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Netflix’s Most Hair-Raising, Futuristic Series We Can’t Help But Watch

Can these series be spelling out our future?

The future is this big and scary concept, whether you’re looking at it from an individualistic or holistic point of view. We all worry about our careers and our families. We all get the same chill up our back when we hear about self-thinking robots, the internet of things and the revival of frozen bodies.

But as frightening as these concepts are, we’re all still very infatuated with what it means for the future. Some of us like thinking what we would do if the practice is perfected, the rest of us can’t even fathom what it would mean. Fortunately, there are much more creative minds that fill in these gaps to an even more frightening level.

3%

The idea: You’re living in a world that is as far from perfect as possible. And then the government finally decides to open up a new island that will give everyone the life that they want. The catch is that only 3% of the total population can be brought in and everyone must battle it out with wit, physicality, charm and sheer grit to get chosen.

Black Mirror

The concept: A series of episodes, each one different, playing with the concept of consciousness, technology and morality. Would you want to know the expiration date of your relationship from the first dinner you share with someone? Would you choose to see anything and everything that your child sees in order to protect her? Is trapping someone’s mind the same as putting that person in a prison?

Erased

The premise: A 29-year-old man is given the “gift” of traveling to the past, which he always uses to save the life of someone nearby. But then his mother is murdered and he travels 20 years, finding himself in his 9-year-old body. He figures out that to save his mom, he needs to save his childhood classmate, who was killed in the hands of a serial murderer.

Orphan Black

The notion: Sarah Manning is a con artist who witnesses the suicide of her doppelganger, Beth Childs. Sarah then assumes Beth’s identity, but later discovers that she isn’t a doppelganger at all—she one of many clones that were spread across North American and Europe. It then becomes clear that she and her sisters are part of an illegal experiment and that someone is trying to kill each and every one of them.

Star Trek: Discovery

The situation: The united Klingon houses are in a war with the United Federation of Planets in an era set ten years before Star Trek: The Original Series. But while the universe may be advanced in every aspect, it still tackles the same issues: Rape, depression and loss.

Travelers

The understanding: There are thousands of special operatives who are tasked with the responsibility of preventing the collapse of society. In order to do so, their consciousness are sent back in time and transferred into the body of someone of that time—someone that is moments away from death (which theoretically minimizes the impact present-day time).

The 100

The state: It’s been 97 years since humans last walked the earth, following a nuclear apocalypse. Circling the world’s orbit is a ship called The Ark, which is threated by its failing life-support systems. As such, a hundred on-board prisoners are sent back to the ground to determine whether humans can inhabit their planet again and they find that it is possible. But instead of reporting back, they decide to start a new life for themselves and soon discover that nature has changed for the worse.

The Voices Of A Distant Star

The story: A schoolgirl is recruited into the UN Space Army to fight a war against a group of aliens. Back home, she leaves behind a friend and the two keep in contact via email applications on their phone. But the further she goes off into space, the longer it takes for her emails to reach him. Soon, the time lags extend to years and the two are challenged by a love that literally spans time and space.

Under The Dome

The foundation: The seemingly perfect town of Chester’s Mill is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world when a transparent and indestructible dome appears. The government, media and military forces attempt to break down the dome to no avail. The residents trapped inside need to figure out how to share their limited resources amidst growing tensions and must discover why the dome fell and when—or if—it will ever lift.

Altered Carbon

The future: Humans can—if they can afford it—continue to transfer their consciousness into bodies that are called sleeves, theoretically giving them the capacity to look however they want and live however long they want. One man has taken full advantage of this technology and built an empire with centuries’ worth of knowledge and experience. That is, until he’s murdered.

Maybe none of these ideas will actually see the light of day… but then again, maybe they will—and isn’t that a terrifying thought? Would you make it, would you survive?

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Adie Pieraz

grew up with numbers but fell in love with words by the time she reached her teenage years. She likes to surround herself with mellow music, delicious food and funny fail videos.