What to Watch Next if You Liked Fallout

Fallout premiered April 12, 2024 on Prime. Inspired by the video game series of the same name, Fallout follows the intrepid and curious Lucy MacLean (played by actress Ella Purnell) in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. Lucy was raised in one of hundreds of allegedly idyllic underground Vaults. As a Vault Dweller, she is a bit naive, raised to follow the “golden rule” and await the day humanity can return to the surface to recolonize the world. But when her father is kidnapped from Vault 33, Lucy embarks on a journey to the irradiated world above.

Prime dropped all eight episodes of season 1 all at once. So if you have lots of free time or a great desire to avoid spoilers, you’ve probably already binged the entire thing. What a wild ride, right? Unfortunately, like us, you’re now craving a whole bunch more of this epic live-action television show. And you don’t necessarily have the time to jump into playing all the main series video games, plus New Vegas, plus 76, plus — you get the picture.

Well, never fear! If you find yourself needing something new to watch, we’re breaking down our recommendations right here. Each section includes careful attention to the similarities and differences between these pieces of media and Fallout. Read our list below, and see if you happen upon your next favorite show or film.

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The Last of Us

Similarities: Gruff dad and surrogate daughter, apocalyptic, video game adaptation

Differences: More realistic violence, no subterranean survival societies/structures

The Last of Us centers around two jaded survivors in the midst of a fungus-based apocalypse. Joel and Ellie find each other through extreme circumstances, and then become bound to one another in a cross-country trek. Their goal? To find the people who might be able to make the cure for the Infected using Ellie’s immunity. While that plot seems straightforward, the show is anything but. Watch season 1 now on Max and play both video games while you await season 2.

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Yellowjackets

Similarities: Cast members, cannibalism, themes of isolation

Differences: Disaster plot, non-linear narrative

Can’t get enough of Ella Purnell (Lucy) in a survivalist setting with some cannibalism to top it all off? Boy, do we have the series for you. Yellowjackets on Showtime tells the story of a high school girls’ soccer team after they crash in the remote wilderness on their way to Nationals. The episodes jump between past and present, highlighting the teens as well as some of the adults who made it out. It’s gruesome, mysterious, and riveting television that will grip you and refuse to let you go.

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Snowpiercer

Similarities: Divided classes and social experimentation, moral uprising

Differences: Feature film, darker

Maybe you aren’t ready to commit to another TV show. Consider Snowpiercer (2013), then. While it’s far grittier than Fallout, it has similar themes. In the movie, survivors of Earth’s second ice age live out their remaining days on a train that ploughs through snow and ice. However, the cars are separated into a rigid class system, with wealthy people up front and impoverished people in the back. Things change when Curtis revolts against the system.

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Firefly and Serenity

Similarities: Sci-fi/Western genre fusion

Differences: More lighthearted, space travel, no apocalypse

Fallout blends quite a few genres. One of the most fun aspects of the series is its cowboy character Cooper and its Wild West, lawless land-type setting. At the same time, of course, it melds futuristic technology into the mix. Get that same combination with Firefly and Serenity. The cult series and follow-up film explore human expansion into space once Earth is too ravaged and overpopulated to support humanity. More importantly, Firefly and Serenity are full of heart and a found family/crew that will melt your own.

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The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

Similarities: Survival story, corrupt government

Differences: Zombies, adult protagonists

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is a horror drama that takes place decades after the zombie apocalypse devastated the entire globe. A spin-off of the critically acclaimed The Walking Dead series, this AMC original reunites Rick Grimes and Michonne after years of forced separation. Now, the couple will stop at nothing to stay together. Meanwhile, they fight new and old foes and try to make sense of their place in this new world order.

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Okey dokey! Those are our recommendations, whether you’re watching on a Radiation King television set or your favorite streaming platforms. Will you add any of these recommendations to your to-watch list? Let us know at side.show/geekgroup or in the Sideshow Social Network, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!