A techno-thriller work of art
When you hear the name Alex Garland around a project I get excited because I know it’s going to be some really out there sci-fi excursion. Devs, the first TV series by Garland is exactly that, it is TV as you want it. Devs is a series that doesn’t hand you the plot and what is going on but it also isn’t trying to confuse or trick you, Devs treats you as someone along for the ride waiting to simply find out what is going to happen next.
Devs, written and directed entirely by Alex Garland (Ex Machina & Annihilation) follows a tech CEO’s company, Amaya. The series centres on Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno) who is a computer engineer who believes that the CEO, Forest (Nick Offerman) and the rest of the Amaya company is behind the disappearance of her boyfriend to protect their secret project.
In a similar way as Black Mirror, Garland’s projects revolve around tech and science fiction and the terrors they can cause to humanity. With Devs we get this fleshed out into an entire series which gives the viewer more time to experience the world and atmosphere the show creates. Its a world not so distant from our own, something that Garland has done well in the past with Ex Machina, an event that could happen any day.
Devs is a thriller not just because of the actual human thriller element in the show. Lily Chan’s search for what happened to her boyfriend is the human aspect, but the idea of who knows what people are working on in the world today or the near future is where we begin to throw around the genre of techno-thriller.
I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure of recommending a techno-thriller to anyone before, there is a first time for everything. Devs is one of the most interesting TV series I have watched in a long time. Imagine if your favourite episode of Black Mirror was an entire series instead of just the one episode.
What Alex Garland has created is a monumental effort that other series should seriously take a look at. Everything in Devs just fits in, the lighting and colour tones are perfect for the world it is set in. The array of actors is a perfect mix with Nick Offerman playing his best role yet (yeah right alongside Ron Swanson).
The mystery behind the show mixed with the weird and creative production design and score captures your attention for the near hour-long episodes that leave you wanting more. Devs is the type of show where if it were more popular then theories, ideas and breakdowns would be trending on Twitter. What is Forest’s end goal with the Devs project?
In a time of isolation, it is great to find a show worthy of gaining our attention. Alex Garland remains a creator who is highly underrated and I hope more people find Devs and experience the show because the sci-fi thrillers that Garland has created so far in his career are fantastic. Devs is easily the most original show of this year and is a pure science fiction work of art.