In The Last of Us, Joel is tasked to escort a young teenager to the west in a post-apocalyptic world that has been taken over by a fungus that seeks to control human beings.
The Last of Us follows the story of Joel, who loses his only daughter while attempting to drive far away from the people who have become victims of a fungal infection in 2003.
Twenty years since then, humans in Boston have locked themselves at a camp governed by an organization called the Federal Disaster Response Agency, also known as FEDRA.
An old and rusty Joel, who now works as a smuggler, strikes a deal with the leader of a rebel group called the Fireflies and picks up the job of escorting a young teenager named Ellie to the west.
Joel will have to travel across a post-apocalyptic world and keep Ellie safe, who seems to be really special as she hasn’t transformed despite being bitten by one of the infected weeks ago.
The heavy characterization and the fact that the infection portrayed could really exist make The Last of Us stand out among many post-apocalyptic dramas.
Apart from that, the show puts forth a dark, gritty, and serious portrayal of society after an apocalypse, which has been done in some of the shows before. Comprised of similar themes, here are 8 shows like The Last of Us you must watch.
1. The Walking Dead (2010 – 2022)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira
Long before The Last of Us came along, The Walking Dead was the show that redefined the zombie genre. It follows sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, who wakes up from a coma in a world infested by walkers.
He soon reunites with his family and leads a group of survivors that are finding a way to navigate life in a world where they are not only protecting themselves from the undead but also from the other survivors.
The Walking Dead recently wrapped up its run with the final eleventh season. The Last of Us, in a way, has replaced the show.
2. The Rain (2018 – 2020)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Alba August, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Mikkel Følsgaard, Lukas Løkken, Jessica Dinnage, Sonny Lindberg, Angela Bundalovic
Siblings Simone and Rasmus take shelter in a bunker when rainfall carrying a virus wipes out almost all the humans in Scandinavia. Six years later, they come out looking for their father, who left them behind.
They join a group of survivors searching for signs of life in abandoned Scandinavia. During their journey, they rediscover human emotions they thought they had left behind in the world before the apocalypse as they struggle to survive.
3. The Last Ship (2014 – 2018)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Charles Parnell, Travis Van Winkle, Marissa Neitling, Adam Baldwin
After four very long and challenging months, the US Navy destroyer USS Nathan James prepares to get back home only to find out that the world they know no longer exists.
The scientist on board, Doctor Rachel Scott, reveals the purpose behind their mission. Months ago, they discovered a virus they thought they had successfully contained. Since then, the virus has only spread and wiped out 80% of the world’s population.
The USS Nathan James was originally on a mission to find the cure that was believed to be in the Arctic.
With the ship members being the only ones away from this infection, it’s up to them to safeguard Scott and find the cure needed so that they can rebuild the world they once knew.
4. Snowpierecer (2020 – 2023)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Mickey Sumner, Alison Wright, Iddo Goldberg, Susan Park
Snowpierecer takes place in 2026, seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland. The remnants of the human race have settled down in a perpetually moving luxury train built by the eccentric billionaire Mr. Wilford.
The train travels the globe, and its motion provides energy that avoids people from freezing. The passengers of the train are separated by class, with many of them starving and trying to survive.
5. See (2019 – 2022)
Available on: Apple TV+
Cast: Jason Momoa, Sylvia Hoeks, Hera Hilmar, Christian Camargo, Archie Madekwe, Nesta Cooper
See takes place in a dystopian future where humanity has lost the sense of sight. Society has found a new way to survive, interact, and hunt without vision. The concept of ‘vision’ has become a myth and is now considered a heresy.
When Maghra, a pregnant woman, gives birth to children who can see, the Chief of the Alkenny tribe, Baba Voss, falls in love with her, marries her, adopts her children, and vows to protect them from the people who believe the sighted are evil.
6. Z Nation (2014 – 2018)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Kellita Smith, DJ Qualls, Keith Allan, Russell Hodgkinson, Nat Zang, Anastasia Baranova
Z Nation takes place three years after a zombie apocalypse guts the world. It follows Murphy, one of the three inmates at a prison who were part of an experiment where each one of them was injected with a vaccine.
Only Murphy survived, and since then, he has been the only person who has survived a zombie bite. Though he is considered humanity’s lost hope, Murphy’s boon is also a curse, as he finds himself transforming into a hybrid of a human being and a zombie.
7. The 100 (2014 – 2020)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Eliza Taylor, Paige Turco, Thomas McDonell, Marie Avgeropoulos, Bob Morley, Isaiah Washington, Henry Ian Cusick
The 100 is loosely based on Kass Morgan’s novel series of the same name. It follows the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse who have settled into a space station called the Ark.
Around 97 years after the apocalypse, the Earth seems to have become habitable again. In order to test the same, the Ark sends a group of juvenile prisoners to the planet.
While some of these prisoners revolt against the people of the Ark for treating them the way they did, some follow the rules and cross paths with the people who still inhabit the Earth to this day.
8. 12 Monkeys (2015 – 2018)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull, Kirk Acevedo, Noah Bean, Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, Barbara Sukowa
Scavenger James Cole from the year 2043 travels back in time to the year 2015 to stop the release of a deadly virus that will eventually eradicate seven billion humans from the face of the earth in 2017.
In an attempt to stop the virus, Cole teams up with virologist Dr. Cassandra “Cassie” Railly and faces the enigmatic organization known as the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who are responsible for the release of the virus in his timeline.
Also Read: Is the fungal infection from The Last of Us real?