Books and Movies for Fans of TV’s Severance

“Are you caught up on Severance?” has become a well heard refrain among fans since the recent conclusion of the second season of Apple TV+’s hit series. Ben Stiller’s darkly compelling show has gripped audiences with its unsettling office aesthetic, pent-up emotional tension and all-too-human questions about identity, work and memory.

If you’re still haunted by Lumon’s sterile hallways, the eerie divide between “innie” and “outie” selves, and the slow erosion of personal autonomy under corporate control, you’re not alone. Whether you're drawn in by the show’s visual precision, its psychological depth or its subversive flare, there's a wealth of films and books that explore similar worlds. Check out the titles below—but once you do, just remember to circle back to your core self before clocking in or out (and maybe keep human resources out of the loop).

Jacques Tati’s modernist masterpiece, Playtime, opens a new window, is a must-see for fans of Severance’s visual storytelling. Playtime explores the alienation of modern urban life through vast, impersonal office buildings and maze-like environments. Though a comedy, it’s deeply satirical, showing how technology and corporate architecture can desensitize daily life. Much like Severance, it relies heavily on framing, spatial repetition and tightly controlled dialogue to convey meaning, leaving you to absorb the absurdity of a world designed to strip people of individuality.

If you loved the surreal bureaucracy and retro-futurist aesthetic of Severance, Terry Gilliam's Brazil is also essential viewing. Gilliam’s dystopian satire envisions a world governed by an all-consuming, inefficient system where paperwork is more powerful than people. Like Mark in Severance, the protagonist is a cog in the machine who slowly begins to question his reality. Brazil's chaotic, wry and disturbing tone captures the same absurdist edge and critique of corporate conformity.

Kazuo Ishiguro's haunting novel, Never Let Me Go, opens a new window, follows students at an isolated boarding school who eventually discover the tragic purpose of their existence. Ishiguro’s exploration of predetermined identity, quiet resignation and the illusion of choice mirrors the emotional and ethical terrain of Severance. Like "innie" Lumon workers, the characters grapple with existential questions under the shadow of a system that controls their lives, making it a poignant reflection on what it means to be human in a dehumanizing world.

In Hiroko Oyamada's The Factory, opens a new window, three workers are hired by a massive, unnamed factory and quickly become lost in its labyrinthine structure and meaningless tasks. In this slim novel, time becomes elastic, job descriptions blur and no one seems to know what the factory actually produces. If that sounds familiar, it's because Oyamada’s precise, dreamlike prose captures the same unsettling disconnection from purpose and self that haunts the characters of Severance, making it a must-read for anyone fascinated by the modern workplace as a surreal horror.

Lastly, The Singularity by Dino Buzzati offers a chilling meditation on repetition, isolation and the absurd. A man is assigned to guard a remote checkpoint in a barren landscape, and the longer he stays, the more time, space and meaning seem to distort. As days bleed into one another with little variation, his grip on reality weakens as landmarks vanish, hours collapse and his sense of purpose fades. Much like Severance, this surreal and existential story looks at the fragile line between duty and madness under relentless routine.