Civil War has become one of the most interesting movies of the year. Although we are not even halfway through 2024, Alex Garland’s film has already positioned itself on the podium of the most interesting ones at the cinematographic level, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to lose its place for several months. In the movie, the filmmaker places himself in the near future to reflect an unprecedented civil war in the United States, reflecting on the country’s politics and the profiles we would see in such an environment.
Undoubtedly, the movie is a delight for cinephiles; from its great script to its impeccable staging, it manages to captivate from beginning to end. However, this is not the best that Alex Garland has done, and that is because before delving into stories like Civil War or his previous film, Men, he was known for being one of the best science fiction directors of the moment.
Setting aside Denis Villeneuve, who with Dune has shown to be in a league of his own compared to all other filmmakers, Garland has emerged as a wizard of reflective science fiction, one that goes beyond spectacle and seeks to leave a lasting impact on the viewer. This is something he demonstrated on a grand scale with his early films. Ex Machina was an unprecedented surprise that propelled Alicia Vikander to new heights. And Annihilation is, even to this day, one of the best Netflix movies.
However, it is not in the cinema where he has managed to carry out his best story, but in a series that went somewhat unnoticed but that, without a doubt, is among the best of Disney Plus – personally, I would even say above Shogun-. We are talking about Devs, an eight-episode miniseries released in 2020 that, without a doubt, is the best we have ever seen in terms of science fiction based on a near future.
Devs: a series like you’ve never seen before
Devs is a series that immerses you in a fascinating and twisted technological universe based on the near future. In this context, the line between science and philosophy dangerously blurs. The plot follows Lily Chan (Sonoya Mizuno), a brilliant computer engineer who works at a technology company called Amaya, led by the mysterious and charismatic Forest. Amaya is a kind of titanic Google, a macro company located in Silicon Valley that is every computer scientist’s dream.
Soon, Lily finds herself caught in a spiral of bewildering events when her boyfriend, Sergei, disappears after being assigned to the ultra-secret Devs team, a cutting-edge project that uses deterministic predictions to foresee the past and the future. This makes Lily realize that there is something beyond what can be seen.
With determination, Lily ventures into the clandestine world of Devs in search of answers, unraveling mysteries and secrets that defy human understanding. As she delves deeper into the labyrinth of technology and morality, she faces existential questions about free will, destiny, and the ultimate meaning of reality.
In her search, Lily is forced to confront powerful figures within Amaya, including the enigmatic CEO Forest (Nick Offerman) and his right-hand woman, Katie (Alison Pill), both with their own agendas and opposing visions of Devs’ potential and limits. Meanwhile, a mysterious and disturbing character named Kenton (Zach Grenier), in charge of company security, lurks in the shadows, willing to protect Devs’ secrets at any cost.
Through a captivating narrative in which nothing is what it seems, Devs immerses you in a journey of discovery and self-exploration, challenging our perceptions of reality and morality in a world where technology and destiny intertwine in unexpected and deeply unsettling ways. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest gems you can watch on Disney Plus.
