Seven unique character-driven stories. Each character will set off on a thrilling adventure in an uncertain future and they’ll come to reckon that even during our most isolated moments, we are all connected through the human experience.
Each episode is a self-contained cyberpunk futuristic story. Some are good, some are inherently bad, but there are some little gems in there, reminding me a bit of Black Mirror, albeit at a more philosophical level. It’s lovely to see an anthology slow down, almost to a halt, and give half hour one-man performances in an enclosed space. This is not TV, this is theater with visual effects.
I also loved how all episodes are connected with splices of information, setting them all in the same universe. Five popcorns, in total, but check the review for each episode., as each will tell its own story and is worth the time.
Episode 1: Leah
What starts like a quirky, annoying one-person expression turns into a layered multi-performance where Anne Hathaway meddles with time travel and temporal anomalies. It’s a heartfelt story that mixes causality and drama. Three popcorns.
Episode 2: Tom
Anthony Mackie does a good job carrying this episode where he picks up one role from two points of view, giving a strong performance in telling a story with raw emotion. Four popcorns.
Episode 3: Peg
Peg is floating in space in a small craft and she’s recalling pieces of her life and telling us the story of her life. Played masterfully by an always-excellent Helen Mirren, it’s amazing how she can be an old woman and talk about nostalgia of things that happen in current times. Four popcorns.
Episode 4: Sasha
This episode features the fantastic Uzo Aduba jumping from a state of mind to the other, in the aftermath of a virus epidemic. Reminding us a lot of the way that Covid shook us all up back in 2020, it brings strong callbacks to the lockdown mental hardships. Fear, paranoia, anger, all blend in a strong performance from Uzo, four popcorns, and the series seems to approach an interesting attitude.
Episode 5: Jenny
Ever got stuck in a waiting room, counting the seconds, hanging on to every possible thought, just to make the time pass differently? That’s what happens here and this episode is a bit harder to watch, with Constance Wu playing one of the hardest characters out there: a regular normal being, with problems, wished desires and an entire range of emotions. And she does her monologue with absolute craft. Five popcorns.
Two snotty humans, just hurting.
Episode 6: Nera
Dutch angles make this episode an uncomfortable one to watch, and I loved the classic thriller-like tension. Not jump-scares, but that constant feeling that something’s off really keeps you at the edge of the seat. This is not theater anymore, this is straight up Twilight Zone. Three popcorns, because I think it had a lot more to give.
Episode 7: Stuart
Seeing Gordon Freeman Morgan Freeman drop some Kanye bars was something I didn’t have on my bingo card for this series, and the ending episode of the anthology strikes some hard going strings and makes this an absolute banger. Morgan Freeman is as legendary as always, and Dan Stevens (who also played David Haller in Legion) is the perfect companion for this emotional rollercoaster. Five popcorns.
