DEVS: NEW SCI-FI DRAMA
Nick Offerman, Sonoya Mizuno In The Hulu Series
The new FX/Hulu collaboration seems to be a fruitful venture. With multiple series announced and its first one premiering March 5, it feels we have a Hulu originals resurgence in our hands. That first show? It’s called Devs, and you don’t want to miss its sci-fi glory.
Here’s a rundown of the plot: Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno) works for Amaya, a Silicon Valley tech company that harbors a secret division called Devs. When her boyfriend disappears and is suspected of dying by suicide, she goes on a mission to uncover the mysteries of the covert initiative and Amaya’s CEO, Forest (played by Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman in an unlikely role).
The series comes from film director Alex Garland. In the last few years, Garland has solidified his craftsmanship in the sci-fi landscape with movies like Ex Machina and Annihilation. Those are two movies with big concepts, and Devs looks to explore more of those gargantuan ideas.
“One was getting my head around this principle of determinism, which basically says everything that happens in the world is based on cause and effect,” Garland told Indiewire. “That has all kinds of implications for us: It takes away free will. And if you had a computer powerful enough, you could predict the future and understand the past.”
Garland wrote, directed and executive produced Devs, owning pretty much all of the creative control. The turn to TV comes in an ever-shifting film-scape where box office matters and less “out there” movies get made. But Devs creates a viewing experience that’s like watching an 8-part film.
Rounding out the cast is Alison Pill, Karl Glusman, Janet Mock, Jin Ha, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zach Grenier and Cailee Spaeny. If this idea of computer-generated pre-determinism is real, then Hulu and FX will surely have a top-tier show in their hands.
