It’s just three pills. Three pills and all your pain and sadness that has been eating at you forever will be gone, no therapy sessions needed. Would you do it, even if that meant also being plugged into a computer after taking each pill? Netflix’s new Maniac ponders this through the brains of Jonah Hill and Emma Stone’s characters.
In the series, Dr. James Mantleray created two parts – a sequence of pills and an enormous smart computer, GRTA, named after his famous therapist mother (played by Sally Field). After test subjects take each pill, they are put to sleep as GRTA places them in individual scenarios to play test their attitudes to what introduced their sadness, play out their behaviors, and finally force them to combat whatever disorder test A found they have. Owen (Hill), a schizophrenic man who has not only just been laid off from his job, but is currently being forced to lie for his family in court, applies to this study to earn money. Annie (Stone) applies to get her fix of drug A, for which she has grown an addiction. The two become connected after Owen’s imaginary brother convinces him she is the agent in charge of a mission Owen is meant to be following.
Once the test begins, however, both of their tests become linked, unlike the other participants. From 1980s suburb to a spy missing in a haunted house, all the way to the hills of Rivendale, each of these scenarios introduces a different genre of story intermingled with the characters’ underlying past that the test is meant to discover. Deep down, Annie is unable to face the man who destroyed her and her sister’s lives, so she must return a pet to his mother. Owen’s family troubles consistently send him into danger dealing with their crime family. Meanwhile, GRTA is dealing with her own mental issues, dropping her own story in their minds.
At only 10 episodes, Maniac is a perfect weekend binge for fans of 1980s sci-fi. Set in a futuristic world of the 1980s, it is not difficult to see these events happening in today’s world (with fewer 8-bit graphics), forcing those unable to afford daily needs to sell their likeness or be bombarded by ads for an extended period of time by purchased ad readers.
If you’re looking for a fun jaunt with a bit of philosophical intrigue, Maniac is worth the watch.