“Maniac”: a watchable sci-fi chaos without a twist
Science fiction is a genre you really have to be careful with. There are way too many examples of bad sci-fi and unfortunately most recent movie releases have been no good at all (check the last “Predator” for example). TV shows, however, seem to do a slightly better job adapting and telling the complicated tales of scientific fantasies and futuristic worlds. Count “Travelers”, “Sense8” and “Orphan Black” among my top picks.
“Maniac” received its very fair share of media buzz before being released and that buzz was mainly focused on the starring actors: Academy Award winner Emma Stone and nominee Jonah Hill, rather than the production itself. It is possibly because Hill, who is mainly know for his comedic and comedic/dramatic roles as a chubby, goofy guy (“Wolf of Wall Street”, “Superbad”) managed to break typecasting. He delivers a believable performance as a son of a wealthy family, who has been struggling with his mental health his whole life. He knows that there is something off about him, however, has never been unanimously diagnosed. Stone’s character, Annie, is a junkie in denial, haunted by the memories of her past. She is chaotic, loud, awkward and all over the place, which is true to be said about a number of Stone’s characters. Not saying it is necessarily a bad thing, but in this case no casting breakthrough.
Set in a retrofuturistic world, where robots are cleaning up dog muck of the streets, but scientists are allowed to smoke inside labs, “Maniac” is an attempt of human psyche evaluation. Both our main characters participate in an ethically questionable experiment. Can a troubled mind be cured with pills that look like coloured Alphabet pasta and an emotional computer? Can a person’s mind change after being put in different life scenarios?
The race to make the most twisted and psychologically in depth movie/TV show is real and creators seem to jump on the “Black Mirror” bandwagon and try to “outconfuse” the audience as much as possible. “Maniac” had potential to be a show that I would swallow in one seating, however, I found it hard to go ahead and binge it all. The dreamy trips that the characters embark on under influence of the Alphabet pasta pills are well-written and engaging if unconnected to the main plot. Connected, they look like fillers between a compelling opening and finale. From Lord of the Rings inspired adventure to a Scorsese-ish mob life tale, it is a challenge to find a common thread.
If you manage to make your way through detached episodes that do not add much to the plot or the characters’ personalities, you will find that “Maniac” is a quite touching story about loneliness, mental health problems and a computer that is said to be capable of fixing human emotions. That paradox of an emotionally intelligent machine is arguably the most worrying and thought-provoking aspect of the show.
To sum up, if you have a free day and some ironing to do, “Maniac” is a good choice for something to play in the background, because even if you miss a bit, it most likely won’t affect your understanding of the story #chaoticplot.
