# The Whispers (2015)

> An unseen alien force uses children's play to manipulate the families who love them most.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55358

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 13
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: science fiction, mystery, drama
- Created by: Soo Hugh
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Lily Rabe, Barry Sloane, Milo Ventimiglia, Derek Webster, Kristen Connolly, Kylie Rogers, Kyle Breitkopf, Spencer Drever
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3487410/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: eerie, paranoid, dread-filled, unsettling, intimate

## What critics say

Audiences found the premise of an alien force working through children unsettling and original, with a mixed verdict on its execution and an abrupt cancellation after one season.

## Synopsis

The Whispers (2015) is an American network science fiction mystery series created by Soo Hugh for ABC. Lily Rabe plays Claire Bennigan, a mother whose family becomes the target of an unseen force, joined by Barry Sloane as Wes Lawrence and Milo Ventimiglia as the enigmatic John Doe. The engine of the show is a family's growing suspicion that someone else is playing with their children, and that the games being played carry an invasion meant to achieve world domination. Each of its thirteen episodes of roughly forty-three minutes builds unease through ordinary domestic moments that turn sinister, as characters struggle to prove a threat they cannot see or hear. The single season is a limited, one-season story that holds together as a continuing mystery rather than a case-of-the-week format. Set in contemporary America, it leans on suburban and domestic spaces to heighten its atmosphere. Its tone is eerie, paranoid and quietly dread-filled, with a focus on fractured trust inside a household. Fans of Stranger Things, Invasion and The Leftovers will find resonance in its mix of family drama, unseen menace and serialized mystery.

## Shows like The Whispers

- [Extant (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/52010)
- [Invasion (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/2796)
- [V (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/19801)
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- [The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/98673)
- [Emergence (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/77889)
- [Falling Skies (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/32178)
- [Kyle XY (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/202)
- [All Her Fault (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/162060)

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