What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Abyss
James Cameron · Film · 1989
If you loved The Abyss, start with The Expanse (Mark Fergus, 2015) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Abyss across media.
What hooked you in The Abyss was the way the isolation of extreme environments forces humanity to confront mysterious, transformative unknowns.
Books on the same thread
The Hunt for Red October
Tom Clancy · Book · 1985
Explores: Submarine Warfare, Defection, Cold War Tension.
If the high-stakes Cold War tension and claustrophobic submarine dynamics of The Abyss captured your imagination, this military thriller delivers the same relentless pressure and technical precision under fire.
Annihilation
Jeff VanderMeer · Book · 2014
Explores: Environmental Collapse, Exploration, Identity.
Fans of the otherworldly encounter in The Abyss will appreciate how this narrative mirrors the unsettling experience of exploring a dangerous, inexplicable ecosystem that defies human conventional understanding.
The Martian
Andy Weir · Book · 2015
Shares a thread with The Abyss: Man vs. Nature.
The Abyss excels at depicting human ingenuity in the face of impossible odds, a theme this survival story mirrors through its focus on scientific problem-solving in extreme isolation.
Goosebumps
R. L. Stine · Book · 1992
Explores: Monsters, Supernatural, Fear.
For readers who enjoyed the underwater setting of The Abyss, this story offers a similar sense of hazardous adventure beneath the surface, albeit with a focus on youthful suspense.
Series on the same thread
The Expanse
Mark Fergus · Series · 2015
Explores: Interplanetary Conflict, Corporate Conspiracy, Social Stratification.
The sprawling conspiracies and interpersonal conflicts found in The Abyss are echoed here, as this series tracks the collision of disparate groups caught in a vast, systemic mystery.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Gene Roddenberry · Series · 1987
Explores: Exploration, Diplomacy, Moral Dilemmas.
Just as the crew in The Abyss must navigate the moral complexities of first contact, this series centers on the intellectual and diplomatic challenges of encountering the truly unknown.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Series · 1995
Explores: Existentialism, Trauma, Coming-of-Age.
This series captures the existential dread found in The Abyss, grounding its grand, apocalyptic stakes in the internal psychological struggles of characters facing an incomprehensible, world-altering force.
Lost
Jeffrey Lieber · Series · 2004
Shares a thread with The Abyss: Redemption.
Much like the stranded crew in The Abyss, the characters here must reconcile their personal histories with the mysterious, survival-driven demands of a hostile and secretive environment.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
These cinematic audio stories mirror the short-form intensity of The Abyss, delivering high-concept, speculative narratives that focus on the moral ambiguity inherent in exploring strange, new frontiers.
1619
The New York Times · Podcast · 2019
Explores: systemic racism, national identity, legacy of slavery.
If The Abyss hit, 1619 shares the thread.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Abyss about a real search and rescue mission?
The Abyss is a fictional film about a civilian oil rig crew recruited to locate a sunken nuclear submarine. The story follows their descent 25,000 feet below the ocean surface where they encounter an mysterious force that threatens to change or destroy the world.
What happens to the crew in The Abyss?
In The Abyss, the civilian oil rig crew is sent to conduct a search and rescue effort for a lost nuclear submarine. During this mission, a diver experiences an odyssey deep underwater where he confronts a mysterious force with the power to destroy the world.
How deep is the setting in The Abyss?
The events of The Abyss take place 25,000 feet below the ocean surface. At this extreme depth, the civilian oil rig crew encounters a mysterious force that has the capability to either change the world or destroy it entirely.
Is The Abyss a movie about aliens?
The Abyss features a civilian oil rig crew that encounters a mysterious force while searching for a sunken nuclear submarine. This entity resides 25,000 feet below the surface and possesses the power to either change the world or destroy it.