10 TV Shows Like “Sugar” That You Should Watch in the Future.
Sugar, which just wrapped its second season, makes no attempt to hide or downplay its reliance on old Hollywood noir tropes: its characters strive to emulate the style of antiheroes of the past, and clips from old films are even shown alongside the action to emphasize this idea. The central mystery at the beginning of the series is that detective John Sugar (Colin Farrell) is summoned to the mansion of a wealthy film producer (James Cromwell), whose granddaughter has gone missing. It all unfolds in a completely new noir style until a completely unbelievable plot twist, either delightful or disgusting, occurs, which determines the rest of the series.
I don’t want to give anything away, but the plot changes in Sugar make it difficult to discuss anything – some of these episodes may contain minor spoilers, but only in the sense that they show that there’s a little more going on in the show than in a more traditional detective drama.
Lady in the Lake (2024)
The shift from contemporary Los Angeles to 1960s Baltimore isn’t all that different, considering film noir is, after all, a timeless genre. Natalie Portman plays Jewish housewife Maddie Schwartz, who, bored with her life, discovers the body of her missing child and uses this experience to land a job at the Baltimore Star. Meanwhile, Black mother Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) struggles to protect her family and community while dealing with arms dealers and racketeers—the two women’s lives soon intersect. Watch “Lady in the Lake” on Apple TV.
Perry Mason (2020–2022)
This gripping and unusual series brings Perry Mason from the print, film, and television series into a dark and gritty Depression-era prequel. (I’m not terribly familiar with Erle Stanley Gardner’s original novels, but from what I understand, they don’t delve into film noir as much as this series.) Matthew Rhys is perfectly cast as the brilliant but wild-life lawyer, going through a divorce and still traumatized by World War I. Early in the series, he’s hired to investigate the case of a kidnapped and mutilated child, which turns out to be connected to corrupt police officers, local businessmen, and politicians in 1932 Los Angeles. Juliet Rylance stars as no-nonsense legal secretary Della Street, and Tatiana Maslany is a creepy evangelist. Watch Perry Mason on HBO Max .
Monsieur Spade (2024)
An original drama from Scott Frank ( The Queen’s Gambit ) and Tom Fontana ( The Killing , Oz ), Monsieur Spade follows Sam Spade, made famous by Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon , as he lives a quiet life of retirement in the south of France. Everything is going well for the world-weary former detective—until six nuns are murdered at a nearby convent, the very one where Sam’s ward has been staying for some time. Naturally, his past catches up with him, and he is forced to abandon his idyllic life to help solve a complex mystery that threatens his (few) loved ones. Clive Owen gives a superb performance as the battered, emphysema-stricken detective, and the story feels like a worthy sequel to Hammett’s iconic noir detective novel. Watch Monsieur Spade on Prime Video and AMC+.
Bosch (2014–2021)
Many of these series offer unexpected twists on the noir formula, but Bosch is a more traditional crime drama that openly displays its new noir ambitions, and it’s no less effective for it. Titus Welliver stars as LAPD Detective Harry Bosch (starring in Michael Connelly’s novels), who, at the beginning of the series, is on trial for shooting a suspect in self-defense while investigating the murder of a 12-year-old. In the second season, he even investigates the murder of a film producer, as he did in the first season of Sugar . Watch Bosch on Prime Video .
Cowboy Bebop (1998–1999)
It might seem like an odd addition, but this cult classic openly displays its film noir influences, and given Sugar’s now-infamous plot twist, a little sci-fi is probably in order. Cowboy Bebop is one of anime’s undisputed masterpieces, blending elements of Western, comedy, and crime, all accompanied by a stunning soundtrack. The “cowboys” of the title are bounty hunters in a near-future where humans have been forced to colonize the solar system after Earth has become uninhabitable. Former assassin Spike Spiegel leads his team from one near-disastrous mission to the next, all of their independent adventures culminating in an unforgettable climax. Watch Cowboy Bebop on Crunchyroll or buy it on Prime Video .
Spider-Man Noir (2026)
Considering the franchise includes adaptations of Morbius and Madame Web, I’m not sure this is the most unexpected Spider-Man spinoff—but it’s certainly odd. Nicolas Cage returns to the live-action version of the role he voiced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse : Ben Reilly, a battered 1940s private detective trying to come to terms with his past as a spider-hero and pushed to don the suit again. Cage is as delightfully wacky as you’d expect, and he clearly relishes classic noir tropes, but there’s also enough violence, mystery, and style to make it feel more like an homage than a parody. Watch Spider-Man: Noir on Prime Video.
Lucifer (2016–2021)
The title isn’t a nickname or a euphemism: it’s about the real Lucifer. Tom Ellis plays the fallen angel who, bored with ruling Hell, decides to open a nightclub in Los Angeles because, well, why not? When that’s not enough fun, he teams up with homicide detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) to use their special skills and knowledge, especially in cases involving the supernatural. As odd as it may sound, the series touchingly explores Lucifer’s trauma and also explores our world through an outsider’s eyes, just like John Sugar.Watch Lucifer on Netflix.
Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017)
Want a neo-noir that turns stereotypes on their head? I’m not sure any series does it better than this groundbreaking piece of weirdness from David Lynch and Mark Frost, in which teenagers and adults in the deceptively quiet Twin Peaks face tragedy accompanied by supernatural threats from beyond our normal space and time. (I think so?) Kyle MacLachlan plays FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, who arrives in town to investigate the murder of prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), leading to a (very) long night of heartbreak during which Cooper uncovers secrets and mysteries among the town’s delightfully, and often disturbingly, strange inhabitants. Watch Twin Peaks on Paramount+ .
“Space” (2015–2022)
Set in the relatively near future, The Expanse (based on the book series by James S.A. Corey) imagines a colonized solar system with all the same old problems and more: Earth is at the historical and cultural center of events, while the colonists of Mars, forced to survive in a harsh environment, have achieved technological and military superiority, and the inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt are forced to fight for survival. Greed, fear, and shortsightedness make conflict almost inevitable, even if the series isn’t as cynical as it initially appears. Despite its space opera elements, The Expanse clearly displays its noir influences, especially with the introduction of Thomas Jane’s scruffy, life-loving (and dying) detective Joe Miller. Watch The Expanse on Prime Video .
Signal (2016–)
Combining elements of police procedurals, mystery, and science fiction, this Korean drama remains one of the most popular in South Korean television history—so much so that a second season is being released after a nearly 10-year wait. Police profiler Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon) finds a discarded walkie-talkie that connects him to detective Lee Jae-han (Cho Jin-woon), who disappeared in 2000 but is able to communicate with people from earlier times. The two detectives work together, transcending timelines to solve a long-ago case, but soon discover that their attempts to manipulate time are leading to disturbing consequences in the present.Watch “Signal” on Netflix .