WIRED Media Group Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. Even aspiring corporate saboteurs need the occasional snack. ), As we reported previously, the series is a reboot of the 2013 British version, about online fans of a graphic novel called Dystopia that seems to have the power to predict the real-world future. (Many episodes are under 50 minutes, which is often the bellwether of streamlined television these days.) Read our affiliate link policy. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft.

There are problems and pluses that exist no matter when someone watches — credit to the Chicago backdrop for helping distinguish the series’ overall look — and, ultimately, it’s just another spooky story in need of refinement.

John Cusack plays Dr. Kevin Christie, CEO of ChristieBIO. Christie's company will then ship out massive quantities of the vaccine worldwide—except it's not really the vaccine against the virus. (All major spoilers are below the second gallery.

Pretty much the entire central conspiracy, which might have played well in 2013 but hews way too close to the bone in late 2020. Maybe current events make it difficult to judge the show on its own terms, but it’s not free from judgment either. Can't a girl go get a coffee without coming back to a bloodbath? Christie is like Marvel's Thanos, only instead of an Infinity Glove, he's using a manufactured health crisis to solve what he perceives to be an overpopulation crisis. So here’s another problem with “timely”: Whether intended as an endorsement or a censure, the word can often elicit the opposite effect. Production Development. On April 19, 2018, Utopia was ordered to series by Amazon. Affecting? Amateur conspiracy theorists have plenty to chew on (arguably too much by Episode 7), and the unsettling trail of breadcrumbs is dispersed well enough to keep hardened viewers engaged. A drama about the systematic oppression of women? Fortunately, Amazon stepped in a few years later to revive the show and give Flynn a second chance. Link. Anyone inclined to take its fictions as fact is going to find abundant fodder to feed their fantasies regardless of whether Amazon had chosen to postpone the series or not. Timely.

Seems like a vaccine might be in the works. save … I want to use violence when it's effective and appropriate." We don't discover the full extent of Christie's nefarious plan until the final two episodes, but it amounts to this. Rainn Wilson plays Michael Stearns, an expert on viruses. This isn’t a grounded take. Unfortunately, mega-fans Wilson (Desmin Borges), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), Ian (Dan Byrd), Samantha (Jessica Rothe), and the mysterious Grant (Javon “Wanna” Walton) aren’t the only ones who believe in “Utopia’s” predictive power, and soon they’re being chased by an ominous corporate goon squad (led by Christopher Denham’s cold-blooded Arby) and a lethal woman who may or may not be a character from the comics (“American Honey’s” Sasha Lane). Utopia is the name of two television series. By and large, “timely” is a terrible word to use in the context of a review.