TV review: I can’t figure Maniac out - all I know is I’m still watching
Gabriel Byrne and Jonah Hill in Maniac
I still don’t know what to make of (Netflix.) Four episodes in to this 10-parter and I can’t figure out if it’s the future of television or some kind of nerdy prank. All I know is I’m still watching.
The story, in so much as it exists, is as follows. Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill) are subjects in a drug trial, carried out by what looks like a Japanese company that arrived straight out of a cartoon. The trial involves taking a pill that recreates the most traumatic episode in your life, followed by another pill that ‘cures’ this in some way. The doctors in charge of the trial have on-trend hairstyles that would remind your of , and I think they sleep in a chest of drawers . The clothes suggest the action is taking place in the 21 st century, while clunky computers suggest we are somewhere around 1983. It’s disconcerting, in a very obvious way.
That’s why I’ve nearly stopped watching more than once. It’s quirky in an indie-movie way that I’ve seen 100 times before. There is no arc to the story, nothing to grab on to that will make me come back for more. And still, I’m coming back for more.
Part of this is down to the cast. Emma Stone is outrageously convincing as Annie, a cynical malicious character who opens up a vulnerable side and we all fall in love with her. Jonah Hill’s Owen is a muted melancholy surprise, the direct opposite of the hilariously manic shyster he played in .
Gabriel Byrne plays Owen’s father, a very nice super-rich man who is too good to be true. There’s Sally Field and Justin Theroux as well. They are all pitch-perfect and set a kind of creepy, comic tone.
The characters are good and it looks great — I just wish there was more of a linear story to hang on to. Just as I was getting the hang of after three episodes, they made episode four look like a stand-alone movie, starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill as completely different characters. They pulled it back into the main story at the end, seconds before I threw my mug of tea at the telly.
It sometimes feels like the creators of the show are mocking me for not going to film school. I checked: it turns out one of those creators was executive producer on . In fairness, the mood in is as convincing as the mood in , but with none of the whodunnit story-line that made the latter such a compelling piece of TV.
slides around time and points of view, making it a tricky watch at times. My wife and I have shared a ‘what the f**k’ more than once, as the story lurched off in an odd direction. This could be one of the worst or one of the best TV shows ever. All I know is I’m still watching.
