A lot of shows like Tell Me Lies are equally intriguing, dark, and relationship-focused as the 2020s drama series. After debuting in 2022, Hulu’s Tell Me Lies drew solid reviews for overcoming a slow start to become a thoroughly engaging glimpse at the toxic relationship between Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White), two college sweethearts whose romance veers off course over time and the struggle they share to keep the pieces together. Based on the eponymous novel by Carola Lovering, the series jumps through time to depict the cornerstone moments of their relationship.
Part obsession thriller and part toxic relationship drama, Tell Me Lies joins several worthy TV dramas with a lot to say about the profound consequences one decision can have on a long-term relationship, and there are a lot of shows like Tell Me Lies. Complex relationships and bombshell reveals are particular highlights of the series, alongside the toxic dynamic between Lucy and Stephen. Shows like Tell Me Lies contain these elements and more, while telling different, but still intriguing, stories that are meant to keep audiences guessing, and on the edge of their seats.
21 Doctor Foster (2015-2017)
A Woman Uncovers Dark Secrets About Her Husband
While Dr. Foster is a show that deals with older characters compared to the young college students in Tell Me Lies, both shows take a look at the repercussions of a woman learning that her partner is not to be trusted. Suranne Jones leads the series as the titular Dr. Foster, a married woman who begins to suspect that her husband is having an affair, destroying the ideal existence she felt she was living in.
Like Tell Me Lies, the affair is only the beginning of much bigger secrets. Foster digs deeper into her husband’s life to discover more and more she never knew. It is a gripping look at someone coming to terms with the fact that they never truly knew the person they were in love with. Seeing Lucy’s heartbreak in Tell Me Lies, Dr. Foster presents another intense exploration of the fallout from such a devastating betrayal.
20 Conversations With Friends (2022)
Two Couples Become Intertwined
Like Tell Me Lies, Conversations with Friends is based on a best-selling novel, this one from Irish author Sally Rooney. The series focuses on two friends named Frances and Bobby who become drawn to an older married couple, Nick and Melissa. What starts as friendly interactions develops into something more when Bobby and Melissa begin flirting while Frances and Nick embark on a passionate affair.
Where the series feels most similar to
Tell Me Lies
is in the relationship between Frances and Nick.
Where the series feels most similar to Tell Me Lies is in the relationship between Frances and Nick. It becomes an intense attraction, with Frances discovering new aspects about herself through her connection to Nick. However, she soon discovers that he might not be as committed as she is and may not have been honest with her about the things that led to them getting together. While Tell Me Lies is more scandalous and sexy, Conversations with Friends feels like an intense drama about such a relationship.
19 The Sex Lives Of College Girls (2021-)
Young Women Discover Themselves In College
The college setting of Tell Me Lies is an intriguing one as it focuses on young people at a time in their lives when they are discovering themselves, living with a sense of independence for the first time, and exploring their sexuality in exciting ways. The Sex Lives of College Girls is another series that is set in this world, albeit one that takes a much more comedic approach to the story.
The series follows a group of young women going through this important moment in their lives with all the fun and struggles that come with it. There are some hilarious antics and funny observations made about the dynamics of young people in such an environment. However, while it is a very funny show, it also shows these characters going through complicated relationships, making poor decisions, and discovering new aspects of their sexuality, all things Tell Me Lies touches on.
18 Sex Education (2019-2023)
High School Students Explore The Complexities Of Sexuality
Another series that takes a more comedic approach to young relationships, similar to Tell Me Lies is Sex Education. The Netflix series begins with the story of a young man named Otis who teams up with his rebellious classmate Maeve to offer sex therapy services to the other confused and frustrated kids in their school. From there, the show evolves into a poignant, profound, and honest exploration of sex and relationships, not just among young people but lovers of all kinds.
Tell Me Lies deals a lot with the complexities of a sexual relationship, troubled and even toxic relationships, and characters dealing with their own secrets. There are all things that Sex Education explores in any given episode while also being charming and funny with a strong cast of characters. Though it is raunchy and graphic, it is also one of the most insightful shows about sex that speaks to a lot of complicated aspects of sexuality.
17 Sex/Life (2021-2023)
A Woman Looks Back On Her Past Life And Passionate Affairs
Sex/Life is another series that deals with older characters than those in Tell Me Lies, but has the same sexy feel, intense relationships, and dangerous drama. The series follows Billie, a middle-aged mother who begins looking back on her wilder years before she was married and with kids. When an old flame comes back into her life, Billie’s fantasies about what used to be threaten to destroy the happy life that she has built.
Billie makes for an equally compelling and complicated protagonist as Lucy in
Tell Me Lies
.
Like Tell Me Lies, Sex/Life takes a look at the compelling pull people can have on a relationship that they know is trouble for them. Billie makes for an equally compelling and complicated protagonist as Lucy in Tell Me Lies. They are people who make mistakes and are sometimes pulled in the wrong direction by passion, but they are also relatable in their dilemmas.
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15 You (2018-Present)
Joe Goldberg Has A Lot Of Similarities With You’s Stephen
Much of Tell Me Lies focuses on Lucy’s unhealthy obsession with the irresistible charmer, Stephen, which slowly evolves into a healthier bond over time. In terms of shows like Tell Me Lies, one can’t help but think of Netflix’s You, in which Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) also plays a handsome charmer with a dangerous side who uses his disarming personality to insinuate himself into the lives of others.
As Joe fuels his unhealthy obsession by pouring over his desired females’ social media and online lives, he eventually meets a cunning match in Love Quinn, further complicating his psychological state. Both You and Tell Me Lies get to the heart of romantic infatuation, infidelity, and the aching ramifications that can result from such if those involved in such toxic relationships cannot find the strength to break the cycle.
14 The Affair (2014-2019)
The Affair Won The 2015 Golden Globe For Best TV Drama
Much of Tell Me Lies also focuses on the long-term romantic affair between Lucy and Stephen. No better show took the premise of marital infidelity to such rivetingly satisfying lengths as the highly revered Showtime series The Affair, named Best TV Drama at the 2015 Golden Globes. The series concerns the intimate extramarital bond between novelist Noah (Dominic West) and waitress Alison (Ruth Wilson) and the immense feelings of isolation, regret, grief, and even love they feel for each other while grappling with the lasting consequences that will forever alter their lives.
What is interesting about the series is that it tells the story from various perspectives, showing how the truth can get muddled depending on who is presenting it. It causes questions about who is being sincere and who has a darker side. With top-tier acting and sobering psychological exploration of human desire, The Affair is a must-see for fans of Tell Me Lies.
13 Big Little Lies (2017-Present)
The Max Series Has An All-Star Cast Including Meryl Streep
Winner of 8 Primetime Emmys, HBO’s extremely beloved original seriesBig Little Lies also revolves around the doomed toxic marriage between Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) and the violent domestic abuse that results when she hasn’t the agency to fight back. Until Grace confides in her closest friends, she is trapped in her misery despite living a lavish life of extreme wealth, leading to a shockingly irreparable conclusion.
An important tale of IPV studded by some of the finest actors around, including Kidman, Skarsgård, Meryl Streep, and many others, the first season of Big Little Lies is a perfect companion piece to Tell Me Lies as both shows explore the psychological effect keeping deep secrets can have and how unchecked human desire can lead to one’s downfall. Following a long delay, a third season of Big Little Lies is reportedly on the way.
12 Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017)
A Series About The Secrets Kept By Four Teenage Girls
Perhaps a tad campier and aimed at a slightly younger audience than Tell Me Lies, Pretty Little Liars also revolves around a mysterious stalker (or group of stalkers) who threatens to expose the darkest secrets held by a quartet of female teenagers. While played as more of a mystery than outright romance with it sometimes leaning into thriller territory, there’s plenty of thematic overlap between the hit Freeform series and Tell Me Lies.
As the four girls work to keep their secrets from being exposed and discover who the mysterious stalker named “A” is, toxic teenage relationships abound, such as the forbidden love affair between underage Aria and her high school teacher Ezra. Sure, Pretty Little Liars is a silly teen show, but it mines a very similar subject as Tell Me Lies and has more fun doing it.
11 You’re The Worst (2014-2019)
A More Comedic Approach To The Toxic Relationship Narrative
While the acclaimed FX original show takes a decidedly dark comedic approach, You’re The Worst also traces the long-term effects of a toxic relationship in a protracted way very similar to Tell Me Lies. The drama concerns Gretchen (Aya Cash) and Jimmy (Chris Geere), a self-sabotaging couple who do everything in their power to stay involved in a doomed romance.
Hailed for its rich characterizations, sharp wit, and anti-romantic-comedy formula, You’re The Worst manages to balance deep issues with a deft comedic touch to become one of the most memorable TV dramedies on record. An unflinching portrait of modern romance, Tell Me Lies and You’re The Worst belong together while also adding a nice mixture of a romantic drama and a dark comedy to give fans a variety of vibes. Tell Me Lies can lack comedic elements, and You’re the Worst is an ideal remedy for that.
10 Scandal (2012-2018)
A Political Take On Affairs & Life-Ruining Secrets
From the mind of Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder), Scandal is another hit show from the television icon. It traces the personal and professional life of Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a communications officer for the White House who opens her crisis management firm to become Washington’s top fixer. While Pope has experience covering up the marital affairs of top politicians, things get hairy when she begins an affair.
The way Pope handles her extramarital affair with Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) on the show is arguably more admirable than Lucy in Tell Me Lies, but both shows do a good job of justifying each’s decisions without judging their character writ large, nor letting them off the hook for their actions. Another gripping drama that bends into psychological thriller territory, Scandal is not to be missed.
9 A Teacher (2020)
A School-Based Series About An Affair Between A Student & A Teacher
The moral underpinnings found in Tell Me Lies share a lot in common with A Teacher,Hulu’s acclaimed original miniseries about the toxic predatory dynamic between Claire Wilson (Kate Mara), and her underage high school student Eric Walker (Nick Robinson), and how their illicit affair leads to lasting effects on both. It ventures into the unsettling and intense stories of such relationships that can happen with this power dynamic.
Like Stephen in Tell Me Lies, Claire uses her position of power as a form of sinister seduction to psychotically ensnare Eric and implicate him in her own immoral crime. It’s the mutual collaboration between both couples that perpetuates the affairs, making this one of the best shows like Tell Me Lies, where the shows do their best to explore the complicated nature of each character’s life-altering decision.
8 Big Love (2006-2011)
A Series That Explores Mormon Polygamy
A daring show ahead of its time and one of the best shows like Tell Me Lies, HBO’s Mormon polygamy drama Big Love follows Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), a Utah handyman who happens to be married to three wives who all live together under one roof. While it may not seem to have much in common with Tell Me Lies, the entire series is about keeping the family together despite the frayed and fey romances.
What makes Big Love so interesting is the consensual nature of Bill’s so-called infidelity, as he constantly favors one wife over another, leading to their psychological unease as the years go by. Dark secrets, white lies, and half-truths abound in the household as Bill and the family do their best to live happily, making Big Love one of the most fascinating domestic dramas on record.
7 Behind Her Eyes (2021)
A Psychological Drama With A Hint Of Supernatural
While it flirts with the supernatural, Behind Her Eyes follows Louise (Simona Brown) and her psychological state as she begins an illicit affair with her married boss David (Tom Bateman). However, Louise ends up forging a strange relationship with his wife, Adele (Eve Hewson), and the resulting drama makes Behind Her Eyes one of the best shows like Tell Me Lies. Steamy and irresistibly melodramatic, it’s another ideal show to watch alongside Tell Me Lies.
While Tell Me Lies has richer character development, the unpredictable twists and turns will keep viewers engaged in Behind Her Eyes from the jump. Tell Me Lies and Behind Her Eyes may be taking things to different extremes, but both shows convincingly explore the nature of infidelity, romantic obsession, and how one small decision can have a gargantuan ripple effect across several lives.
6 Roadkill (2020)
A Four-Part Drama Featuring A Career-Best Performance From Hugh Laurie
Roadkill is a four-part British miniseries that concerns the personal and professional fallout of career politician Peter Laurence (Hugh Laurie) once his extramarital affair is made public by a female inmate, and subsequently one of the best shows like Tell Me Lies. Similar to Tell Me Lies, Roadkill is an eye-opening exam of how one lapse in judgment can lead to a lifetime of pain.
Armed with a towering performance by Laurie as a man torn between the love for his family and his craven political ambitions, Roadkill goes one step further than Tell Me Lies by showing how infidelity perpetrated by a beloved public figure can lead to domestic as well as national unrest. Laurie makes for a captivating and complex protagonist whose fall from grace can be seen as mirroring a number of other real-world figures.
5 Yellowjackets (2021-Present)
A Gripping Mystery Series That Follows Two Different Timelines
While Yellowjackets may seem out of place among other shows like Tell Me Lies, what makes the two series similar is the complexity and power dynamics of the cast’s relationships. Yellowjackets takes place in two separate timelines, the first in 1996 following a talented girls’ soccer team after their plane crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness, and they descend into ritualized cannibalism. The second is in 2021 and follows the adult survivors as their lives are still haunted by the past.
Yellowjackets jumps around in time to its benefit, much like Tell Me Lies, and the series does see two toxic relationships in its ensemble cast: Natale and Travis, and Jeff and Shauna. Natalie and Travis’ romance is marked by betrayals and addictions, while Shauna struggles with an affair of her own after she mistakenly believes her husband is cheating. It certainly boasts more violence than Tell Me Lies, but the complicated relationships between the teens and adults as well as the bombshell reveals make the series within the same vein.
4 Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)
A Trailblazing Series That Blends Mystery With Melodrama
Desperate Housewives is on the sillier end of the spectrum in terms of shows like Tell Me Lies, but it’s a good option regardless. In a way, Desperate Housewives created the blueprint for shows with soap opera-type plots, turning them on their heads to make for a bingeable drama. The series follows a group of suburban housewives after their lives are changed forever when their neighbor commits suicide.
The protagonists’ seemingly ordinary lives are peeled back to reveal the drama within, and there are plenty of lies, affairs, and petty crimes to go around. The series is critically acclaimed and was highly popular throughout its eight-year run, winning seven Emmys and plenty of other award nominations. It may seem more lighthearted than Tell Me Lies, but lies are still at the epicenter in Desperate Housewives.
3 Normal People (2020)
A Heart-Wrenching Irish Miniseries
Similar to other shows like Tell Me Lies, Normal People sees characters making seemingly small choices that inadvertently negatively affect the course of their relationship. The Irish miniseries is also set in its protagonists’ college years, though most of the action takes place in secondary school. The show sees Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) try to navigate their budding romance through personal struggles.
The tone and pacing of Normal People is relatively similar to Tell Me Lies. In addition, Connell holds more power than Marianne does socially, as she was bullied a lot in school and Connell stood idly by. With their broken family lives and near-constant miscommunications, Normal People is a heart-wrenching and intriguing miniseries worthy of anyone who enjoys Tell Me Lies. The series is based on another novel by Conversations with Friends writer Sally Rooney, showing her talent for intense and grounded relationship stories.
2 Euphoria (2019-Present)
A Harrowing Teen Drama Starring Zendeya
No show does toxic relationships among teens quite like Euphoria, and it’s one of the best shows like Tell Me Lies. Maddy (Alexa Demie) and Nate (Jacob Elordi) are the proverbial king and queen of toxic relationships, as both seek to do nothing but destroy each other for the sake of love. However, the show mainly follows Rue (Zendaya), a teen who lives with bipolar disorder and OCD who is coming out of rehab for a crippling drug addiction and going back to high school.
Rue finds a friend and later a lover in the new girl Jules, but Jules has her own toxic relationships to work through, such as with Nate and Nate’s father. If high school homework is ever done, the show certainly doesn’t depict it, as the Euphoria ensemble cast deals with everything from heartbreak to addictions, to secret romances. Euphoria boasts just as many secrets and lies as Tell Me Lies and is overwhelmingly critically acclaimed.