Devs
DEVS - HULUWith Devs, it is clear auteur-turned-showrunner Alex Garland was able to make use of his much-wanted free reign, for better and for worse. It is the first miniseries offering from FX’s exclusive Hulu programming, as well as Garland’s small screen debut, who allegedly moved from film to television in hopes of getting more creative control.
Devs starts off with a captivating and intriguing first chapter that played like an elevated version of his past works; it involves a tortured technological visionary, attempting to understand his mysterious creation, as other characters have to deal with the implications of the endeavour —variations of which are seen in Ex Machina and Annihilation. Despite the promising start, however, the majority of the middle chapters grind to a halt, as they slowly scatter fragments of the core story in the midst of filler plotlines — an abundance of exposition, and unnecessary backstories. Although the last few hours have a newfound sense of a methodical focus — and a brilliantly cathartic ending — they arrive too late to discount the miniseries as a whole, being a bit too sluggish for the amount of content it has to offer.
However, while Garland’s script may have been stretched out dangerously thin, he shines in his direction as he meticulously orchestrates a couple of scenes to complete perfection, and capture a moody tone that single-handedly brings Devs into ambitious territory that goes where none of his films has gone before. Additionally, the way in which he smoothly infuses the miniseries with themes and topics that seem like they were plucked from a doctorate-level college lecture, yet would still feel at home in a place of worship, contributes heavily to establishing a heightened philosophical nature into the series as a whole. Luckily, those achievements are able to counteract the mistakes of the direction of uninspired muted performances from the lead actors who are normally able to churn out high-quality work, yet fall flat in their roles here — especially Sonoya Mizuno. This is also true for the equally uninspired palette that — barring a few scenes where all the visuals come together perfectly —dampen the visual impact of the series compared to the director’s work.
It is clear that Garland must learn to meld his film-based directorial instincts with the sense of efficiency that causes modern television writers to succeed, Devs is still a brilliantly inventive miniseries that should make one excited about Alex Garland’s future forays into the long-form content world.