Before I tell you why you should watch “Devs,” you can stream the sci-fi series here: The eight-part miniseries can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video starting today, November 16, 2023, at no additional cost to Prime subscribers. There are too on Disney+*. Since you should avoid spoilers with this insider tip, don’t be surprised: the following text sometimes becomes a bit cryptic!
That’s what ‘Devs’ is about
Sergei (Karl Glusman) and Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) are a couple who work at the powerful high-tech company Amaya in Silicon Valley. After Sergei is promoted and recruited into the top-secret Devs research project, he becomes part of humanity’s greatest technological discovery. The next day, the world suddenly looks different: Sergei was found dead, leaving many unanswered questions.
The distraught Lily, who wants to know what happened, then investigates herself and shortly later encounters CEO and probably the most powerful person in the world, Forest (Nick Offerman). With no one talking about the top secret project, she is forced to dig further to shed light on the mystery.
Compared to critically acclaimed series like “Westworld” or “Stranger Things,” which have received a lot of hype, “Devs” is still largely swept under the rug. Garland’s series offers the best conditions to arouse curiosity. On the one hand because of the great cast from “House Of The Dragon” actress Sonoya Mizuno to Stephen Henderson (“Dune”), and on the other hand because of the mysterious story. Since the series is relatively unknown in Germany, more people should know about it.
Because ‘Devs’ does not focus on a typical sci-fi theme such as time travel or virtual simulations à la ‘Matrix’, but rather delivers an original story that has never been seen before. “Devs” can certainly keep up with newer mystery productions, both from an aesthetic standpoint and beyond. Here too there is a lot to think and philosophize about.
People and technology
If you already liked “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation”, then you will definitely get your money’s worth here. Compared to the films, there are some parallels to be drawn. These are mainly the main topics that interest Garland. While the former deals with artificial intelligence and ‘extinction’ is about the loss of control caused by something bigger, ‘Devs’ is in the same vein. In one form or another, these works are always about the smallest units of life. This is how biological genes meet zeros and ones in computer technology. What follows are the big questions of life and a challenging thought experiment.
The focus of the series, set in the not-too-distant future, is on the most powerful super quantum computer of all time. Surrounded by an almost divine aura of majesty, this is the pinnacle of technology that leaves you with an ambivalent feeling from the first episode. By merging philosophical and scientific topics, the maker’s handwriting is once again clearly noticeable. Garland’s film work in general could probably be summed up pretty well with keywords like thoughtfulness, elegance, aesthetics and intelligence – and that’s the case here.
CEO and developer brain Forest, who seems like he is more powerful than Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk combined, is structured in a particularly complex way. The fact that his motivation, vulnerability and general worldview are constantly brought to the surface gives the character (but also everyone else) a successful depth.
Between the fascination and the madness, it becomes clear again that knowledge not only brings power, but also a burden. Through the soundtrack, visual design and focus on facial expressions, Garland adheres to the old credo of ‘Show, don’t tell’. There are no minutes-long dialogues explaining everything in great detail.
“Devs”: Excitement until the last minute
Because you get a general idea of the main subject from the second episode onwards, the series has clear advantages. While the aforementioned series like to dance around the big moment of surprise and bombard the audience episode after episode with more and more overwhelming demands, with “Devs” this is different and more intelligent. The emphasis here isn’t even on the mystery to be unraveled; rather, the emphasis is on the characters. Particular attention should be paid to the eyes, which are constantly captured in subtle ways and fantastically express feelings of transience.
“Devs” can only be credited to the fact that in the fourth episode – exactly halfway through – it is revealed what all the fuss is about. The result: no fog of confusion and overwhelming demands arises. Rarely have film images that become clearer towards the end, both metaphorically and symbolically speaking, worked so well. Because Garland cleverly wraps up the mystery and resolves it elegantly at the end, the result is a well-rounded arc from start to finish. But that doesn’t mean that the philosophizing is over after the season finale – on the contrary.
“Developers“ is a fantastically accomplished miniseries without endless sequels with new seasons and increasingly complex mysteries. Why would that be so? After all, as we all know, when things are at their best, you have to quit. You should definitely check out this series simply for its aesthetic qualities and thought-provoking story. And anyone who pays special attention will ultimately be richly rewarded.