Best sci-fi series to stream on OTT: ‘Severance’, ‘Andor’ and more

Sci-fi television delivers some of the most ambitious, unsettling, and truly creative stories the genre has seen in years. From corporate dystopias to alien invasions to post-apocalyptic spectacles, these shows prove that science fiction isn’t just about the future, it’s about every uncomfortable reality we’re actually living in. Here are 7 series worth adding to your watchlist.

“Severance” follows employees at Lumon Industries who undergo a procedure that surgically splits their work and personal memories, leaving them as two completely separate people who share the same body but know nothing about each other’s lives. Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, and Brett Lauer lead the cast, with the show created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller, bringing the deeply disturbing corporate dystopia to life with extraordinary precision. This psychological sci-fi thriller is available to stream on Apple TV+.

“Andor” follows Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, in the years leading up to “Rogue One,” as the Rebel Alliance takes its first dangerous and uncertain form against the Empire. Stellan Skarsgård and Genevieve O’Reilly star in a cast directed by creator Tony Gilroy, who gives the political and moral dimensions of the Rebellion a weight and complexity that the Star Wars universe has never attempted before. For fans of smart political sci-fi, this movie is available to stream on JioHotstar.

“Alien: Earth” takes place before the events of the original film and follows Sidney Chandler and Alex Luthor as survivors on a future Earth already struggling under corporate colonization before something much worse happens. Creator Noah Hawley brings the claustrophobic terror and creature design that defined the films while expanding the mythology in truly terrifying new directions. For fans of the series who want more of this iconic horror, this series is streaming on JioHotstar and Hulu.

Based on the legendary Argentine graphic novel, The Eternaut stars Ricardo Darin as a man navigating Buenos Aires after a mysterious toxic snowfall wipes out most of the population. Rooted in specifically South American political consciousness and directed by Hernán Cifuentes, the show has a depth and urgency that sets it apart from the more common post-apocalyptic shows of the genre. This Argentinian sci-fi gem is streaming on Netflix.

This Korean sci-fi film stars Suzy and Am Ki-joon in a tense, high-concept story built around an artificial intelligence system that can predict disasters before they happen, exploring what happens when the people tasked with acting on those predictions begin to wonder if preventing the future is always the right thing to do. Director Jang Hang-jun handles the series’ moral dimensions with intelligence and restraint, never allowing the philosophical weight to crush the propulsive action underneath. Fans of cerebral, morally complex science fiction will find it on Netflix.

Revival stars Wyatt Russell and Camryn Manheim, a story set in a small Wisconsin town where the recently dead inexplicably come back to life, not as monsters but as them. Creator Andrew Hinderaker is less interested in horror than in the grief, legal chaos, and moral confusion that would follow such an event, giving it a grounded, human focus that sets it apart from the genre. This quietly unsettling sci-fi drama is streaming on Peacock.

Based on the beloved series of novellas by Martha Wells, Alexander Skarsgård stars in Murderbot as a part-human, part-robot security unit that has secretly hacked into its Governor’s unit and now only wants to watch TV series while reluctantly protecting the humans under its care. Creator Chris Overton captures the character’s sarcastic interiority and deep social anxiety with an intelligence that makes it one of the most distinctive sci-fi comedies in recent memory. For fans of genre TV with truly original audio, it’s on Apple TV+.