What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Severance first
Dark 2017
Series
A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.
The sides of Dark
- A puzzle across time
- A small town with a buried secret
- Fate against free will
- Four families, one knot
- Grey rain and a heavy score
Good for you if
- you like a family tree you need to draw on paper.
- you like a cold, patient mystery.
- you like a series you understand better the second time.
Bad for you if
- you need some hope. In Winden, families lose their children, then everything else.
- you won't read subtitles. It's in German (a dub exists).
About: time · fate · family
Inception 2010
Film
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
The sides of Inception
- Dreams inside dreams
- The heist crew
- A man who can't let go
- Folding cities and that music
Good for you if
- you like a plot you have to hold in your head, layer by layer.
- you want images you've never seen, like a city folding over itself.
- you like catching on the second watch what you missed on the first.
Bad for you if
- you need every question answered before the credits.
- nearly two and a half hours is too much for your evening.
About: dreams · grief · guilt · ideas
Westworld 2016
Series
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
The sides of Westworld
- A Wild West theme park run by robots
- Hosts who start to remember
- Guests who pay to do anything
Good for you if
- you like a plot you have to piece together across timelines.
- you like a story that keeps changing what you think you know about the park.
- you like a show where the first season hides clues for the second viewing.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand graphic shootouts and violence against the hosts.
- you'd rather skip the nudity and sex scenes, or you watch with others.
About: consciousness · free will · memory · control
Arrival 2016
Film
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
The sides of Arrival
- The grief underneath the sci-fi
- Aliens that are truly alien
- Understanding as the plot
- Time that doesn't run straight
Good for you if
- you like a film that quietly breaks you at the end.
- you like patient scenes where people try to understand each other.
- you like aliens treated as a real problem of language and science.
Bad for you if
- you want an alien invasion with battles. There are none.
- you'd rather not work to follow a story. Louise's memories only fall into place in the last act.
About: language · grief · time · choice
Annihilation 2018
Film
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
The sides of Annihilation
- Five scientists entering the Shimmer
- Nature mutating into something else
- A bear that screams
Good for you if
- you like science fiction that feels like a nightmare.
- you like rainbow-coloured, mutated landscapes.
- you like an ending that refuses to explain itself.
Bad for you if
- body horror and one terrifying creature are too much for you.
- you need momentum. The expedition moves slowly and quietly through the Shimmer.
About: self-destruction · change · grief
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1995
Anime
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.
The sides of Neon Genesis Evangelion
- A boy ordered by his father to pilot a giant robot
- Angels attacking Tokyo-3
- A final two episodes inside his head
Good for you if
- you like a series that leaves you with more questions than answers.
- you care more about the pilots' minds than the robot fights.
- you like an ending that goes somewhere no one expected.
Bad for you if
- you can't take depression and self-loathing on screen.
- you don't watch anime.
About: depression · fathers and sons · loneliness
Mr. Robot 2015
Series
A young programmer, Elliot, suffers from a debilitating anti-social disorder and decides that he can only connect to people by hacking them. He wields his skills as a weapon to protect the people that he cares about. Elliot finds himself in the intersection between a cybersecurity firm he works for and the underworld organizations that are recruiting him to bring down corporate America.
The sides of Mr. Robot
- A lonely hacker at a security firm
- A group of hackers named fsociety
- A plan to erase all debt
Good for you if
- you like piecing together a hacking plot against the giant E Corp.
- you like the floor dropping out from under Elliot.
- you like living inside one troubled man's head.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand drug use, trauma and depression on screen.
- you need momentum, and some episodes sit inside Elliot's silence.
About: loneliness · reality · revolution · trauma
Silo 2023
Series
In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo.
The sides of Silo
- Thousands living in an underground silo
- A rule against wanting to go outside
- An engineer who starts asking questions
Good for you if
- you want to know who built the silo and why.
- you like a closed world with its own laws, levels and history.
- you like Juliette digging where she was told not to.
Bad for you if
- you need momentum. The truth comes out slowly.
- four seasons is a lot for you to give one underground mystery.
About: truth · control · survival
Ghost in the Shell 1995
Anime
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
The sides of Ghost in the Shell
- A cyborg agent in a special police unit
- A hacker who can rewrite people's memories
- Long silent shots of a city in the rain
Good for you if
- you like asking what's left of you when your body is a machine.
- you like a dense, rainy city drawn in every detail.
- you like long quiet moments between short bursts of action.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch anime.
- you want a plot that's easy to follow. Hacked memories and rival police sections tangle fast.
About: identity · technology · the soul
Twelve Monkeys 1995
Film
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
The sides of Twelve Monkeys
- A prisoner sent back in time to stop a virus
- An asylum and a raving patient
- An airport memory
Good for you if
- you like a time loop you piece together.
- you like a feverish, strange atmosphere.
- you like a wild, twitchy supporting role.
Bad for you if
- you want clear answers about what's real.
- you need some hope. A plague has already wiped out most of humanity before the story starts.
About: fate · madness · memory
Paprika 2006
Anime
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.
The sides of Paprika
- A psychologist who enters her patients' dreams
- A stolen dream machine
- A parade of objects marching out of dreams
Good for you if
- you like a dream that spills into the waking city.
- you want every frame packed with shifting images.
- you like not knowing whose dream you're in.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch anime.
- you need a machine to follow rules. This one runs on dream logic.
About: dreams · identity · technology
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
Film
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
The sides of 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Apes discovering tools
- A computer that won't open the doors
- A journey beyond the infinite
Good for you if
- you like spaceships waltzing to the Blue Danube in perfectly composed frames.
- you like a film that moves like a symphony.
- you want to feel small before the universe.
Bad for you if
- you need characters to warm to. Dave and Frank stay cool and calm, and the computer HAL shows the most feeling.
- you want something to happen. Long stretches are silent.
- you want a clear explanation of the ending.
About: evolution · technology · the unknown
Shutter Island 2010
Film
In 1954, a U.S. Marshal and his new partner go to a psychiatric hospital on an island to find a patient who escaped from a locked room.
The sides of Shutter Island
- A mystery that turns on you
- Gothic dread on an island
- A man haunted by loss
Good for you if
- you love a story that makes you question everything you just saw.
- you like a film you want to restart as soon as it ends.
- you like a mood that gets under your skin: storms, cells, a lighthouse.
Bad for you if
- grief and mental illness hit too close for you.
- you want to be sure what happened when the credits roll.
About: grief · guilt · madness · the truth
Memento 2000
Film
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
The sides of Memento
- A man who can't make new memories
- Notes, photos and tattoos
- A story told backwards
Good for you if
- you like assembling a story in reverse.
- you like a man investigating his wife's murder with Polaroids and tattoos.
- you like a film you need to see twice.
Bad for you if
- you want to know for sure who is lying. Even the ending won't tell you.
- you need some hope. Leonard's hunt for his wife's killer can never end.
About: memory · revenge · self-deception
Donnie Darko 2001
Film
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
The sides of Donnie Darko
- A troubled teen and a giant rabbit
- A jet engine falling on a house
- Twenty-eight days until the end
Good for you if
- you like strange, dreamy films with a dark edge.
- you like piecing together a story that won't explain itself.
- you like arguing about the ending afterwards.
Bad for you if
- you need some hope. Donnie's world counts down to the end from the first minutes.
- you want something soft and safe. A jet engine crashes into Donnie's bedroom early on.
About: fate · time · adolescence
Minority Report 2002
Film
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
The sides of Minority Report
- Police who arrest you before the crime
- A cop accused of a murder he hasn't done
- Screens you move with your hands
Good for you if
- you like a man on the run from his own unit.
- you like proving your innocence of a future crime.
- you like jetpack chases and cars that drive up the sides of buildings.
Bad for you if
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
- you need the science to hold up. Three psychics in a pool see murders before they happen.
About: free will · justice · surveillance
Source Code 2011
Film
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
The sides of Source Code
- A soldier waking up in a stranger's body
- Eight minutes before a train explodes
- Again and again
Good for you if
- you like solving a mystery in a time loop.
- you like a short, tight thriller.
- you like a love story in eight minutes.
Bad for you if
- you want a big-scale blockbuster. Almost all of it plays out in one train carriage and a capsule.
- you want a clear ending. The last minutes leave the rules of the loop open.
About: identity · second chances · duty
Blade Runner 1982
Film
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
The sides of Blade Runner
- A hunter of artificial humans
- Rain, neon and smoke
- Tears in rain
Good for you if
- you like a Los Angeles of rain, neon and smoke, every frame composed.
- you like a slow, moody film you sink into.
- you like wondering who's human and who isn't.
Bad for you if
- you want action. It's slow and quiet.
- films from 1982 feel dated to you.
About: humanity · memory · mortality
Perfect Blue 1998
Anime
Rising pop star Mima Kirigoe quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.
The sides of Perfect Blue
- A pop singer who becomes an actress
- A fan website that knows her daily life
- Murders around her film set
Good for you if
- you like a stalker thriller where you can't trust what you see.
- you like a story where dream, filming and reality blur.
- you like being scared by your own reflection.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not see a staged rape scene and a nude photo shoot.
- you can't stand stabbings shown up close.
- you don't watch anime.
About: fame · identity · obsession
Fight Club 1999
Film
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
The sides of Fight Club
- The twist
- A satire of the life you're sold
- The rush of breaking free
Good for you if
- you love a story that makes you rethink everything you just watched.
- you can laugh at a man selling soap made of something awful.
- you like a film you want to restart to look for the clues.
Bad for you if
- bare-knuckle fights and bloody faces ruin it for you.
- you want to feel good after. This one leaves you uneasy.
About: masculinity · consumerism · identity