Generally, I prefer to discuss new releases of film or television, or just create a list of films that all relate to one another, but every now and then I watch something from a few years ago that gets me thinking, and I have a desire to talk about it. Devs certainly made me think; it has one of the most creative and mind-bending premises in recent memory for television, but I was still left somewhat unsatisfied in the end.. Alex Garland is one the best science fiction filmmakers at the moment; Ex Machina is one of my favorite films of all time, and Annihilation is a fantastic sci-fi horror that left me unsettled in a very specific way that no other film ever has. Garland also wrote various films such as 28 Days Later and Sunshine, and has a new film, Civil War, releasing in a month or so, where he appears to be taking a step back from the sci-fi genre. Devs shares a lot of similarities to his previous works, especially Ex Machina, but never quite hits its stride in the same way that they do. I still enjoyed a lot of this series, but I found it to be flawed in many ways, and was left feeling that it could have been so much more.

The main problem I had while going through Devs was with the performances. One of the first things I noticed about this series was how robotic every actor felt; I thought that there might be something to this, as if it was meant to add to the strange vibe the show is going for, but several actors started to improve drastically after the first episode or two, and I was just left wondering if a few of the leads just weren’t that great of actors. Nick Offerman, Alison Pill, Stephen Henderson, Cailee Spaeny, and Jin Ha all deliver great lead and side performances, which makes the weak ones stick out that much more. I don’t know much about Sonoya Mizuno’s past work aside from some very minor roles in a few random films and a literal robot in Ex Machina, but she just did not do a great job with Devs. It could be a script issue, as Lily has absolutely zero personality, traits, or background, but she always seems uninterested in what is happening around her. Because of the way she is portrayed, Lily is never a character you feel sorry for, even after her boyfriend supposedly burns himself alive after being missing for multiple days. Mizuno’s line delivery always comes off as either annoyed or bored, and I always lost a little bit of interest when the series transitioned from the fascinating sci-fi elements to Lily and the most uninspired Russian espionage side plot since Stranger Things 3. I would love to see Mizuno be given a lead in something else; maybe this just wasn’t the project for her, and a few scenes in Devs show a lot of promise. She’s listed fairly high up in the cast for Garland’s upcoming film, Civil War, so maybe she’ll prove her talents when that comes out. However, for this series, I can think of a couple of other actresses that could have been more interesting in the role of Lily. Garland loves to reuse actors from his past directorial efforts, so why not bring in Alicia Vikander or Tessa Thompson? I loved them in Ex Machina and Annihilation, and I would have loved to see what they could have done with the script, specifically Thompson.

The strongest element of Devs is definitely its premise; the idea of a team of extremely smart individuals creating a computer that can show video footage of any point in time is a fascinating concept, and it’s portrayed brilliantly in this series. It gets the viewer thinking about the possibilities of something like this, and the potential paradoxes it creates, before eventually exploring them. The plot point that stuck out to me the most was how the program always seemed to be correct; Lily says that she just won’t do what it says she’ll end up doing, but the circumstances always escalate, and she always ends up doing exactly what is predicted, until the moment where she finally breaks free. Every part of this main plot is exactly what I expect out of an Alex Garland project; I’ve always loved how his films encourage you to create your own ideas and theories about what happens in them. It’s fascinating, confusing, and unsettling all at the same time, and I really wish that the series focused solely on this element, because the side plot is what really drags the series as a whole down for me. This is not a show that needs to show us evil Russians stealing technology for their country; Sergei being a spy is a pretty surprising twist, but not in a good way. When he was questioned by Kenton about his place of origin, I never assumed that this was foreshadowing anything, because it would completely mess up the consistency of the series. Focusing entirely on the Devs program or replacing this with a different subplot, maybe about interference from the United States government, would have made me take these moments more seriously. While the Russian plot does cross over with the main storyline, it could be easily swapped out with a far more interesting idea that would make the series a bit more coherent.

I must also credit the atmosphere that Garland is able to create throughout this series; the way sets are designed gives everything a very artificial and inhuman feel, which adds to the uneasiness surrounding the idea of the Devs program. He’s always been great at this, and the deep dread of the unknown that the series is able to instill within you at points can be very effective. Another Garland staple present here is the blending of technology and nature, as this extremely wealthy tech company, Amaya, has their home base located in the middle of a forest, outside of the city. The CEO put a large statue of his daughter in the middle of the campus, surrounded by an amphitheater of sorts that’s surrounded by trees; the contrast of these locations adds some humanity to the abstract setting that is the Devs building. It’s a great example of a theme I picked up on throughout the series: the contrast of human traits and the cold, robotic nature of the technology present, as well as some characters. Forrest and Katie seem very underdeveloped and lifeless at first, but once you learn more about their background and see a couple of flashbacks, they become the two most interesting characters in the entire show. The technology of the Devs team is terrifying and could be used for a lot of evil, but the reason for its creation was so that Forrest could reconnect with his deceased family. You would assume that a Russian spy is a ruthless, cold agent who never hesitates when doing their work, but Sergei becomes sick when he realizes what Devs is. This frequent contrast is something I’ve never seen discussed before, but it was one of the most thematically interesting aspects of the entire series to me.

While Devs certainly isn’t Alex Garland’s best work, I’d still recommend giving it a shot if you’ve enjoyed his films, or are just a fan of abstract Sci-Fi concepts. The grating protagonist and slower moments here and there may drive some away, but I encourage you to stick with it, as a few episodes in particular are fantastic, especially the last few. I’ve found that very few ever pay Devs any attention, and I would definitely say that it deserves some more love, even if it’s not my favorite. There’s plenty to appreciate about the series, and if anything, shows that Garland has the potential to create some truly great long-form projects later in his career. I would give Devs a solid 8/10; there’s so much potential here, and although there are a lot of factors that could be improved, it’s still a satisfying watch that scratches the itch for some good science fiction.