10 TV shows to watch right now if you like Yellowjackets

Who would’ve guessed that a deeply funny, deeply disturbing show about a cannibalistic soccer team would surpass cult status to become one of prestige television’s most talked-about shows? And that’s just part of what makes Yellowjackets’ cross-genre success such a blast to experience.

In the Showtime series, a high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes on the way to nationals in the late ‘90s are left stranded in the Canadian wilderness for 19 months. Based on the pilot alone, it’s clear that they eventually resort to some sort of ritualistic cannibalism. (God forbid women have hobbies!) The series cuts back and forth between the ‘90s and present day, as the surviving adult Yellowjackets find themselves drawn back together by a series of mysterious threats.

But what if you’re looking for even more Yellowjackets-esque shows to sink your teeth into (pun very much intended) in the meantime? We’ve pulled together 10 great shows that evoke elements of the show, from plane crash mysteries to wellness cults and everything in between. Here’s what’s worth watching.

Read more: The 15 absolute best A24 horror movies ranked

TV shows to watch if you like Yellowjackets

Amazon Studios

Class of ‘07 (2023– )

Watching characters evolve from stranded teenagers to traumatized, unforgettably eccentric adults is one of the great joys of Yellowjackets. Likewise, Prime Video’s Class of ‘07 cuts between formative teenage years and the fraught adulthoods they shaped to engrossing effect. This decidedly more lighthearted series opens as an apocalyptic tidal wave hits a group of women celebrating their 10-year high school reunion, stranding them at their old stomping grounds with only their high school baggage (and each other).

Freeform

Cruel Summer (2021– )

Looking for another recent, ‘90s-set show with mysteries that sprawl across multiple timelines? Cruel Summer has you covered. Told over three summers, the Freeform series follows two teenage girls — Kate (Olivia Holt), the queen bee who goes missing, and Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia), the awkward wallflower who takes her place… and might just have been complicit in her disappearance. Wanting to practically crawl into another girl’s skin sounds more than a little like the splintering friendship between Jackie (Ella Purnell) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) in Yellowjackets, and both shows’ rendering of intense adolescent female friendships are worth a watch.

USA Network

Dare Me (2019–2020)

Another excellently heightened study of codependent, formative friendships, Dare Me transplants the hierarchical power struggles and hallucinogenic experiences of teenhood from the soccer field to the cutthroat world of competitive cheer. Based on Megan Abbott’s popular novel of the same name, the series centers around two small town best friends (Marlo Kelly, Herizen Guardiola) whose relationship with their alluring yet demanding new cheer coach (Willa Fitzgerald) soon takes a dark turn.

Netflix

The End of the F**ing World (2017–2019)

If the burgeoning romance between Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci) and fellow citizen detective Walter (Elijah Wood) had a teenage counterpart, it might look a little something like The End of the F**ing World. Based on Charles Forsman’s comic books of the same name, the Netflix series kicks off as 17-year-old self-described psychopath James singles out rebellious classmate Alyssa as his first human victim. But when she suggests they ditch their small town together, they find themselves drawn into a relationship as their road trip leads behind an increasingly violent trail. Unexpected bonding and darkly funny depictions of coming-of-age trauma? Come on, these two would thrive in the Yellowjackets woods.

ABC

Lost (2004–2010)

Let’s face it: It’s pretty damn impossible to talk Yellowjackets’ inspirations without mentioning Lost. Damon Lindelof’s iconic series also centers on a group of plane crash survivors who carve out a new life in the wilderness — only to be beset by mysterious, seemingly supernatural forces that had Lost fans theorizing on early aughts message boards years before the Yellowjackets Reddit arrived in all its glory. Theory lovers, this one's for you!

Vince Valitutti/Hulu

Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)

What exactly is going down within adult Lottie’s cult — er, wellness center — remains a central mystery of Yellowjackets’ second season. If you’re on the edge of your seat waiting to learn more about the hidden, sinister depths of her lavender-uniformed compound, why not delve into a show starring the one and only Nicole Kidman as another wannabe Goop cult leader? Based on Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty’s book of the same name, the Hulu original Nine Perfect Strangers follows a gaggle of stressed city dwellers as they endure reality-bending treatments at wellness guru Masha’s (Kidman) shadowy wellness resort.

Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Santa Clarita Diet (2017–2019)

If you found yourself watching Yellowjackets and wondering when they were gonna get to the cannibalism already, Santa Clarita Diet might just be the show for you. Drew Barrymore stars in this Netflix original horror-comedy as Sheila, a suburban mom whose life gets turned upside down when she becomes a bloodthirsty yet unexpectedly thriving zombie. Timothy Olyphant and Yellowjackets’ own Liv Hewson round out the core cast as Sheila’s husband and daughter, respectively. Although Santa Clarita Diet was unjustly canceled before it got the chance to tie things up with a fourth season, its concoction of dark, off-kilter comedy and flesh-eating chaos are delightfully Yellowjackets-adjacent.

AMC

The Terror (2018)

If the survival, superstition, and icy wilderness of Yellowjackets Season 2 is more your scene, you’ll be happy to know that the first season of AMC’s The Terror carries on that vibe and then some. Loosely based on Captain John Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition in the late 19th century, the series tracks John and his men as they attempt to survive their bleak surroundings while fending off the mysterious presence stalking them every step of the way. Like Yellowjackets, it also has a murderer’s row of an ensemble cast, including Tobias Menzies, Ciarán Hinds, and Jared Harris.

ABC

Twin Peaks (1990–1991; 2017)

Yellowjackets is more than happy to deconstruct the facades of teenage innocence and idyllic ‘90s Americana, much like David Lynch’s beloved cult classic series Twin Peaks. Both shows aren’t unafraid to go big and weird, as mysteries involving teenage girls plumb each character’s darker impulses with abandon. From a Season 1 dream sequence of Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) giving birth to an Eraserhead baby-esque hamburger to a grainy opening credits shot of Jackie (Ella Purnell) that’s more than a little Laura Palmer-esque, there’s plenty of Lynchian intrigue to be found in Yellowjackets, as well.

Amazon Studios

The Wilds (2020–2022)

Released just over a year before Yellowjackets, Prime Video’s The Wilds also follows a group of teenage girls who are forced to form their own society after a plane crash — in their case on a desert island — and are confronted with the freedoms from society that their isolation affords them, both good and bad. Unfortunately canceled after two seasons, The Wilds takes a more YA approach to its Lord of the Flies-esque premise. Still, that doesn’t make its explorations of the horrors of girlhood any less gripping.