Television series

Cursed

Name: Cursed
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Fantasy
Released: 2020
Cast: Katherine Langford, Gustaf Skarsgård, Devon Terrell, Daniel Sharman, Sebastian Armesto

Other titles called Cursed: the 2005 film.

Fantasy

A dark, teenage-skewed Arthurian prequel centred on Nimue, the future Lady of the Lake. It's violent and stylish, with gothic horror undertones and genuinely unsettling religious villainy. For viewers who want their fantasy grimy, morally complicated, and willing to kill characters you've started to care about.

TVMaze rating

3.2

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The Witcher2019

Similar dark-fantasy tone, a charismatic mentor-student dynamic, and a willingness to make the world genuinely hostile. Henry Cavill's Geralt has the same weathered gravitas as Merlin here.

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Hilda2018

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But It's animated and initially reads as lighter than it is. Takes a few episodes to establish its darker register.

The Last Kingdom2015

Historical-fantasy grounding, brutal combat, and a young man learning to navigate loyalty and identity across a fractured kingdom. Same sense of displacement and finding your place.

But More sprawling and less focused on a single protagonist. Can feel like historical drama rather than pure fantasy for long stretches.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cursed

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Green Knight2021

Both treat Arthurian legend as a space for internal reckoning rather than sword-swinging adventure. Both ask what it means to be chosen by something you didn't choose.

David Lowery's Arthurian fever dream: hypnotic, painterly, utterly focused on myth as psychological territory rather than plot. Dev Patel's Gawain is haunted and questioning in ways that echo Nimue's journey.

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DC's Legends of Tomorrow2016

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Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments2016

Young cast learning to harness hidden powers, lush gothic production design, and a sprawling mythology. Fast-paced and doesn't take itself too seriously.

But Plotting can feel convolved and the show chases too many plot threads at once. Some acting is uneven.

Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments poster

The Wheel of Time2021

Epic fantasy with a diverse young cast discovering vast powers, elaborate world-building, and genuine stakes. Recent adaptation gives it cinematic scope.

But Ten books' worth of material compressed means dense exposition. Easy to feel lost in the mythology if you haven't read the source.

Penny Dreadful2014

Gothic atmosphere, complex characters with genuine moral damage, and Vanessa Ives is magnetic. Literary horror-fantasy with real psychological weight.

But Pacing issues and a meandering middle season. The ending divides fans sharply.

Motherland: Fort Salem2020

Young people discovering secret magic in a militarised alternate America. Surprising tonal range, inventive magic system, and genuine queerness in the narrative.

But Cancelled after three seasons on a cliffhanger. Never gets to complete its story.

The Magicians2015

Adult take on magical education with real darkness underneath the wonder. Ambitious, weird, willing to subvert its own mythology.

But Tonal whiplash between comedy and trauma. Some plotlines meander badly and it struggles to justify its runtime.

Grave of the Fireflies1988

Both centre a young protagonist whose journey is defined by loss and powerlessness in the face of something larger and crueller. Both refuse to soften this.

A masterpiece about young people trying to survive an apocalypse. Animated, Japanese, utterly devastating. Not a fantasy but operates in similar emotional registers: helplessness, beauty amid horror, love as resistance.

But Brutally bleak with no magic solutions. Not entertainment in any comfortable sense. You will grieve.

The OA2016

Both are young-led dark fantasies that arrived on Netflix with genuine visual ambition and a willingness to make viewers uncomfortable. Both treat the female protagonist as the nexus of power rather than the prize.

Experimental Netflix series about a young blind woman discovering interdimensional magic and assembling a found family. Visually inventive, genuinely strange, and operating on its own logic entirely.

But Cancelled on a cliffhanger after two seasons. Wilfully weird in ways that never quite cohere. Requires active engagement, not passive watching.