A new series is coming to Apple TV+! The first episodes of Severance, directed by a certain Ben Stiller, have been available on the platform since today.
What is it about ?
Mark Scout works for Lumon Industries, where he leads a team whose employees undergo surgery to separate their memories related to their professional life from those related to their private life. This risky experiment in balancing work and personal life is challenged when Mark finds himself at the heart of a mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his job…and his own.
The first two episodes of Severance are available today on Apple TV+. The following episodes will be put online at the rate of one per week. Episodes seen: 4/9
Who is it with?
Created and written by Dan Erickson and produced and directed by Ben Stiller, who for the past few years has seemed to focus on his work behind the camera, Severance has a top-notch cast. Mark, the hero of the series, is embodied by Adam Scott, a key figure in American comedy who notably held one of the main roles in the sitcom Parks and Recreation and more recently distinguished himself in the drama Big Little Lies.
Among Mark’s colleagues are two Hollywood actors with prestigious careers: John Turturro, who had already made a remarkable breakthrough on television with The Night Of, and Christopher Walken, who, it seems, has acquired a taste for TV series after appearing on British show The Outlaws last year.
Britt Lower (Man Seeking Woman), Zach Cherry (Most Dangerous Game), Tramell Tillman (Godfather of Harlem), Yul Vazquez (The Outsider) and Dichen Lachman (Animal Kingdom) also play employees of Lumon Industries, whose director is interpreted by Patricia Arquette, already present in Ben Stiller’s previous series, Escape at Dannemora.
AppleTV+
Well worth a look ?
At the crossroads of genres – there are elements of science fiction and thriller with touches of comedy scattered here and there and a good dose of drama – Severance and its starting point are intriguing.
Add to that a mystery to keep viewers in suspense (but what really happens within Lumon Industries, this company which offers its employees working on sensitive files to undergo an operation allowing them to dissociate their memories linked to their professional life and those of their private life?) and you have a winning combination.
Because if the situation seems idyllic from afar (your personal troubles do not interfere in your work and vice versa), we quickly realize that all is not so rosy in Lumon. It is through the arrival of a new recruit, Helly (Lower), that we are introduced to the functioning of the company, in particular the department run by Mark (Scott) since the disappearance of its former manager (Vasquez).
And if like all employees who have undergone the procedure called “severance”, Helly did it of her own free will, she quickly regrets her choice and asks to resign. Problem: the version of herself who only lives outside of Lumon, and doesn’t know what’s going on in this office where psychological torture is particularly in order, doesn’t hear it that way. Stuck in this sanitized place that she sees as her own hell, Helly will then do everything possible to escape it.
AppleTV+
For his part, the Mark from the outside who has chosen to work for Lumon in order to forget the death of his wife for a few hours, is contacted by his former boss who has managed to circumvent the “severance” and who tries to alert to what is really going on in your company. Enough to call into question the whole life of the hero!
If the dystopian technology side of the series is reminiscent of Black Mirror and the memory game evokes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the office environment in which the characters evolve has a side The Office, with scenes sometimes good child who denote with those of the outside. The expert realization of Ben Stiller also manages very well to point out the difference between the two worlds which are visually opposed.
All at the service of a singular and thoughtful plot that questions morality and free will without falling into the easy way, the actors make the whole thing even more exhilarating. We want more!