25 Shows Like Mindhunter That Are Worth Your Time

In 2015 Mads Mikkelsen took on the role of notorious fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the eponymously titled "Hannibal," a series that chronicled the character's life before the events of "Silence Of The Lambs." As noted by Tech Times, the NBC series drew inspiration from the prequel story "Red Dragon" and sees young FBI agent Will Graham leaning heavily on consulting psychological profiler and personal friend Lecter in his criminal cases. Meanwhile, Lecter commits brutal murders of his own under everyone's noses.

A stylish and ambitious series from the mind of Bryan Fuller, "Hannibal" expands on characters and events from the novels of Thomas Harris and is led by the incredible performance of Mikkelsen. Thrilling audiences for three seasons, it struggled to maintain a big-enough audience to warrant continuing as a prime time network series, but fans continue to beg for a fourth years later. 

Be warned, though — despite being a network series, "Hannibal" is one of the more viscerally intense series on this list. Not for the faint of heart, it pushed the envelope with what was considered acceptable for prime time viewing.

If you like crime dramas like "Mindhunter" for their period setting, you'll have to add "The Americans" to your watchlist. A few years after Holden and Tench were tracking serial killers in the late '70s and early '80s, a pair of undercover Soviet spies were posing as a modern American family in suburban Virginia. Raised from a young age to be agents of the KGB, "Elizabeth" and "Phillip" appear to be the perfect suburban family but are secretly engaged in deadly spy games, stealing government secrets and sending stolen intelligence to their superiors across the globe. Their risky operation of playing a married couple becomes more dangerous as those around them become suspicious, leading to a deadly cat-and-mouse game with American operatives.

The series explores more than crime and espionage, though, with the complicated relationship between the loyal Elizabeth and the questioning Phillip turns the series into a domestic crime drama. Starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, "The Americans" was one of the most spellbinding dramas of the decade. It ran for six seasons on FX and came to a close in 2018.

A less gritty but equally exciting series based on the FBI profilers, this time under the guise of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, "Criminal Minds" introduces a team of field agents who assist law enforcement data-driven insight into the psychology of deadly criminals. A procedural police drama, "Criminal Minds" boasts a rotating cast of brilliant agents, each with a unique specialty that they use in hunting down murderers, sex offenders, and criminal kingpins. From mathematics to forensics and psychoanalysis, the team uses every unconventional trick up their sleeve to apprehend their targets, and they always get the job done.

Its ensemble cast included some of the biggest names on TV over its 15 season run, including Mandy Patinkin, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Aiesha Tyler, and many others. "Criminal Minds" also spawned two spin-offs and even an international remake in South Korea. A revival on Paramount+ sees several of its original stars returning to their roles (via Deadline), which makes now the perfect time to dig in to this classic crime drama.

Like "Mindhunter," the ABC miniseries "The Assets" is a true story set in the 1980s. The series also focused on a team of government agents tracking a slippery suspect and featured a fierce female investigator who's sorely underestimated. In this case, real-life CIA agent Sandy Grimes is brought in to launch an internal investigation into a suspected mole within the agency. The purported double agent is thought to be leaking classified intelligence on their operatives in Russia, forcing them to halt activities in the middle of the Cold War. 

As Grimes assembles a small crack team operating in relative secrecy, even from her colleagues, their target continues leaking sensitive information to the Russians, requiring them to take extraordinary action to find their man. A captivating eight-part miniseries with plenty of thrills and high-stakes espionage, "The Assets" is a highly accurate dramatization of the true story of the hunt for Aldrich Ames, whose arrest in 1994 ended one of the damaging leaks in American history, as noted by The New York Times. 

Kevin Bacon stars as FBI agent Ryan Hardy in "The Following," a three-season series that ran on Fox in 2013 and was created by Kevin Williamson. Here, Bacon plays a veteran investigator with a crooked moral compass whose penchant for killing has made him nearly as bloodthirsty as the murderers he hunts. Though a standard procedural in some ways, it also featured distinct ongoing story arcs across its three seasons. The first saw Hardy on the trail of an elusive serial killer named James Carrol, played by "Rome" star James Purefoy. 

Having been caught once before by Hardy, Carrol has escaped prison and assembled a group of fanatics to help him in his latest scheme, and Hardy will stop at nothing to catch him a second time — no matter how many people he has to kill to do it. An engrossing psychological thriller with one of Hollywood's most famous talents at its center, its final storyline will no doubt recall shades of "Mindhunter" as Hardy consults with a convicted killer to nab his latest suspect. 

While watching the 2020 series "Interrogation" on Paramount+, it's easy to imagine that the series took great influence from "Mindhunter" for its somber tone and investigative style. The series is set between 1982 and 2003 and features the unique gimmick in that the episodes are designed to be watched in any order — except for the series finale — as each story revolves around the interrogation of a single suspect. Inspired by a true story, according to the Daily News, the series stars Peter Sarsgaard as Detective David Russell, who is investigating the violent murder of a woman found strangled and beaten in her own home. To make things even more complex, her son is the prime suspect. 

Jumping around in time, the investigation takes decades to unfold. As each interrogation session unwinds the story of the murder, viewers are treated to dramatic flashbacks that expose the struggles of both the suspect and the victim. At the same time, Russell is under investigation by an Internal Affairs officer played by Vincent D'Onofrio, while the suspect's father works to prove his son's innocence.

The BBC limited series "Paranoid" stars Indira Varma ("Game Of Thrones") as Detective Nina Suresh of the Woodmere Police Force as she and her team work a case that begins with the stabbing death of a doctor at a local playground. Its solemn tone, unsettling story beats, and split focus on the investigator's personal relationships will recall "Mindhunter" as the investigation becomes complicated by her troubled personal life.

The investigation itself becomes further muddled when a shadowy figure dubbed the Ghost Detective begins sending the team new evidence to help point them to the correct targets, leading to bigger questions. The murder case threatens to take down major corporate players in the region when connections to a major pharmaceutical company become clear. Soon Detective Suresh is forced to consider that the murder may have been more than a personal grudge and could be part of a broader, far more disturbing conspiracy. 

Set in 1967 and led by "X-Files" star David Duchovny, "Aquarius" sees LAPD detective Sam Hodiak investigate a grisly missing person case become unwittingly drawn into the orbit of criminal cult leader Charles Manson. Though it features a somewhat conventional charismatic and quirky cop tracking down criminals and following leads, "Aquarius" is not your standard police drama, as Duchovny brings a certain flair that would be hard to match with anyone else in the role. In different hands, a story about an unsettling crime against the backdrop of the 1960s civil rights movement that includes the notorious Manson might have become a cliche, but here it's stylish, fun, and engrossing — and managed to impress critics and audiences alike. 

Like "Mindhunter," "Aquarius" plays fast and loose with history, drawing in historic events and figures to give the proceedings extra weight and a certain subtle charm. While it handles the affairs with a bit more tongue-in-cheek humor, it should still evoke the same feelings for audiences with its dark story, period setting, and significant role for a real-life American criminal icon.

HBO's criminal anthology series "True Detective" was a major coup for the cable network. The show attracted major Hollywood talent and delivered some of the best drama on TV. Impeccably written and stunningly shot, it received universal acclaim for its spectacular first season. Like "Mindhunter," the first season is a period piece, set in 1995, as detectives Rustin Cohle and Martin Hart investigate the murder of a young woman. However, it's much more than a simple murder mystery. Its emphasis on religion and lavish visuals overflowing with symbolism made it one of the most analyzed shows in recent memories. Vulture even invited philosopher Paul J. Ennis to consider the show's themes.

"True Detective" is often compared to "Mindhunter" for its grim tone, stylish production, and exceptional storytelling while some, such as critics at CBR, believe it to be superior to Fincher's Netflix series. Tackling everything from child murders to cult leaders and serial killers, it's only for those with a strong stomach but is not to be missed. With an all-star cast across its three seasons, including Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Rachel McAdams, Mahershala Ali, and Colin Farrell, it's as close as you can get to a movie on the small screen.

If you're looking for a series another series about an investigator who is hunting a serial killer while getting help from a once convicted murderer, look no further than "Prodigal Son." However, this series, which stars "Good Omens" alumni Michael Sheen alongside Tom Payne from "The Walking Dead," puts a familial twist on the story. Payne plays a former FBI criminal profiler who now works with the NYPD, while Sheen appears as his father, a convicted serial killer once dubbed the Surgeon who is serving a life sentence for murdering 23 people. 

When a new spate of killings rocks the city, Payne finds eerie similarities between the methods of the new killer and the Surgeon. To solve the case, he's forced to come face-to-face with his estranged father and rely on his unique insight into the mind of a serial killer to catch whoever is behind these new murders.

If you were to take Fincher's "Mindhunter" and splice it up to include commentary from the real people the series was based on, you'd have something not far from true crime docu-drama "Real Detective" on Netflix. Mixing documentary-style interviews from real-life criminal experts with dramatic re-enactments produced with as much slickness and intensity as any series on this list, the two-season series covered some terrifying true crime cases. Episodes featured investigations into rapists, murderers, and several infamous serial killers, including Westley Allan Dodd, who was active in Washington State in the late '80s, according to The Seattle Times.

A documentary procedural, each episode encapsulates a different case, with the actual detectives involved providing commentary and context to the on-screen investigations. Though most of the cast of the dramatizations are unknowns, two highlights include an episode in which Michael Madsen appears as a Texas Ranger investigating a cover-up and another where Tahmoh Penikett plays the Washinton cop hunting Dodd.

Placed by a Radio Times poll as being among the best British crime dramas, "Broadchurch" features an all-star roster of actors headlined by Olivia Colman and David Tennant — in a role that showed his range shortly after his stint as the titular "Doctor Who." David Bradley, Eve Myles, Charlotte Rampling, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and future "Doctor Who" star Jodie Whittaker round out the cast. 

Set in the fictional U.K. coastal town of Broadchurch, the first season begins with the mysterious death of a local boy. The subsequent investigation by a troubled out-of-town detective named Alec Hardy (Tennant), who is handed the case over the objections of a local detective Ellie Miller (Colman). As the case unfolds, they may do more than catch a killer, as tragedy threatens to throw the peaceful town into chaos when its residents' secrets begin to spill out into the open.

The second season deals with the fallout of the killer's murder trial, while a case from Hardy's past finds itself resurfacing in Broadchurch. The third season involves a suspected serial rapist and Hardy's obsessive quest to find the culprit. Each season of "Broadchurch" covers one investigation and a manhunt, with each episode often focusing on a single suspect. A gripping drama, it's as suspenseful as "Mindhunter," featuring some genuinely nail-biting crimes and a series of suspects that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Airing on Discovery in 2019, the documentary series "Mind of a Monster" features episodes that focus on different serial killers while delving into their minds and motives. A psychological examination of the infamous real-life villains as much an exploration of their grisly crimes, the series looks at real-life criminals such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos, and Gary Ridgway, who is also known as the Green River Killer. However, the episode that viewers of "Mindhunter" will find most relevant is the documentary feature "The Co-Ed Killer," which revolves around Ed Kemper. Kemper, of course, is the serial killer interviewed extensively by Bill Tench and William Holden on the Netflix series.

Viewers fascinated by actor Cameron Britton's unsettling portrayal of the calm, cool, but sociopathic murderer will find more information about his crimes in "Mind Of A Monster," a well-produced and informative documentary that sheds new light on Kemper and his victims.