What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedVengeance
B. J. Novak · Film · 2022
If you loved Vengeance, start with BEEF (Lee Sung Jin, 2023) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Vengeance across media.
What hooked you in Vengeance was the way a cynical outsider uncovers the messy, dangerous truths hidden deep within insular communities.
Books on the same thread
The Crow
James Vance · Book · 2004
Explores: Revenge, Justice, Morality.
Much like the protagonist of Vengeance, this story explores the dark moral consequences of seeking personal closure, pushing the boundaries of justice until it becomes something far more brutal.
Revenge
Yōko Ogawa · Book · 2013
Explores: Revenge, Murder, Grotesque Characters.
If the macabre undercurrents of Vengeance drew you in, these stories offer a similarly unsettling look at how violence and grotesque secrets define the lives of isolated individuals.
VERITY
Colleen Hoover · Book
Explores: unreliable narrator, gaslighting, literary obsession.
Just as Vengeance centers on an outsider navigating a web of hidden motives, this narrative pulls you into a disorienting domestic mystery where the truth is dangerously obscured.
I Have Some Questions for You
Rebecca Makkai · Book
Explores: unreliable narrator, memory and trauma, institutional secrets.
This story mirrors the podcaster perspective found in Vengeance, expertly blending the obsession with true crime with the lingering trauma of returning to a place defined by murder.
Series on the same thread
BEEF
Lee Sung Jin · Series · 2023
Shares a thread with Vengeance: Dark Comedy.
The dark comedic tone and the escalation of petty grievances into life-altering conflict will resonate with those who appreciated the sharp, biting social commentary found throughout Vengeance.
Revenge
Mike Kelley · Series · 2011
Explores: Betrayal, Social Class, Justice.
This series captures the calculating nature of an outsider infiltrating a new environment, echoing the way the lead in Vengeance manipulates his surroundings to uncover a hidden past.
Wednesday
Miles Millar · Series · 2022
Shares a thread with Vengeance: Dark Comedy.
Fans of the fish-out-of-water dynamic in Vengeance will enjoy watching this sharp-witted investigator navigate a strange, insular environment while unraveling mysteries that the locals prefer to keep buried.
Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with Vengeance: True Crime Parody.
If you enjoyed the meta-commentary on true crime culture in Vengeance, this show offers a similarly witty take on the thrill of amateur investigation within a tight-knit setting.
Podcasts on the same thread
Small Town Murder
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: provincial life, tragic irony, forensic breakdown.
This podcast channels the specific blend of rural noir and dark humor found in Vengeance, focusing on how comedians unpack the tragic and often absurd realities of small-town life.
S-Town
Serial Productions · Podcast · 2024
Explores: small-town isolation, eccentricity, social decay.
Like the investigative journey in Vengeance, this series follows an outsider who becomes deeply entangled in the social decay and eccentric secrets of a isolated, misunderstood community.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Vengeance based on a book or other source material?
Vengeance is not an adaptation of a book or other source material. The 2022 film was written and directed by B. J. Novak and follows the original story of a New York journalist traveling to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl he knew.
What is the premise of the movie Vengeance?
Vengeance follows a journalist and podcaster based in New York City who travels to West Texas. He makes the trip to report on the death of a girl he was previously hooking up with, leading to an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her passing.
Who directed the 2022 film Vengeance?
The 2022 film Vengeance was written and directed by B. J. Novak. The story centers on a New York City podcaster who travels to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was hooking up with.
Where does the story in Vengeance take place?
The story in Vengeance primarily takes place in West Texas. The protagonist, a journalist and podcaster from New York City, travels there to investigate the death of a girl he had been hooking up with.