Part of the uncomfortable appeal of the high concept behind The Handmaid’s Tale — which returned for its final season on Hulu April 8 — is how short the distance between our everyday reality and the dystopian terrors of the show is… and, depressingly, seemingly getting shorter every single day. The feeling of “there, but for the grace of God” is a significant part of such politically- and socially-charged dystopian sci-fi as Margaret Atwood’s feminist thriller, but the show isn’t alone in conjuring up such worryingly realistic horror shows. Knowing that the end of The Handsmaid’s Tale is nigh, might be suggest some other near-reality dystopias? For your consideration, dear readers: more ways the world go get even worse for you to be compelled to watch.

This is For Your Consideration, in which we try to come to terms with the inescapable fact that, honestly, there’s too much out there to have time to watch, read, or hear everything — by making some suggestions about things that you might have overlooked but would enjoy, anyway. Think of it as recommendations from a well-meaning friend.

The Man in the High Castle: What if America was fascist, but also the Multiverse?

Like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Man in the High Castle has literary credibility — it’s based on Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, albeit more loosely the more the show continues — and a particularly dark setting: it’s based in an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II, and America is fully a fascist regime known as the Japanese Pacific States. There is, of course, hope for those inside this America and the viewer alike — and that’s the discovery of an alternate reality that mirrors our world, as revealed by film footage gathered by the eponymous Man in the High Castle. But what happens when the downtrodden see the possibility of another world? (Spoilers: the answer is slow-moving intrigue.)

Available to stream on: Prime Video

Years & Years: Because that pit in your stomach could feel worse, trust me

Back in 2019, then-former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies was feeling pretty bad about the state of the world and the sense of a creeping right-wing movement growing across the world, so he wrote a TV show about it — and it might be one of the most depressing, compelling things he’s ever done. The high concept is simple: the show follows one family as the show lets forward years and years at a time (hence the name!), and everything just… keeps getting worse. Watching the series today is a particularly sobering experience, as much of the show’s predications haven’t come true exactly, but aren’t entirely too far away from where things went in spirit. Which might be a bad sign for where we’re all headed, considering where the show goes throughout its run.

Available to stream on: Max

Station Eleven: What if pandemic, but simultaneously worse and better than COVID?

This adaptation of the acclaimed post-flu pandemic novel by Emily St. John Mandel was disrupted by the COVID pandemic in the middle of the process, making what could have been a straightforward story about rebuilding society two decades after a pandemic into something more prescient, but also more meaningful, ultimately. There’s an added power to the flashbacks to the pandemic spreading across the world, knowing they were shot at the height of the real-world pandemic, and a meditative presence to the scenes of people finding new lives and new connections in the wake of a sickness that changed the world. Despite the circumstances of its creation, Station Eleven ultimately became something beautiful and meaningful beyond its original intent, with a power that remains tangible even today.

Available to stream on: Max

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