SummaryLily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), a young computer engineer, thinks a division of the San Francisco tech company she works for may be behind the disappearance of her boyfriend in this miniseries from Alex Garland. [FX on Hulu]
SummaryLily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), a young computer engineer, thinks a division of the San Francisco tech company she works for may be behind the disappearance of her boyfriend in this miniseries from Alex Garland. [FX on Hulu]
The stunningly ambitious “Devs,” a great show that’s almost impossible to write about in a review. ... It’s ultimately an unforgettable and rewarding experience, and one that I really hope people are talking about and writing about once everything has been put on the table. ... One of the best new shows in a long time.
Love the design of the show and the way it is shot. Alex Garland is amazing and I feel like you can feel his involvement. Feels more like an art house movie than a TV show. Love it and hope it does well so The Whole story arc can be told.
There were some moments watching Devs—so intense and saturated—when I began to wonder if maybe a little bit of Garland goes a long way. For the most part, though, it proves a strange, somber pleasure to wander the corridors of his mind for such a long time.
It's haunting and hypnotic, a show of marrow-seeping mood and a unity of vision that carries through every frame. If it also turns a corner from entrancingly opaque to a bit on-the-nose by the end, for fans of Garland's Ex Machina and Annihilation, chances are that you'll be too absorbed to be bothered.
Garland hasn’t overlooked a thing in constructing the setting of his techno thriller. It’s the story within it that struggles to be cohesive and compelling.
At first, Devs’s straightforward murder mystery and broader philosophical questions dovetail seamlessly. ... Devs frustratingly comes too sharply into focus at the expense of leaving some of its more evocative ideas unsaid. The story’s metaphors become increasingly obvious.
Bad television that’s striving to be great, that’s got ideas and style but sinks under the weight of its own oversize ambition—a sheep with a 50-pound weight tied to its forelegs and dropped in a river. ... Except in Devs, multiple versions of the same sheep inhabit multiple realities. It sinks like a stone in every single one.
This show is definitely one that's going to be hit-or-miss with the audience. As someone who is very into stuff that Garland typically is big on, I think I have an appreciation/interest of those areas, which "average viewers" probably aren't going to have. Several times watching this it brought on such a weird emotion due to some of the concepts that characters discussed. 3 Episodes in and I'm hooked, it makes me sad that this is only going 6 episodes (hopefully many seasons to come).
I'm in for whatever Alex Garland decides to put his genius mind into. My favorite contemporary director/writer has nailed it again. Expect a cerebral mind trip and enjoy the ride.
Very interesting pilot. Big fan of Alex Garland and this has his trademark sense of foreboding. You just know it ain't going to end well. Shame I don't have security clearance for the Devs building to find out what happens next.
Two episodes in....
This show has promise. That said, you will probably only like it if you are the type of person who has devoted time to thinking about metaphysics..
The show explores the concept of determinism as it relates to universal laws of physics, human morality, and free **** it does so pretty well. It explores how even simply embracing the concept of determinism itself can affect human behavior.
But it isn't all that. Overlaid with that thematic exploration is the intrigue of a spy novel/mystery which keeps the show from being so cerebral that it is boring or off-putting.
Great start in the first two episodes. I think some of the critical reviews are way harsh. I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I give it an 8 because I do agree that it is somewhat lacking in character development, but it is thought provoking sci-fi.