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 Silo first
Severance 2022
Series
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
The sides of Severance
- Office workers with their memories split in two
- The endless white corridors of Lumon Industries
- A team sorting numbers they don't understand
Good for you if
- you like piecing together what Lumon really does.
- you like goats in an office basement and a waffle party as a reward.
- you like Mark slowly realising what his other self lives through.
Bad for you if
- you need things to move fast from the first episode.
- you want answers at the end of every season.
About: work · identity · grief · control
The Handmaid's Tale 2017
Series
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
The sides of The Handmaid's Tale
- A woman forced to bear children for a ruling family
- A religious dictatorship in America
- A resistance in whispers
Good for you if
- you like Elisabeth Moss saying everything with a stare into the camera.
- you like every conversation in Gilead feeling like it could be a trap.
- you like seeing how a regime controls women's bodies and words.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch rape and torture on screen.
- you can't stand hangings and mutilations.
- you need some hope, and here the hope comes slowly over six seasons.
About: freedom · motherhood · resistance · faith
The Expanse 2015
Series
A thriller set two hundred years in the future following the case of a missing young woman who brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain together in a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.
The sides of The Expanse
- A missing young woman and a detective on Ceres
- The crew of the Rocinante
- Earth, Mars and the Belt on the brink of war
Good for you if
- you like sci-fi where ships obey real physics and gravity matters.
- you like a solar system colonised all the way out to the asteroid belt.
- you like the politics between Earth, Mars and the Belters.
Bad for you if
- you lose track of storylines spread across planets and ships.
- six seasons is too much for you.
About: colonialism · loyalty · humanity
10 Cloverfield Lane 2016
Film
After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist's underground bunker, where he claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable.
The sides of 10 Cloverfield Lane
- A woman waking up in a bunker
- A man who says the world has ended
- Is he lying
Good for you if
- you like being stuck in a small space with someone dangerous.
- you like wondering whether the world outside really ended.
- you like John Goodman being terrifying.
Bad for you if
- you scare easily. Some scenes in and around the bunker play like a horror film.
- you want a big cast. It's three people in a bunker.
About: trust · survival · control
Battlestar Galactica 2004
Series
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
The sides of Battlestar Galactica
- The last humans fleeing in an old warship
- Machines that look like people
- A search for a planet called Earth
Good for you if
- you can take a story where humanity almost loses everything.
- you like never knowing who on board is a Cylon.
- you like a president and an admiral fighting over how to save the last humans.
Bad for you if
- you want a finale that explains everything plainly.
- you can't take suicide bombings, occupation and grief on screen.
About: survival · faith · what makes us human
Under the Dome 2013
Series
A small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. While military forces, the government and the media positioned outside of this surrounding barrier attempt to break it down, a small group of people inside attempt to figure out what the dome is, where it came from, and when (and if) it will go away.
The sides of Under the Dome
- A Maine town cut off by a giant dome
- A councilman taking control
- A drifter with a secret
Good for you if
- you like asking what the dome is and who put it there.
- you like a town running short of water and power when nothing can get in.
- you like watching Big Jim take over once the law can't reach.
Bad for you if
- you need a sci-fi mystery to follow clear rules.
- you lose track when a whole town has its own secrets.
About: power · isolation · survival
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
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2013
Film
After surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta struggle with the consequences of their victory as unrest spreads across Panem. Forced back into the spotlight, they become symbols of hope and resistance while the Capitol prepares a new and deadly challenge that will change the future of the nation forever.
The sides of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- Victors sent back into the arena
- A spark becoming a revolution
- A jungle full of traps
Good for you if
- you like the dread of being sent back into an arena you barely survived.
- you like a deadly arena that changes every hour.
- you like a game where nobody is who they seem.
Bad for you if
- fights to the death are too much for you.
- you can't watch trauma up close. Katniss still wakes up screaming from the last Games.
About: rebellion · propaganda · survival
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
The 100 2014
Series
100 years in the future, when the Earth has been abandoned due to radioactivity, the last surviving humans live on an ark orbiting the planet — but the ark won't last forever. So the repressive regime picks 100 expendable juvenile delinquents to send down to Earth to see if the planet is still habitable.
The sides of The 100
- A hundred young prisoners sent to Earth
- A planet that's not empty
- Leaders making impossible choices
Good for you if
- you like teenagers surviving a wild Earth.
- you like hard choices that cost lives.
- you like leaders who become morally grey.
Bad for you if
- seven seasons is more than you want to start.
- war and brutal deaths ruin a show for you.
About: survival · leadership · morality
The Platform 2019
Film
A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.
The sides of The Platform
- A tower prison with one platform of food
- Levels from top to bottom
- Who eats and who doesn't
Good for you if
- you like strange, allegorical stories.
- you like a cruel, unflinching idea.
- you like not knowing which level you'll wake up on.
Bad for you if
- gore and cannibalism ruin it for you.
- you won't read subtitles. It's in Spanish (a dub exists).
About: inequality · solidarity · greed
The Maze Runner 2014
Film
A teenager with no memory of his past finds himself among a group of boys living in a walled enclosure surrounded by a massive, ever-changing maze. As he struggles to adapt to their rules and society, he begins to uncover clues that may lead to escape and the truth behind their confinement.
The sides of The Maze Runner
- Boys trapped in a giant maze
- No memories of who they are
- Walls that move at night
Good for you if
- you like not knowing where you are any more than the hero does.
- you like a race to get out before the doors close.
- you like teenage survival adventures.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather get to know people than watch them run. The Gladers spend the film racing a maze.
- you need answers. The ending mostly opens new questions for the next film.
About: memory · survival · trust
The Hunger Games 2012
Film
In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage for a struggle of survival and defiance.
The sides of The Hunger Games
- Survival in the arena
- Peeta or Gale
- A rebellion against the Capitol
- The show around the games
Good for you if
- you like a hunt where anyone could die next.
- you like a heroine who survives with a bow and her wits.
- you like a girl who takes her little sister's place.
Bad for you if
- teenagers killing teenagers is too much for you.
- two hours and twenty minutes is long for your evening, and it's only the first film.
About: survival · spectacle · rebellion
V for Vendetta 2006
Film
In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When V rescues a young woman from the secret police, he finds in her an ally with whom he can continue his fight to free the people of Britain.
The sides of V for Vendetta
- A masked man against a fascist government
- A woman he takes under his wing
- Remember, remember the fifth of November
Good for you if
- you like big speeches about freedom.
- you like a country holding its breath before a revolution.
- you like a hero who talks in poetry.
Bad for you if
- knife fights and torture scenes ruin it for you.
- you'd rather keep politics out of your evening. It's a fascist Britain run by a chancellor on a giant screen.
About: freedom · fear · ideas
The Batman 2022
Film
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.
The sides of The Batman
- A young Batman as a detective
- A killer leaving riddles
- Gotham drowning in rain
Good for you if
- you like Batman solving a case like a noir detective.
- you like red light, rain and darkness.
- you like a moody, patient investigation.
Bad for you if
- three hours is too much for one evening.
- you want a light superhero film.
About: corruption · revenge · hope
Watchmen 2009
Film
In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.
The sides of Watchmen
- Retired heroes in an alternate 1985
- A masked detective investigating a murder
- A blue man who sees all time at once
Good for you if
- you like comic panels brought to life frame by frame.
- you like a dark take on what heroes really are.
- you like an ending that asks a moral question.
Bad for you if
- graphic violence ruins it for you.
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
- sex scenes and nudity aren't for you.
About: power · morality · history
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
Children of Men 2006
Film
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.
The sides of Children of Men
- A world where no child has been born in 18 years
- A pregnant woman to protect
- A battle filmed in one take
Good for you if
- you like long single shots in the middle of chaos.
- you like a grim future that feels close.
- you like a grey, ruined England.
Bad for you if
- war violence and executions ruin it for you.
- you can't take grief on screen. Theo lost his son, and suicide kits are sold on TV.
About: hope · refugees · faith
Fringe 2008
Series
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.
The sides of Fringe
- An FBI agent investigating impossible cases
- A brilliant scientist just out of a mental institution
- A parallel universe with doubles of everyone
Good for you if
- you like cases that bend the laws of science.
- you like a larger pattern hidden behind each strange event.
- you like Walter and Peter Bishop rebuilding a father and son bond.
Bad for you if
- you need the science to stay believable.
- five seasons is too much for you.
About: fathers and sons · loss · other worlds
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