What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedHer
Spike Jonze · Film · 2013
If you loved Her, start with My Holo Love (Lee Sang-yeop, 2020) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Her across media.
What hooked you in Her was the way it uses speculative technology to examine the fragile, aching boundaries of human intimacy.
Books on the same thread
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card · Book · 2013
Explores: Child Soldiers, Alien Invasion, Moral Ambiguity.
While Her focuses on romantic connection, this story explores the same moral weight and existential isolation found when individuals are forced to navigate complex, high-stakes relationships within a structured reality.
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro · Book · 2021
Explores: artificial consciousness, loneliness, humanity's nature.
Like the protagonist in Her, the artificial narrator here observes the human condition with profound sensitivity, offering a similarly poignant meditation on consciousness, loneliness, and the nature of love.
Arrival
Ted Chiang · Book · 2016
Explores: Alien Contact, Linguistics, Time Perception.
Much like the operating system in Her changes the writer's perception of his life, these stories use alien linguistics to fundamentally alter how we understand connection, time, and personal loss.
Feed
M. T. Anderson · Book · 2012
Explores: Technological Dependence, Social Commentary, Consumerism.
If Her portrays the tenderness of a digital romance, this book depicts the darker, more invasive side of technological dependency, highlighting the tension between authentic emotion and constant digital connectivity.
Series on the same thread
Westworld
Jonathan Nolan · Series · 2016
Shares a thread with Her: Artificial Intelligence.
Where Her explores the emotional evolution of an operating system, this series deepens that inquiry by placing artificial consciousness into a world where human desires and moral agency collide violently.
My Holo Love
Lee Sang-yeop · Series · 2020
Shares 2 threads with Her: Artificial Intelligence, Technological Romance.
This show mirrors the central premise of Her, focusing on the genuine emotional bond that can form between a lonely human and a sophisticated, humanlike artificial intelligence entity.
Serial Experiments Lain
Series · 1998
Explores: Existentialism, Identity Crisis, Technological Singularity.
Her examines the loneliness of a man in a digital world; this series takes that isolation to its psychological extreme, questioning where the human soul ends and technology begins.
Humans
Jonathan Brackley · Series · 2015
Shares a thread with Her: Artificial Intelligence.
This series expands on the domestic integration of AI seen in Her, questioning how the presence of synthetic companions fundamentally shifts the dynamics of family, service, and human identity.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
These stories capture the same intimate, character-driven focus as Her, using speculative scenarios to peel back the layers of the human condition through short, deeply immersive audio experiences.
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, technological ethics, deep thinking.
If Her left you curious about the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence, these conversations provide the direct intellectual discourse needed to unpack the themes of consciousness and technological ethics.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Her about a writer falling in love with software?
Yes, Her follows a lonely writer who develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system. The story focuses on this unique connection as the operating system is specifically designed to meet his every need throughout their time together.
What is the premise of the movie Her?
Her tells the story of a lonely writer who forms an emotional bond with an operating system. The plot explores the complexities of their unlikely relationship as the technology is engineered to fulfill all of his personal requirements.
Who directed the 2013 film Her?
The 2013 film Her was directed by Spike Jonze. The story centers on a lonely writer who enters into an unlikely relationship with an advanced operating system built to provide for his every need.
Is Her a story about an operating system?
Yes, Her features an operating system as a central character. The narrative explores how a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with this technology, which is designed to meet his every need during the course of the film.