Toxic relationships are like car crashes: anybody can wind up in one, and while they’re horrible to be involved in, they can be oddly hypnotic to watch. Tell Me Lies on HBO chronicles the unromantic tale of Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), which begins as a standard college love story but soon unravels into something much more sinister.
We follow the relationship from when they meet in school until years later, when an endless slew of toxicity and emotional abuse has taken its toll on not just the couple, but everyone around them too.
If you’re a fan of Lucy and Stephen’s wild relationship, then check out our list of the best shows like Tell Me Lies to get your fix while waiting for the new season!
Gossip Girl
The recent reboot of this iconic 2000s show might leave a lot to be desired, but the original has a place in modern popular culture that can’t be matched. Like Tell Me Lies, untruths and manipulation in a wealthy school are vital cogs in the Gossip Girl machine. There are plenty of differences between the series’, though, namely that the action in Gossip Girl takes place at an elite high school and not a college, and it follows a larger group of people than Tell Me Lies.
The device Gossip Girl used so well is that it’s narrated by an unknown, eponymous blogger (voiced by Kristen Bell), and through her voiceovers and action we follow various wealthy teens living in Manhattan’s most exclusive enclave as they deal with all things rich teen. It’s a scintillating watch with plenty of ups and downs to keep viewers guessing.
A Teacher
As is the case in Tell Me Lies, A Teacher is focused on a relationship with skewed power dynamics and a distinctly gross undertone. In this case, the plot of the FX show follows a teacher turned sexual predator who begins a decade-long illicit affair with one of her teenage students (Nick Robinson). The topic is a fraught one, but the lead performances make sure this remains a stunning bit of television instead of an ill-thought out production. Subtle, but affecting.
Cruel Summer
The Prime Video mystery anthology series Cruel Summer has told two different stories over its two seasons, but both storylines have had a lot in common with Tell Me Lies. Season 1 follows the abduction and subsequent reappearance of a teen, and how it affects her friends, while season 2 chronicles an intense friendship between two adolescent girls that is marked by big lies and plenty of subterfuge. So, all you lovers of unraveling lies and dramatic outcomes will find plenty to love.
Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars follows five best friends who are on the verge of having their deepest secrets revealed by an anonymous person, who goes only by “A.” The series begins after the disappearance of one of the girls’ friends, and like Tell Me Lies has a big focus on what we hide from those who know us best, and how the people closest to you can be the ones to manipulate you the most. Pretty Little Liars has had numerous spin-offs, but the addictive original remains the most loved. There’s a reason it has a place in the hearts of many people of a certain age.
Euphoria
Few shows have had the explosive impact of this HBO adaptation of an Israeli drama of the same name. Aside from launching the career of Zendaya into the stratosphere, Euphoria garnered countless column inches (or whatever the internet equivalent is) for its open depictions of topics like drug abuse, modern sexual culture, and even human trafficking. Set in the fictional town of East Highland, California, it follows numerous teens as they deal with their tumultuous lives, although ostensibly Zendaya’s character Rue (an addict) is the focal point of the series. Showrunner Sam Levinson might be a nepo-baby creep, but even he couldn’t hold back these actors with this script.
Big Little Lies
Big Little Lies was originally billed as a miniseries, but it proved so popular that it came back for a second season. Based on a Liane Moriarty novel of the same name, it follows a group of women who are involved in a murder investigation in a small town. With a dream cast (Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Adam Scott, Alexander Skarsgård, and even Meryl Streep are some of the names involved) this was always going to be a hit, but fans of Tell Me Lies will particularly love the dark undertones and focus on interpersonal relationships blighted by mistruths.