And under the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga, the genius (and new director of James Bond) behind everything from the wonderful Jane Eyre in 2011 to the visuals of the first season of True Detective, these moments really land. I wanted to go on Twitter to talk about it, unless it would have been a violation of my Screener deal with Netflix. Armed violence, a few deaths, car accidents, several verbal threats of violence. The levels of violence vary according to the episodes, because each takes place in a different imaginary world. But more and more, these types of shows feel less motivated by the whims of their characters than by the whims of their creators. Game of Thrones has gone from a show that made you feel the weight of each death to a show that absolutely kills characters, without worrying about the emotional resonance or the sense of storytelling. And it`s part of the fun of this show, but it made it go from a must-watch to a fun show that often struggles to exploit its potential. Maniac is not strange enough to really do what he wants, but it says something — no matter by chance — how strange the reality is already. Maybe that`s why we`re so happy to live in other people`s dreams.
(And really turn to this place if you want to remain intact on this series, because knowing the premise of this show could potentially ruin it.) Maniac, a dark and comic new Netflix miniseries starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, is the rare project I like less and less when I think about it. It is a component of Maniac`s message, an urgent necessity for anyone involved in a disease of the mind: there is no miracle cure. This point seems obvious if you say it out loud, but it is slightly exhausted. Too often we tell those who are suffering and not being treated to go to therapy and get treatment, but we rarely go into the details of what will happen next. The simple act of starting therapy or medication does not remove your problems. There is no binary transition to health. Even with the right tools and help, you still need to put your back in them. And then, once you do the work of exploring your problems, your improvements can still be painful gradually. It`s probably like a bunch of ideas that are put together in a hurry, that don`t really come together.
That is, and it isn`t, and explain why, I`m going to have to spoil the show almost in its entirety, so follow me after the massive spoiler warning to talk about why it`s easy to stay interested in Maniac, but hard to be really invested in it. Until the middle of its 10 episodes, the series is one of the most confident and sure examples of what I call „Big Moment TV“, where each episode has a great visual or inventive to send you buzzing on Twitter: „Have you seen this?“ The main characters, Annie and Owen, live a very dark life without personal ties.
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