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That book you tried to avoid reading in high school? It’s now a pretty damn successful, and fairly faithful, BBC miniseries—succeeding either because brutal times invite brutal narratives, or maybe just because we like watching kids go wild.
And the kids, indeed, are absolutely crucial to the series and to William Golding’s original novel: The book version of Lord of the Flies is perhaps better known than read because of its relatively straightforward narrative about how fast humans will devolve once the strictures of society are removed. We know that story, and we can imagine echoes of it in the news every day, but Golding’s conceit to let it play out with a bunch of kids still feels shocking.
Many of the shows below were directly inspired by Golding’s novel, even if they all center older teenagers or adults. Watch the new adaptation of Lord of the Flies on Netflix, and then consider these other shows about closed societies in extremis.
Yellowjackets (2021 – )
This time-hopping survival drama is about a group of teenage girls who are stranded in the wilderness in 1996 and do terrible things to survive—the extent of which we only learn about via flashbacks from the present day, where the events of 19 months spent in the wild continue to resonate. There are ambiguous teases of the supernatural here, but there’s plenty of human-level horror as well. The show plays in some of the same territory as Lord of the Flies in its explorations of the nasty things we get up to when in survival mode, while also cynically (but accurately) positing that there’s a huge difference between the version of the past we talk about and the one that really happened. Stream Yellowjackets on Paramount+.
The Wilds (2020 – 2022)
Situated between flashbacks and flash-forwards (not entirely unlike Yellowjackets), mystery/thriller The Wilds sees an airplane full of teenage girls crash on the way to an empowerment program in Hawaii. It quickly becomes clear that the accident was engineered and that the whole thing is some sort of social experiment, and the survivors are forced to compete against each other if they want to live. The show understands the ways in which young women are exploited and expected to compete against each other in the real world, making clear that a Lord of the Flies scenario with women at its center isn’t going to go any better, even if it would play out differently. Stream The Wilds on Prime Video.
Lost (2004 – 2010)
If William Golding’s Lord of the Flies can be seen as a trifle pat and on-the-nose, this latter-day plane crash narrative goes all-in on mystery and philosophy. We kick off with flashbacks that peel back the layers of the various crash survivors before diving headfirst into warm weather polar bears and mysterious underground bunkers and monsters made of smoke. Whether it’s an uncommonly smart network show that rewards careful viewing or a load of nonsense is in the eye of the beholder—but it remains one of the most discussed and debated shows in TV history. Stream Lost on Disney+ and Hulu.
The Society (2019)
Kathryn Newton heads this surprisingly smart Golding riff about a group of teenagers forced to create their own community after all the adults disappear and a dense new forest crops up around their small enclave, cutting them off from everything and everyone else. It’s less a show about the law of the jungle than one about coming of age in a world where the usual rules are no longer in effect. Stream The Society on Netflix.
The 100 (2014 – 2020)
At seven seasons, the CW’s YA The 100 is our most deeply explored TV apocalypse, telling the story of the descendants of refugees of nuclear devastation who return to Earth from their habitat in space to encounter the remnants of humanity who have survived on Earth. Naturally, the first people sent to scope things out are the juvenile delinquents (better them than me), and they discover that three civilizations have risen up in the aftermath of the apocalypse, and they are all pretty darned scary (including one populated by cannibals, naturally). More humane, perhaps, than Lord of the Flies, even as it explores similar themes, this show builds an impressive mythology over the course of its run, leading to a conclusion that’s borderline metaphysical. Buy The 100 from Prime Video.
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The Decameron (2024)
Loosely adapting Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century story collection with hints of Bridgerton-esque swagger, this version takes us to plague-ravaged Florence, as a bunch of nobles and attendants make their way across a dangerous landscape to hole up in a countryside villa to wait out the end while draining the liquor supplies—as you would. Rules and social mores are turned upside down, particularly by servant Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), who kind of accidentally kills her lady on the way to the villa, and then decides to take her place. No one’s trapped on an island here (and obviously planes hadn’t been invented yet), but there’s still very much the sense that, however we are cut off from the rules of society, our most cherished values will very quickly turn to shit. Stream The Decameron on Netflix.
The 8 Show (2024)
If you want to see people at their worst, you don’t need to get stranded on a deserted island—just turn on the TV. Generally, South Korean TV shows and movies have been ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing the exploitative nature of late-stage capitalism, and this show fits right in with the likes of Squid Game. Eight strangers are selected to compete in a game in which they’re locked together in a building and sequestered on different floors each night. They earn money for each minute they last, but all their provisions must be purchased with money they’ve won, and at an extreme markup. At first, the contestants pool their resources so that everyone gets more money—until they learn that people on higher floors are getting more. Then things get nasty. Stream The 8 Show on Netflix.
And Then There Were None (2015)
Your first instinct might be to eschew the idea that an Agatha Christie adaptation has anything to do with Lord of the Flies, even one where a bunch of people are stuck on an island. It’s more than that, though: Christie absolutely delighted in putting her (frequently posh) characters under pressure until they popped, those polite conversations at afternoon teas concealing hideous instincts lurking beneath the surface. And in that vein, And Then There Were None is probably her nastiest (complimentary) portrait of people rewriting the once-cherished rules when pushed. Eight strangers arrive on the fictional, thoroughly isolated Soldier Island, off the Devon coast, brought together under various strange pretexts. At a tense dinner, they are presented with a gramophone recording explaining that each of them has been responsible for a death, and that each will face justice in turn. Dun dun dun. Stream And Then There Were None on Acorn TV.
All of Us Are Dead (2022 – )
In All of Us Are Dead, high school becomes hell, almost literally, when a viral outbreak sees a Hyosan school become ground zero for a strange plague. The teenage students soon realize they’ve been quarantined from the rest of the city, and help isn’t coming. Nihilism isn’t uncommon in zombie narratives, nor are themes involving the breakdown of social structures. But All of Us Are Dead explores the world of a cloistered high school under constant threat as a parallel to our own: Class and background continue to be potent forces, even (or especially) amid the trauma of the attacks, and arbitrary social hierarchies solidify under the constant trauma. The closed school location is brilliantly utilized, and there’s some appropriately soapy drama, too. Stream All of Us Are Dead on Netflix.
The Stranded (2019)
At first glance a bit more grounded than some of the shows here, The Stranded takes place on a Thai island in the midst of a tsunami. The island was formerly home to a prestigious high school, and a bunch of students have snuck back for an ill-timed party on the last day of class. A bad idea, clearly, after the storm hits. Kraam (Papangkorn Lerkchaleampote), one of the few students who actually lives on the island, is trapped there along with a couple dozen classmates. Kraam knows the island, but Anan (Chutavuth Pattarakampol) assumes leadership while other students either take on necessary roles, or fall in line. As the miniseries progresses, the new political order breaks down, even as the island’s mysteries reveal themselves. Stream The Stranded on Netflix.
