Television series

Damnation

Name: Damnation
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: 2017
Cast: Killian Scott, Logan Marshall-Green, Chasten Harmon, Christopher Heyerdahl, Sarah Jones

Other titles called Damnation: the 1988 film, the 2014 film.

Period drama
Very dark

A 1930s crime drama about a man posing as a preacher to foment revolution in Depression-era Iowa, only to discover that the strikebreaker sent to stop him is someone from his violent past. Damnation is operatic and grimy, all dust-bowl desperation and moral ambiguity—a show that asks what you're willing to do for justice, and whether the answer makes you a hero or a villain.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love slow-burning period crime with a moral fog, where a fake preacher's faith and a hired gun's menace both feel fully believable and the violence carries real weight.

Skip it if you want a tidy, fast-moving plot or lighter company, since this is grim, unhurried and deliberately heavy with its Depression-era cruelty.

What it asks of you: Ten hour-long episodes in a single season, so it wants a committed evening or two rather than background viewing, and it is patient, shadowy and violent in equal measure.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Deadwood2004

Similar appetite for moral complexity in a lawless frontier setting. Sharp dialogue, ensemble cast doing their finest work, and no interest in easy answers about progress or civilization.

But The profanity is relentless and the plotting can feel deliberately obscure. Three seasons and it ends abruptly, which some find infuriating.

Hell or High Water2016

Same DNA: rural economic collapse, men shaped by violence and desperation, a cat-and-mouse game with real moral weight. Lean, tense, beautifully shot.

But Modern-day rather than historical, and it's a film not a series. Some find the politics heavy-handed.

The Son2017

Prestige drama about legacy and inherited violence across generations, set in Texas with equally dark worldview. Tense, brooding, explores what fathers pass down to sons.

But Only ran two seasons. Pierce Brosnan's accent wavers. Bleak enough that it can feel punishing rather than gripping.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Matewan1987

Both are historical dramas about labor struggle and uprising in economically devastated America, with violence as inevitable outcome rather than plot device. Both understand that revolution is messy, personal, and never as clean as the idealists hope.

A coal-mining town's violent clash with company interests in 1920s West Virginia. John Sayles directing at his peak—historically grounded, politically urgent, genuinely thrilling. The spiritual ancestor Damnation didn't know it was seeking.

But Made in 1987 on a small budget, so the image is grainy and the pacing is leisurely by modern standards. Uncompromising in its sympathy for union organizers.

True Grit2010

Coen Brothers mastery of period American violence and frontier morality. A young woman hiring a cynical lawman to track her father's killer—simple premise, profound execution.

But Deliberately paced and dialogue-heavy. If you want constant action, this isn't it. The 1969 version exists and has its defenders.

The Killing2011

Another gritty slow-burn about corruption and injustice in a flawed system. Each season is a new murder mystery that expands into something bigger about power and complicity.

But Deliberately grey and unresolved in ways some find frustrating. Requires patience with ambiguity.

Godless2017

Western miniseries about a town run by women after the men are gone, threatened by a mining magnate. Visually stunning, morally complex, and genuinely strange in the best way.

But Only one season and some plot threads feel unfinished. The gender politics, while interesting, can feel schematic at moments.

The Ballad of Little Jo1993

True story of a woman who lived as a man to survive the frontier. Quietly devastating, anti-romantic about the West, and Suzy Amis is unforgettable in her restraint.

But Understated to the point of austere. No rousing climax, no easy catharsis. Very slow.

Z1969

Greek political thriller about conspiracy and state violence that works as both thriller and allegory. Costa-Gavras invented the modern political suspense film, and this is the masterpiece.

But European art film from the 1960s, not an American historical drama. The parallels require you to work a bit.

Winter's Bone2010

American poverty, rural codes of silence, a young woman trying to survive in a system that doesn't protect her. Achingly real, unsentimental, quietly devastating.

But Depressing throughout and the plot moves on observation rather than propulsion. Won't leave you feeling uplifted.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?2000

Both use Americana and period detail as texture for stories about charlatans, the desperate, and the gap between image and reality. Both feature men pretending to be something they're not in small communities.

Coen Brothers reimagining of The Odyssey set in Depression Mississippi, with bluegrass soundtrack, visual poetry, and George Clooney as a con man. It's playful where Damnation is grim, but equally obsessed with American mythology and moral failure.

But Comedy-drama that doesn't take itself seriously, so the tonal whiplash might feel wrong if you want unrelenting darkness. Some find the Coen sensibility precious.

Stories We Tell2012

Both explore how history is constructed and contested, how competing narratives fight for dominance, and whether truth survives the telling. Both show political violence as personal betrayal first, ideology second.

Michael Haneke's docudrama about a 1930s Austrian political murder, told partly through found footage and reconstruction. Blurs truth and performance in ways that make you question what you're watching. Quietly devastating.

But Experimental and deliberately ambiguous about what's real. No clear protagonist, no catharsis. Not a thriller, even though it could be. You have to surrender to not understanding.