Top 21 Shows Similar to HBO's WAR (2026) You Need to Watch

Find the best shows like War with 21 legal, corporate and relationship dramas featuring billionaires, lawyers, scandals, betrayal high-stakes power
Shows Like War to Watch Next
Shows Like War to Watch Next.

If War has left you wanting more of its mix of elite lawyers, obscene amounts of money, collapsing marriages and corporate battles where everyone seems to have a hidden agenda, there is plenty to watch next. George Kay’s HBO and Sky legal drama turns a billionaire divorce into a full-scale contest between rival London law firms, with Dominic West, Sienna Miller, Phoebe Fox and James McArdle at the centre of the mess. 

The appeal is not simply the courtroom drama: it is the combination of wealth, ambition, betrayal, public image and ruthless legal strategy. So, if you enjoyed watching powerful people make increasingly questionable decisions while wearing very expensive clothes, these 21 shows should keep the chaos going. 

Shows Like HBO's WAR

1. Succession (2018)

Succession is perhaps the most obvious recommendation for viewers who enjoyed the wealthy, vicious power struggles in War. The HBO drama follows the Roy family, whose enormous media empire becomes a battlefield as siblings compete for control while their ageing father refuses to make succession simple. Like War, it treats wealth as both a privilege and a weapon, with business decisions constantly tangled up in personal relationships. 

The legal manoeuvring is not always the central focus, but the atmosphere is remarkably similar: powerful people surrounded by advisers, lawyers and executives who are all calculating what happens if the wrong person gets the upper hand. It also understands that rich people can turn an ordinary family disagreement into something requiring several lawyers, a public-relations strategy and possibly a private jet.

2. The Split (2018)

The Split moves much closer to War’s legal territory, following the complicated lives of a family of divorce lawyers in London. Created by Abi Morgan, the BBC drama combines professional rivalry with marriages, affairs, family tensions and difficult financial settlements. Its focus on divorce makes it particularly relevant to War, although The Split is less interested in billion-pound corporate warfare and more interested in the emotional and legal consequences of relationships falling apart. 

The similarities become especially clear when personal loyalties collide with professional responsibilities. Lawyers are expected to fight for clients while dealing with their own complicated lives behind closed doors. In other words, everyone knows the law, yet nobody appears particularly good at following sensible relationship advice.

3. Billions (2016)

Billions takes the battle between wealth and law into New York's financial world. The series centres on billionaire hedge-fund manager Bobby Axelrod and US Attorney Chuck Rhoades, whose rivalry develops into an extended contest involving money, influence, politics and legal strategy. Like War, it is interested in what happens when enormously wealthy people have enough resources to fight almost indefinitely. 

Corporate decisions become personal, lawyers become weapons and reputation can be just as valuable as money. The series also shares War’s fascination with elite professional environments, where a conversation over dinner can carry as much weight as a courtroom argument. If the billionaire side of War appealed to you more than the domestic drama, Billions is an especially natural next step.

4. Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)

Anatomy of a Scandal is another strong choice for anyone drawn to War’s combination of marriage, status, lawyers and damaging revelations. The Netflix limited series follows a powerful British politician whose apparently comfortable life begins to collapse after allegations emerge, leaving his wife and legal team to deal with the consequences. 

Like War, it explores how private relationships become public battles once lawyers and the media enter the picture. The drama is less focused on corporate law, but it shares the same interest in privileged people discovering that wealth and influence do not necessarily keep scandal outside the front door. It also has that particularly British flavour of polite conversations concealing absolute emotional carnage.

5. The Good Wife (2009)

The Good Wife follows Alicia Florrick as she returns to legal practice after her husband, a prominent politician, becomes embroiled in a public scandal. The series gradually expands into a much larger story about law firms, professional competition, politics, relationships and personal reinvention. 

War viewers may recognise the constant tension between private lives and public reputation, as well as the importance of lawyers who understand that winning a case often requires more than knowing the law. Alicia's professional rise also brings her into conflict with powerful rivals and complicated clients. It is considerably longer and more procedural than War, but its mixture of courtroom strategy and personal drama makes it an easy recommendation.

6. The Good Fight (2017)

The Good Fight takes the legal world of The Good Wife and pushes it into more openly combative territory. The series follows Diane Lockhart as she joins a Chicago law firm after a financial scandal destroys her career plans. Corporate interests, political battles, professional rivalries and personal loyalties frequently collide. 

That makes it a good match for War’s focus on lawyers operating in an environment where every decision can have consequences beyond the courtroom. The characters are also constantly navigating the uncomfortable reality that legal ethics and personal ambition do not always get along. Like War, it understands that an elite law firm can look sophisticated from the outside while being an absolute pressure cooker once the doors close.

7. Industry (2020)

Industry shifts the action from law to high finance, but its atmosphere is strikingly compatible with War. The HBO and BBC series follows young professionals trying to survive the brutal culture of a London investment bank, where money, status and ambition determine almost everything. Its characters are surrounded by wealthy clients, senior executives and colleagues who may happily step over them to get ahead. 

That makes it similar to War’s depiction of corporate London as a world where trust is often temporary and loyalty has a price. The younger cast also brings a different energy to the familiar story of people sacrificing pieces of their personal lives for professional advancement. Nobody here is exactly enjoying a healthy work-life balance.

8. The Undoing (2020)

The Undoing is a psychological drama about a wealthy Manhattan family whose apparently perfect existence begins to unravel after a shocking death. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant lead a story involving marriage, privilege, lawyers, secrets and a criminal investigation. 

It does not have War’s corporate-law setting, but the two series share an interest in wealthy people discovering that their carefully maintained public identities can collapse surprisingly quickly. The legal proceedings also become inseparable from the family drama, creating the same sense that every revelation has both personal and professional consequences. If the part of War you enjoyed most was the uncertainty over who could be trusted, The Undoing has plenty of that particular headache.

9. The Night Manager (2016)

The Night Manager moves into espionage rather than family law, but its sophisticated world of wealth, influence and deception makes it a surprisingly good companion to War. Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, who becomes involved in an undercover operation targeting an arms dealer played by Hugh Laurie. 

The series is built around manipulation, double identities and people operating inside exclusive circles where information is more valuable than almost anything else. Like War, it presents power as something exercised through relationships, strategy and carefully managed appearances. The difference is that instead of arguing over corporate assets in London offices, the characters are dealing with international criminal networks. Slightly higher stakes, one might say.

10. Goliath (2016)

Goliath follows Billy McBride, a disgraced former lawyer who takes on major cases against powerful opponents. The Amazon legal drama frequently pits an individual attorney against wealthy corporations and influential figures, making it a natural choice for viewers who enjoy the David-versus-Goliath element of legal storytelling. 

War is more focused on rival elite firms, while Goliath is often about exposing the machinery protecting powerful institutions. Both shows understand that litigation can become a battle of resources, reputation and endurance rather than simply a question of who has the better argument. The characters are also considerably less polished than War’s London lawyers, which may be a relief after so many perfectly tailored suits.

11. The Lincoln Lawyer (2022)

The Lincoln Lawyer follows Los Angeles defence attorney Mickey Haller, who runs his legal practice from the back seat of his car while taking on cases involving clients from very different backgrounds. The Netflix series is more conventional as a legal drama than War, but it shares the pleasure of watching lawyers build strategies around complicated clients and shifting evidence. Its personal storylines also regularly interfere with professional responsibilities. 

The biggest difference is scale: War deals with elite wealth and a spectacular divorce battle, while The Lincoln Lawyer often moves between everyday cases and major criminal proceedings. Still, if your favourite part of War was watching lawyers think three moves ahead, this one delivers that satisfaction.

12. Suits (2011)

Suits places its characters inside a prestigious New York law firm where corporate deals, lawsuits and professional rivalries dominate their lives. Harvey Specter and Mike Ross quickly become involved in cases where money and reputation are always on the line. 

Like War, the series is fascinated by elite lawyers who treat winning as a matter of pride as much as professional duty. There is also a constant battle between old-school authority and ambitious younger lawyers, which echoes War’s clash between established legal power and a more aggressive new generation. Suits is slicker and often much lighter in tone, but the expensive offices, ruthless negotiations and enormous egos should feel familiar.

13. Damages (2007)

Damages centres on Patty Hewes, a formidable attorney who takes on powerful clients and opponents while keeping her own motives carefully concealed. The series blends legal drama with psychological suspense, corporate disputes and increasingly complicated personal relationships. That makes it particularly close to War’s more calculating side. 

The lawyers are not simply presenting arguments; they are gathering information, manipulating opponents and trying to anticipate what everyone else will do next. The series also has a strong interest in the cost of ambition, especially when professional success begins to distort personal relationships. If you like legal dramas where nobody seems to have accidentally wandered into the room, Damages is worth adding to the list.

14. Your Honor (2020)

Your Honor follows a respected judge whose life spirals after his son becomes involved in a fatal incident involving the child of a powerful crime family. The series is less concerned with corporate law than War, but it shares the central idea that one private crisis can trigger an increasingly complicated chain of legal and personal decisions. 

Every attempt to protect one person creates another problem, and the pressure steadily builds. The wealthy and powerful figures surrounding the main story also make the legal system feel less like an impartial institution and more like a battleground where influence matters. It is darker than War, but the moral compromises will feel familiar.

15. The Morning Show (2019)

The Morning Show moves the action into American television, following presenters, executives and journalists as a major scandal destabilises a popular morning programme. Its connection to War comes through the importance of reputation, media strategy and corporate power. Both series are interested in what happens when private behaviour becomes public property and lawyers, executives and communications teams begin fighting over the fallout. 

The Morning Show also understands that controlling the narrative can be almost as important as controlling the facts. Its characters are constantly balancing careers against personal relationships, with millions of viewers effectively sitting in judgement. At least War’s lawyers only have to worry about headlines rather than millions of people watching breakfast television.

16. The Affair (2014)

The Affair begins with an extramarital relationship and gradually explores the consequences through multiple perspectives. While it is much more relationship-driven than War, its focus on marriage, infidelity, wealth and conflicting versions of events makes it a compelling companion. 

War begins with a marriage collapsing after infidelity is exposed, and The Affair similarly asks how much of a relationship can survive once trust disappears. Its unusual storytelling structure also makes viewers question whether any single perspective tells the complete story. That uncertainty fits neatly with War’s approach to its central divorce, where sympathies can shift depending on which side of the conflict you are watching.

17. The Morning Show (2019)

The Morning Show deserves a second mention in spirit, but rather than duplicate it, Big Little Lies (2017) brings a different version of the same wealth-and-secrets formula. The HBO drama follows several affluent women in Monterey whose apparently comfortable lives become increasingly complicated by personal secrets and a mysterious death. 

Its legal and corporate elements are less prominent than in War, but the focus on wealthy communities, marriages, betrayal and carefully maintained public appearances is remarkably compatible. The series is particularly good at showing how polished surroundings can conceal deeply complicated relationships. Everyone looks as though they have everything under control, which is usually the clearest sign that absolutely nobody does.

18. Little Fires Everywhere (2020)

Little Fires Everywhere explores two families from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined through questions of motherhood, class, identity and privilege. Like War, it uses domestic conflict to examine how money and social status affect personal relationships. 

The central disputes are not corporate lawsuits, but legal and family battles become increasingly important as tensions escalate. The series is especially interested in how people with financial security can see their own choices very differently from those without it. That makes it useful viewing after War because it expands the conversation beyond billionaire lawyers and asks what wealth actually changes when relationships begin to fracture.

19. The Girlfriend Experience (2016)

The Girlfriend Experience explores the intersection of money, relationships, ambition and transactional power through a series of interconnected stories. Its structure and subject matter are considerably different from War, but both shows examine relationships where emotional intimacy and financial interests become difficult to separate. 

The series also shares War’s polished, controlled aesthetic and interest in people moving through elite professional environments. Characters frequently treat personal relationships almost like negotiations, with everyone trying to understand what the other person really wants. It is a more unconventional choice, but viewers drawn to War’s colder examination of wealth and power may find plenty to chew on.

20. The White Lotus (2021)

The White Lotus is not a legal drama, but it belongs on this list because few recent series have had quite as much fun dissecting wealthy people, social status and dysfunctional relationships. Each season follows guests and staff at an expensive resort as personal tensions gradually rise. The characters may arrive looking relaxed, but their relationships, money problems and insecurities quickly begin leaking through the luxury setting. 

Like War, it uses wealth as a source of conflict rather than simply decoration. The tone is also much more satirical, meaning the show occasionally laughs at the exact sort of privileged behaviour War treats with a straight face. Sometimes rich people need a holiday. Sometimes they need several therapists and considerably fewer group chats.

21. The Split: Barcelona (2024)

The Split: Barcelona carries the divorce-law drama into a new setting, following the wealthy and complicated world of family law in Barcelona. The series builds on the themes that made The Split such a strong comparison for War: relationships falling apart, legal strategy, professional competition and personal complications among people whose careers revolve around other people's marriages. 

The international setting adds another layer to the familiar tension, while the legal disputes provide plenty of opportunities for personal and financial interests to collide. For War viewers specifically looking for more divorce drama rather than corporate espionage or financial crime, this is one of the closest thematic matches on the list.

The strongest thing about War is arguably the way it makes legal conflict feel personal without turning every lawyer into a walking courtroom cliché. The billionaire divorce gives the story an obvious hook, but the real attraction is watching professional ambition slowly contaminate relationships that were already unstable. The rival firms also give the series two very different visions of power: one built around tradition and established connections, the other around aggression and reinvention. 

That makes shows such as The Split, Succession, Billions and Damages especially interesting follow-ups, while The White Lotus and Industry offer different takes on the same fascination with money, status and people behaving badly in expensive surroundings. Not every recommendation here is a direct copy of War, and that is the point. Sometimes the best follow-up is a show that changes the setting while keeping the deliciously messy ingredients intact.

If War is the kind of series that had you picking sides one minute and questioning both sides the next, there is clearly plenty more territory to explore. Which of these shows would you put at the top of your watchlist, and which series do you think deserves a place on a future shows like War list?

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