Series Review: "Devs" (2020).

From the writer and director of Ex Machina and Annihilation comes Devs. This science fiction thriller television miniseries created, written, and directed by Alex Garland. A young software engineer, Lily Chan, investigates the secret development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in Silicon Valley, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend.

In mid March 2018, the series was announced with Garland as creator, writer and director, and that FX had given the production a pilot order. In early August, during the Television Critics Association's annual summer press tour, FX announced that they had decided to bypass the pilot process and instead were giving the production a straight-to-series order consisting of eight episodes. By August, Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Zach Grenier, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Cailee Spaeny, Karl Glusman, Alison Pill, Linnea Berthelsen, and Jefferson Hall were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and filming took place in Marin County, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco, California, as well as London, Manchester, and Cumbria, England. In November 2019, it was announced the show would premiere on Hulu instead of FX, as part of "FX on Hulu". In early January 2020, it was announced that the series would premiere on March 5, 2020.

The series stars Mizuno, Offerman, Grenier, Henderson, Spaeny, Glusman, Pill, Berthelsen, and Hall. Excellent performances from the cast elevate this compelling material even further. The cast, especially Mizuno and Offerman, are equally effective at conveying the ethical perils posed by a future that could be closer than we are prepared to admit. Mizuno's ability to give her character an emotional edge is a major reason why this works - asking the audience to invest in her journey.

What's amazing about Devs is Garland's precise control over the audience both visually and through a singularly perfect script. The characters and the audience are both captive, processing the slightest information as fast as they can. Beautifully told, stunning with occasional outbursts of humour, it will leave you reeling. Garland's finest achievement may be his old-fashioned faith in science-fiction as an engine for profound parables about the state of humanity. It is a smart, slow-burning and fascinating sci-fi thriller that deals with themes of humanity and morality against a truly luscious backdrop. There are many questions raised in this enthralling psychological drama that begins with a meteor strike, a shimmer and a secret mission to a terrifying but wondrous world where astonishing possibilities are on display. Don't miss it! Absorbing and hypnotic, it is the best kind of sci-fi series - the kind that challenges and subverts the genre, all the while introducing new ideas that you'll see in films to come. It's certain that the astonishing special effects would have worked better on a larger cinema screen, and it's a shame to lose their impact. It is a smart and intelligent series. It's super ambitious and maybe a bit tedious. The movie requires patience and at times gets a bit too showy.

Simon says Devs receives:

Also, see my review for Annihilation.