Some stories make you pause and think, “This could happen to me.” Others pull you into worlds where logic doesn’t apply, where dreams and time twist into something unreal. But sometimes, a rare kind of show manages to balance both – it gives you the comfort of reality and the thrill of fantasy in one breath. These series don’t ask you to escape the real world; they just make it look a little stranger, a little deeper. Here are three that do it beautifully.
The OA
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IMDb Rating : 7.8/10
Star Cast :
Brit Marling, Jason Isaacs, Emory Cohen, Patrick Gibson
Release Year : 2016
OTT Platform : Netflix
“The OA” starts quietly. A young woman, Prairie Johnson, returns home after vanishing for seven years. She was blind when she left. Now she can see.
Her story unfolds in fragments – of near-death experiences, other dimensions, and the people she met in between. It’s mysterious, strange, and full of symbolism that’ll make you question what belief really means.
Why Watch :
Because “The OA” isn’t just science fiction. It’s about faith, human connection, and the unseen layers of existence. It’s spiritual and haunting, sometimes confusing – but in the best way. It’s one of those rare shows where you’ll find yourself thinking about it long after the credits roll, wondering if maybe… it could be true.
Undone
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IMDb Rating : 8.2/10
Star Cast :
Rosa Salazar, Bob Odenkirk, Angelique Cabral
Release Year : 2019
OTT Platform : Amazon Prime Video
“Undone” looks different from any show you’ve seen – it’s animated, but not in a cartoonish way. The rotoscope technique gives it a dreamlike vibe, where everything feels slightly unreal. It follows Alma, who starts seeing her dead father after a car accident. He tells her she can move through time – but as she digs deeper into this new power, you start wondering if she’s actually discovering something cosmic or just losing touch with reality.
Why Watch :
Because it handles mental health, grief, and identity with raw honesty while using fantasy as its language. The story doesn’t spoon-feed answers. It keeps you floating between “Is this real?” and “Does it matter?” and somehow, that’s exactly the beauty of it. It’s emotional, weird, and profoundly human – a rare mix that stays with you.
Russian Doll
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IMDb Rating : 7.8/10
Star Cast :
Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee
Release Year : 2019
OTT Platform : Netflix
Nadia is sharp, chaotic, and full of attitude – until she dies on her birthday. Then she wakes up… at the same party. Again. And again. “Russian Doll” begins like a dark comedy about bad luck but turns into something much deeper – a wild loop of self-discovery, trauma, and redemption. Each loop forces Nadia to face herself, her choices, and her past in ways that feel painfully real under all the chaos.
Why Watch :
Because beneath the time loop and clever writing, there’s a very real message about guilt, healing, and second chances. Natasha Lyonne carries the show with brutal honesty – she’s funny one moment, broken the next. And somehow, you see a bit of yourself in her madness. It’s a show that makes you laugh, ache, and think – sometimes all at once.
Conclusion
In a world full of predictable plots and over-polished stories, these three stand out because they’re not afraid to get messy. They don’t separate the real from the unreal – they let both bleed into each other. You’ll find yourself asking questions you didn’t plan to: What’s real? What’s imagined? And does it even matter if it makes you feel something true? Each of these series shows that fantasy doesn’t always mean dragons or magic – sometimes it’s just the strange way reality bends when you start to really look at it.