Servant follows Dorothy and Sean Turner, a couple whose lives are turned upside down when they hire a new nanny for their baby, a reborn doll. The series is streaming on Apple TV+.
Sean and Dorothy welcome Leanne Grayson, a new nanny for their infant son, who turns out to be a reborn doll. The couple lost their son when he was just 13 weeks old.
While Sean copes with the loss, Dorothy fails to accept her fate. She goes through a psychotic break, but this doll brings her back. They haven’t announced the baby’s death, and only Sean, Dorothy’s brother, Julian, and her father know about it.
Leanne hears everything Sean has to say. Despite that, she continues to treat the doll as a real baby.
Mysteries continue to pile up around their nanny when unusual things start taking place at the Turner household. Dorothy’s brother, Julian, further investigates Leanne’s past and learns what she is hiding from the family.
The dark atmosphere, the presence of something supernatural, and a cult make Servant a great fit for fans of horror, mystery, and the thriller genre. Comprised of similar themes, here are 10 shows like Servant you must watch.
1. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Michiel Huisman, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas
The Haunting of Hill House tells the story of Hugh and Olivia Crain and their five children, who shift to the Hill House in the summer of 1992. Hugh and Olivia intend to renovate the house and sell it.
During their time there, each and every member of the family faces something paranormal. A tragic loss forces them to move out of the house. The paranormal experience stays with the family for the rest of their lives.
Years later, another loss brings them together as they confront the dark energy that resides at Hill House.
2. The Third Day (2020)
Available on: HBO Max
Cast: Jude Law, Naomi Harris, Katherine Waterston, John Dagleish, Mark Lewis Jones
The Third Day is set on a mysterious island, and the show’s story is told in two distinct halves. It chronicles the journeys of a man and a woman who arrive on the island at different points in time.
The first half, called ‘Summer’, follows a man named Sam who finds himself drawn towards this island off the British coast. Life on this island attracts him, and he can’t help but stay here, isolated from the world.
Eventually, he gets overwhelmed by the rituals of the island, which the islanders are bent on following at any cost. This leads him on a quest where he ends up facing his own past.
The second half, called ‘Winter‘, follows Helen, who arrives on the island with her two daughters after a really tough year, only to face hostility and resentment from the locals.
3. The OA (2016 – 2019)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Brit Marling, Emory Cohen, Scott Wilson, Phyllis Smith, Alice Krige, Jason Isaacs, Ian Alexander, Brandon Perea, Patrick Gibson
Prairie Johnson, an adopted young woman, shows up after being missing for seven long years, calling herself ‘the OA’, as in the original angel.
She can now see, despite being blind when she disappeared. She declines to tell the authorities or her parents about where she was and how she got her eyesight restored.
While the people dub her return a miracle, she forms a group of select individuals and asks them for help in saving the other missing individuals.
4. Castle Rock (2018 – 2019)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, Lizzy Caplan, Paul Sparks, Barkhad Abdi, Tim Robbins
Set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rock combines the elements of King’s best-loved works. The first season follows Henry Deaver, who returns to Castle Rock after receiving a call about a mysterious inmate at Shawshank Prison.
The inmate demands to talk to Deaver only. Amidst all of this, the show also explores the other characters living in the mysterious town, which is subject to horrible things happening every day.
The second season follows Annie Wilkes, a budding psychopath who brings problems to an already troubled town.
5. Archive 81 (2022)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Evan Jonigkeit, Julia Chan, Ariana Neal, Matt McGorry, Martin Donovan
A mysterious corporate benefactor, Virgil Davenport, approaches archiver Dan Turner for the job of restoring a collection of damaged videotapes from 1994.
While restoring them, Dan comes across the work of documentary filmmaker Melody Pendras and finds himself drawn toward her investigation into a dangerous cult to the point where he becomes convinced that he can save her.
6. Hannibal (2013 – 2015)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen
Special investigator Will Graham is assigned the job of solving crimes across the Maryland area. Graham’s ability to empathize with the killer is a boon for the lives he saves. At the same time, it’s a curse for him, as it takes a toll on his mental health.
Jack Crawford, the head of the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI, sends Graham to Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist who is considered to be a brilliant doctor by his friends and peers.
What they don’t know is that he is one of the most notorious serial killers in recent times. Hannibal is left captivated by Graham’s mind, which leads Hannibal to push Graham’s sanity and turn him into a killer like him.
7. Dark (2017 – 2020)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Louis Hofmann, Lisa Vicari, Andreas Pietschmann, Karoline Eichhorn
Set in the small town of Winden, where a nuclear power plant provides employment to the majority of the townsfolk, Dark follows the complicated relationships of four families that span across four generations.
The town finds itself in panic when children start mysteriously disappearing in 2019. The discovery of a wormhole that facilitates time travel forces these families to confront their dark pasts.
8. Bates Motel (2013 – 2017)
Available on: Peacock
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke
Norma Bates and her teenage son, Norman, move to a new town for a fresh start. While Norman goes to college and makes new friends, Norma opens up a motel to make a living.
As time goes by, they realize that the town is unlike what they thought it would be. On top of that, the past of the Bates family comes crawling toward them, disrupting the happy life they dream of.
Bates Motel serves as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho. It explores Norman’s teenage years, how his psyche develops, his mother’s backstory, and the creepy bond they share.
9. Damien (2016)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Bradley James, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Omid Abtahi, David Meunier, Barbara Hershey
Based on the 1976 film The Omen, Damien follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, who has forgotten his Satanic past and is now working as a photographer.
Thorn acknowledges that he is Antichrist and struggles to deal with his human nature and his diabolical origins in the show, while Ann Rutledge, who protected him all his life, helps him accept his true purpose.
10. Chapelwaite (2021 – present)
Available on: Epix
Cast: Adrien Brody, Emily Hampshire, Jennifer Ens, Sirena Gulamgaus, Ian Ho
Set in the 1850s, Chapelwaite follows Captain Charles Boone, who relocates his family to his ancestral home in the small town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine, after the tragic death of his wife.
Boone is forced to confront his family history as the people of the town blame his house for the town’s illness. As he and his family spend more time at this ancestral home, even they start to see things and wonder if they are safe there.
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