Apple TV's Near-Perfect Dystopian Series Makes The Hunger Games Look Small

Published Aug 2, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

The Hunger Games is a force to be reckoned with. With Jennifer Lawrence's star-making turn as Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant would-be sacrifice with other plans, an enormous budget, and plenty of self-aware commentary on modern celebrity culture, there are few franchises that have captured the dystopian genre as well as The Hunger Games. Still, TV series can expand on lore that movie blockbusters cannot, and the worldbuilding possibilities available have resulted in some must-watch TV shows for fans of The Hunger Games. Apple TV has become the platform for sci-fi shows, and it is home to one of the best.

Like The Hunger Games, Silo follows a population controlled by deception. The all-powerful ruling class governs through fear and, occasionally, spectacle. The Hunger Games has The Reaping, while Silo's characters live under the threat of The Cleaning, forcing them to enter a toxic and deadly outside world. When Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) is sent outside, her actions spark an uprising similar to the events Katniss Everdeen sets into motion. The Hunger Games is effortlessly compelling, but its world begins to shrink when compared to the layered mysteries and twists that define Silo.

Silo's Mysteries & Fictional World Run Deeper Than The Hunger Games

Silo has barely scratched the surface yet compared to the books, with an internal world that is just as layered, deep, and secretive as the silos that house the show's characters. The plot follows Juliette Nichols who, like the other characters, lives under The Pact, a series of laws and rules that every citizen must follow, and which can range from the seemingly-logical to the bizarre. As Juliette begins to question the way of life within the silo, voicing the idea that life could be different makes her dangerous to the authorities.

It is not surprising that Juliette's story would draw comparisons with The Hunger Games, but the two franchises differ significantly when it comes to their depth. Despite its bleak subject matter, The Hunger Games is an aesthetically colorful commentary on both celebrity worship and the detachment that comes with watching the pain of others as entertainment. The takeaways are clear, but the franchise's lore does not run particularly deep. Silo, on the other hand, is a much grittier show that treats survival itself as a mystery.

The Hunger Games characters are in an ideological battle with their authoritarian government, but the basics of existence are clear, with resources coming from different districts. In Silo, even the history of the population and the mysterious silos that house the people is concealed, with the characters not just fighting a ruling class, but unlocking their own past. Both The Hunger Games and Silo are excellent dystopian stories, but they approach the genre from extremely different angles, and in terms of complexity, Silo is a masterpiece in sci-fi worldbuilding.

Silo Is Thematically Richer Compared To The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is far from shallow, with some of the most harrowing moments saved for Mockingjay, with Gale's role in the war crime that killed Primrose and Finnick Odair's heartbreaking confession that he was trafficked being particularly relevant and hard to watch. That said, it is a testament to Silo's ever-developing world that the show makes The Hunger Games look small by comparison. Silo does not just tell one story, but explores the results of the exact same set-up through other silos. This raises questions over the way the actions of individuals can have different consequences in similar environments.

A key plot point in The Hunger Games is a long-ago rebellion which is used as the justification for the ritual sacrifice of children every year after, while Silo shrouds every aspect of its history and reality, through carefully constructed lies and manipulation of screens. The Hunger Games occasionally features characters hallucinating, but this is, again, generally kept to the individual, while Silo goes deeper, exploring the effects of mass control through manipulation.

Season 3 is currently airing, and with season 4 of Silo getting a 2027 release window, it looks certain that the show will continue to expand on its rich lore, answering many of the burning questions that have been teased but not resolved so far. Based on the source material, there are more twists yet to come, with Silo continuing to explore human nature, survival, and corruption, with a "final boss" on the horizon.

Release Date May 5, 2023

Network Apple TV

Showrunner Graham Yost

Directors Morten Tyldum, David Semel, Michael Dinner, Aric Avelino

Writers Graham Yost, Hugh Howey, Jeffery Wang, Lekethia Dalcoe

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  Rebecca Ferguson

  Juliette Nichols

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