# Westworld (2016)

> A futuristic theme park staffed by lifelike android hosts becomes a site of awakening, violence and philosophical reckoning.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/56170

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 36
- Episode runtime: 56 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: science fiction, western, drama
- Created by: Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Aaron Paul, James Marsden, Angela Sarafyan, Anthony Hopkins
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475784/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: labyrinthine
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: brooding, philosophical, violent, melancholic, dreamlike

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim Westworld as an ambitious, visually striking meditation on artificial consciousness, though its densely layered mythology and declining ratings across later seasons divide opinion.

## Synopsis

Westworld (2016-2022) is an HBO science fiction drama created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, a reimagining of the 1973 film with a Wild West twist. Set in a near-future theme park where wealthy guests indulge every appetite among lifelike android hosts, the story follows Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), a farm girl whose routine begins to fracture, alongside Maeve Millay (Thandiwe Newton), a madam searching for a way out, and Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright), the park's troubled engineer. Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), the park's visionary creator, guides the hosts' design, while Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) pushes the park's corporate agenda. Across four seasons and thirty-six episodes, the series moves between timelines and layered reveals, building an intricate puzzle about consciousness, control and free will. Its tone is dark, philosophical and visually lavish, with brooding Western landscapes, violent set pieces and haunting questions about what it means to be human. Fans of Battlestar Galactica, Black Mirror and Dark will find resonance in its mix of speculative ethics and mythic storytelling.

## Shows like Westworld

- [Raised by Wolves (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/72815)
- [Hell on Wheels (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/1317)
- [Futuro desierto (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104916)
- [Station Eleven (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/77092)
- [The Underground Railroad (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/68719)
- [The Twilight Zone (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/70953)
- [The Handmaid's Tale (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/60853)
- [The Man in the High Castle (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55215)
- [Watchmen (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/68570)
- [Altered Carbon (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/60059)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt