A list of works that may have influenced and inspired the writers, designers, and creators of the TV show, Severance.

Influence listings should be labeled as Confirmed or Unconfirmed and include a link to a source that verifies the confirmation.

If you are looking for shows, movies, books, and other works in the style of Severance or with a Severance “vibe”, please see the page, Shows and Movies like Severance.

Movies that may have influenced Severance.

Lead characters are named Peter and June. A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.

Unconfirmed. Mentioned to Dan Erickson in AMA here: (link) Erickson did not confirm or deny the influence.

Confirmed by Dan Erickson Inverse April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

No Exit

Dark City

Confirmed by Ben Stiller.

TODO: Source needed. (Variety interview)

• Confirmed by Ben Stiller.NBC News
• Confirmed by Jeremy Hindle. NBC News Gold Derby

Confirmed by Dan Erickson Slashfilm April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

Stated by Dan Erickson Slashfilm. Inverse April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

Confirmed by Dan Erickson April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

Confirmed by Dan Erickson SlashfilmGame Rant Inverse April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

Confirmed by Dan Erickson April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

A creepypasta online urban legend and one of the most well-known examples of the Internet aesthetic of liminal spaces, which depicts usually busy locations as unnaturally empty,

Confirmed by Dan Erickson. Game Rant Inverse

Confirmed by Dan Erickson Inverse April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

One of Kafka's best-known works, Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. April 21 Reddit AMA with Dan Erickson

• Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk's deadpan portraits of austere cubicle spaces
• Photographers Lynne Cohen and Bill Owens.

Confirmed by Jessica Lee Gagné NBC News

• Frank Lloyd Wright & Usonian architecture
• Kevin Roche's John Deere offices
• Eero Saarinen's Bell Labs Holmdel office
• Brutalism

Confirmed Jeremy Hindle Gold Derby Signal Horizon

Confirmed by Dan Erickson Inverse