Where to watch: Rent on iTunes, Amazon Video

altered carbon
Katie Yu / Netflix

Altered Carbon (2018)

Adapted from the 2002 Richard K. Morgan novel of the same name, Altered Carbon is a flashy, jargon-y, and, at times, dizzying descent into sci-fi decadence. (Sounds like Westworld, no?) The show follows a 22nd-century mercenary (Joel Kinnaman) who's hired to solve the murder of a highly influential aristocrat. The catch? Said aristocrat is still alive, because in this version of the future, the wealthy can't really die -- instead, their consciousness is essentially uploaded to the cloud and downloaded into new bodies. In a world without death, the ensuing caper boasts the same jaw-dropping visuals and world-building as Blade Runner and the same "what is reality" intrigue as Westworld. Though it takes a few episodes for Altered Carbon's dense story to really take off, it's an ambitious ride that's well worth sticking around for.
Where to watch: Stream on Netflix

blade runner 2049
Warner Bros. Pitcures

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Thirty-five years after Blade Runner hit theaters (and about 25 years after anyone recognized the movie as a seminal science-fiction text), Hollywood returns to the futuristic world to tell an inverted story -- about a Replicant grappling with his humanity (how very Westworld!) -- that's even more poignant. A detective noir wash makes 2049 unnecessarily murky at times, but between stunning vistas of dystopian Los Angeles, the contemplative extrapolation of everyday technology, and Ryan Gosling's blood-boiling performance, where hero tropes go out the window left and right, this sequel sets a bar for sci-fi sequels. 
Where to watch: Stream on HBO Go

battlestar gallactica
NBCUniversal

Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)

This season of Westworld -- and especially the back half -- has drawn comparisons to this beloved sci-fi classic for the characters' consciousness sharing. Even with a shaky finale and a nonessential spinoff, this remake from Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Ronald D. Moore stands as the perfect example of how to to do genre stuff right: smart writing, great action, and compelling characters. No space opera has soared this high since -- and few likely will. 
Where to watch: Stream on Hulu

timecrimes time travel westworld
Magnet Films

Timecrimes (2007)

Westworld toyed with temporal shifts to rattle your brain, but Timecrimes dives into overlapping time-loop hysteria in order to melt you. Saying more would only undermine the fun of this realistic sci-fi thriller.
Where to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime 

dark city
New Line Cinema

Dark City (1998)

Robots aren't the only ones who fight for their awakenings. In this meld of science-fiction and 1930s-style noir, an amnesiac (Rufus Sewell) searches for clues that will exonerate him from a murder case as a paranormal clan of footsoldiers, known as the Strangers, hunt him down. Like Westworld, the bizarre setup only becomes more bizarre, as Dark City soars off the sci-fi deep end.
Where to watch: Rent on YouTube

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