What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Tunnel
Film · 2019
If you loved The Tunnel, start with The Tunnel (Ben Richards, 2013) — a series from the same story. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Tunnel across media.
What hooked you in The Tunnel was the visceral way that ordinary people are forced to confront extreme isolation and survival.
Start with the source
The source
The Tunnel
Ben Richards · Series · 2013
Books on the same thread
Tunnel in the Sky
Robert A. Heinlein · Book · 2005
Explores: Survivalism, Resourcefulness, Self-reliance.
Just as the characters in The Tunnel face a sudden, life-threatening crisis, these students must rely on their own resourcefulness to survive after being trapped on a foreign planet.
The Maze Runner (Book 1)
James Dashner · Book · 2014
Shares a thread with The Tunnel: Survival.
If the claustrophobic entrapment of The Tunnel kept you on edge, you will appreciate how Thomas must navigate a lethal, enclosed environment while forging alliances to secure his escape.
The Rage: A Game of Survival
Natica Brown · Book · 2017
Shares a thread with The Tunnel: Survival.
Mirroring the desperate fight for life seen in The Tunnel, this story traps its protagonist in a perilous situation where cooperation becomes the only path to surviving an immediate threat.
The Crash
Freida McFadden · Book · 2025
Shares a thread with The Tunnel: isolation.
The Tunnel excels at building tension through environmental hazards, and this book captures that same sense of dread by trapping a vulnerable character inside a remote, snowbound isolation.
Series on the same thread
Chernobyl
Craig Mazin · Series · 2019
Explores: Nuclear Disaster, Government Cover-Up, Sacrifice.
This historical drama echoes the high-stakes disaster management found in The Tunnel, detailing the immense human cost and sacrifice required when confronting a massive, life-altering catastrophe.
The Pitt
R. Scott Gemmill · Series · 2025
Explores: Underfunded Healthcare, Emergency Medicine, Trauma.
The Tunnel captures the pressure of emergency response, and this series provides an equally intense look at the exhaustion and moral weight carried by staff managing constant medical crises.
9-1-1
Ryan Murphy · Series · 2018
Explores: High-Pressure Situations, Work-Life Balance, Moral Dilemmas.
If the frantic rescue efforts in The Tunnel resonated with you, this show offers a deeper look at the first responders who confront terrifying, unpredictable emergencies every single day.
Happiness
Han Sang-un · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with The Tunnel: Survival.
Like the survivors in The Tunnel, the residents here must navigate the social friction and life-or-death stakes that arise when a sudden disaster forces them into total confinement.
Podcasts on the same thread
Search & Rescue NZ
Podcast
Explores: search and rescue operations, wilderness survival, human resilience.
The Tunnel highlights the grit required to survive against nature, a theme explored here through real-world accounts of individuals facing life-threatening conditions in the unforgiving wilderness.
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
The Tunnel thrives on cinematic tension and human reaction to crisis, and these audio dramas deliver that same focused, suspenseful storytelling in a compact and immersive format.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Tunnel (2019) related to The Tunnel (2013) TV series?
No, the 2019 film The Tunnel is a standalone survival thriller about a truck crash and fire inside a tunnel. It is not connected to the 2013 television series titled The Tunnel, which is a crime drama adaptation of a different source material.
Does The Tunnel (2019) feature a Christmas setting?
Yes, the plot of The Tunnel takes place during the Christmas season. The characters are trapped inside a tunnel following a truck accident while they are traveling home for the holidays during a severe blizzard that prevents first responders from reaching the scene.
How do the survivors escape in The Tunnel?
In The Tunnel, survivors are forced to fend for themselves after a crash causes a deadly fire. With a blizzard raging outside and emergency services unable to access the site, the trapped individuals must navigate the dangerous conditions and the fire on their own to survive.
Should I watch The Tunnel (2013) before the 2019 movie?
You do not need to watch the 2013 television series The Tunnel before viewing the 2019 film The Tunnel. They share a title but are entirely different productions with unrelated plots, as the 2019 film is a self-contained story about a tunnel fire disaster.