10 spellbinding dark academia movies and TV shows for your next moody binge

Dark academia movies and TV shows have a theme that deals with the cost of curiosity and morality that comes with the mysterious elements in the narrative. The gothic and dimly lit aesthetic, with the mysteries reeling around the vintage setting, is one of the highlights of dark academia movies and TV shows.

Apart from the gothic atmosphere, the storylines of intense ambition and curiosity toward learning, whether related to learning poetry, literature, or something darker, make these movies and TV shows thrilling and enigmatic. From old universities where dark forces try to invade the good to the manic obsession toward achieving something, these dark academia movies and TV shows often curate intriguing stories that reel the audience into the vintage ambiance or the rebellious characters and plotlines.

Here’s a list of 10 such dark academia movies and TV shows that can help you out in your next moody binge.

Disclaimer: This entire article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

---

10 spellbinding dark academia movies and TV shows

10) Kill Your Darlings

Taking us back to the post-World War II era, Kill Your Darlings reflects on the lives of the Beat Generation writers and poets, Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan), and William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster). From Ginsberg finding his inspiration to write after writing the deposition for Lucien of describing the more sentimental side of the events that prompted Lucien to kill David Kammerer.

Based on real-life events surrounding the Beat Generation members, Kill Your Darlings is on the list of dark academia movies and TV shows due to its exploration of the theme of learning during a darker but rebellious time in America that explored several new aspects of American culture and politics through this new literary movement.

---

9) The Riot Club

This British thriller drama has several elements that make it a part of the list of dark academia movies and TV shows. Based on Laura Wade’s play, Posh, The Riot Club follows the newest members of a drinking club, Miles and Alistair, who are polar opposites.

The film depicts the conflicted opinions of privately schooled individuals, mainly Oxford, through Alistair and Miles, as their mindsets are totally different when it comes to politics, and also in their personalities, as one is bound to live a more snobbish and spoilt life while the other appears more level-headed. This difference causes problems for the club both within and outside the club.

---

8) Maurice

Based on the popular novel by E.M. Forster, Maurice follows James Wilby’s Maurice’s life as he goes to Cambridge, falls in love for the first time, discovers his sexuality, which helps him further to find himself. The film captures the vast corridors of Cambridge University and the vintage settings, making it come under the genre of dark academia movies and TV shows.

That’s not all as the theme of Maurice falling in love with a man in college at a time when homesexuality was seen as sin and could even result in imprisonment, makes it a film that explores the rebellious side of the dark academia movies an TV shows which is to break free of rules while learning about something new or accepting yourself as who you are rather than fitting in.

---

7) The Magicians

This American fantasy series, based on Lev Grossman’s The Magicians trilogy, depicts a darker magical world. It reintroduces the world of magic minus all the fun that Harry Potter introduced us to.

The series follows Quentin Coldwater, who gets into Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy and discovers the dark magical world that could hamper the world of people without magic. Due to its dark and mysterious themes of learning about magic and protecting oneself from the darkness of it, it makes it one of the must-watch dark academia movies and TV shows.

---

6) Dorian Gray

Based on Oscar Wilde’s popular novel, Dorian Gray is one of the most popular films in the dark academia movies and TV shows. The literature and the film are both a part of the genre of dark academia, which is set in Victorian London.

It follows Dorian Gray, who casually makes a vow about selling even his soul to keep his youth after seeing his portrait. Incidentally, his pledge comes true as he never gets old, but the portrait loses its beauty every time Gray commits a crime. The film takes us to the vintage and gothic setting of dark academia and also introduces other elements such as intense obsession and the criminal attempts to keep alive that obsession.

---

5) Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is one of the best dark academia movies and TV shows as it explores the themes of extreme obsession that send the protagonist into madness. It's the story of Natalie Portman’s Nina, who wants to be the ballerina in the Swan Lake production, but her chance is threatened by Lily (Mila Kunis).

The intense pressure that she endures to play the titular part in the production sends her into a manic obsession where she is ready to get rid of her competition. However, in her obsession, she only hurts herself, resulting in this psychological tale involving the dark side of passion.

---

4) The Queen’s Gambit

This award-winning limited series depicts the life of chess prodigy Beth Harmon, who makes her name in the world of chess, where only men had thrived earlier. Set in the late 20th century, Beth’s life was not a simple one. An orphan who becomes interested in chess at a young age and later becomes an elite player, her life is still far from being content.

Her emotional struggles with challenges with her alcohol and drug problems make her life darker and miserable despite her winning many titles in the field of chess. This is one of the best series in the dark academia movies and TV shows list that has come out in the recent past, which deals with the darker themes of the genre. It explores how achievements don't account for all the bliss in one’s life through this fictional character, whose life becomes worse with her achievements in chess being of no help to her struggles with addiction.

---

3) Wednesday

This gothic horror series is based on the popular character, Wednesday Addams, and her adventures in her new school, Nevermore Academy. This is one of the most popular shows in this dark academia movies and TV shows list, due to its gothic setting and use of the themes of mystery and thriller.

The cold and emotionless Wednesday reluctantly goes to this school after being expelled from her previous school. Here she finds strange and bizarre things and people with whom she finally fits in, and also solves a mystery regarding a monster that had been wreaking havoc around the place. Tim Burton, the renowned director of this genre, serves as one of the producers and has also directed several of the episodes, giving the show his gothic touch.

---

2) Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society is one of those dark academia movies and TV shows that explores the cost of daring to dream when everyone else has already set a path for your future, through poetry, and of course, the highlight would definitely be Robin Williams and a young Ethan Hawke. While the boys of Welton Academy are pressured by parents and their teachers alike in the direction of science and technology for their future, they lean toward poetry after being introduced to its beauty by their new teacher, John Keating.

While some break free of their hesitations and gain confidence, some try to make more audacious decisions about their future, which ends up creating more problems and even takes the life of one of them. However, this doesn’t stop the boys from showing their love and respect to their teacher, who introduced them to the beauty of life through literature and poetry, as they address him by calling him ‘Oh Captain! My Captain!’. The film explores how these teenagers rebel to learn something good rather than going down a darker path, but are still subdued by society at every step, hence exploring the themes of rebellion depicted in the dark academia movies and TV shows.

---

1) Harry Potter

The Harry Potter films might be the best that fit into the list of dark academia movies and TV shows due to their use of almost every element of the genre. From a vintage setting depicted by the magical world to introducing darker themes through Harry’s fight against the dark lord, Voldemort, the film is a perfect example of the genre.

Based on J.K. Rowling's seven novels, the films follow Harry’s journey through the magical world, where he learns about his terrifying past and the upcoming dangers that linger with it. The film explores the fight between evil and good through Voldemort and Harry, where the former leans toward the darker side of magic while the latter tries to use his magic only to do good and protect others.

---

Also Read: I just found the perfect historical K-drama that rivals Game of Thrones—Here's why it's a must-watch