There are a number of people that don’t jump into a new Netflix series until they’ve heard reviews about it from their friends. I am one of them, but when that cover art popped up on my feature page, I could not pass it up.
Maybe I was so into it because the ’80s are back in fashion and on television, but it looked so different from all the over cover photos; at first glance, it looked like neon signs of different faces squashed together, but when I looked closer, it was actually just two faces made from different TV screens. I always love a photo that really makes you think about it.
Now, I don’t know about you guys, but when I watch new TV shows and movies, I can be very critical—sometimes to the point where my other less critical friends get a little angry at me for ruining the fun. But the fact that Maniac was retro yet also advanced had me binge watching, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
Maniac is set in a retro alternative reality of New York City where everything looks outdated, but the technology concepts are advanced. Odd little anecdotes such as a Statue of Extra Liberty and Ad Buddies and Friend Proxies make this world seem familiar but also alien.
This series begins by showing us the normal-ish lives of Owen played by Jonah Hill (what? Jonah Hill in a serious role?) and Annie played by Emma Stone. It’s clear that both of these characters are suffering from some background story traumas, but both seem to be making it through life, albeit neither of them are happy.
Both then get drawn to a pharmaceutical company called Neberdine, who promises that all of their phycological problems will be wiped away after one high-risk drug trial. As if.
The point of this trial is to essentially get rid of the need for therapists, and it was largely created because of Dr. James Mantleray’s issues with his famous therapist mother. But you’ll find out more about that situation when you watch it later.
At this point, both Owen and Annie have made it into the trial, ethically or not, and Owen seems to think that he and Annie have some kind of special connection due to his hallucinations of his brother’s “alter ego.”
Annie, of course, blows him off because she’s never met him before. But for some reason, they keep bumping into each other in their tested dreams, and no one can figure out why. Not even the super smart scientists who created the super computer that’s running the tests.
Naturally, really bad things happen, otherwise this wouldn’t be an interesting show, but I’m not going to go any further. Watch it to find out!
Photo Credit: IMDb
But people have been raving about how accurate this show is. Both Jonah Hill and Emma Stone perform amazingly as people who have mental illnesses. They perform both of these roles without poking fun of or degrading those who do have those illnesses. Like many beautifully directed commercials and movies, Maniac shines a light on what it’s like to live in a mind that doesn’t really work right.
This might not seem that important but it’s just like having racial diversity in Hollywood. Maniac does a fantastic job of showing us that life isn’t perfect and that many people who seem ordinary struggle with any amount of mental illnesses. We need more shows like this to tell us that it’s alright to struggle and that you don’t have to be screaming in the streets to have a mental illness. That it’s okay to not be okay.