Loss and Meaning Make These 5 Genuinely Perfect Sci-Fi Miniseries, Ranked
Devs tests free will
In Devs, software engineer Lily Chan, played by Sonoya Mizuno, investigates after her boyfriend Sergei dies soon after joining a secret research unit at technology company Amaya. Her search leads to CEO Forest, played by Nick Offerman, and a quantum computer that puts her understanding of reality in doubt.
Alex Garland wrote and directed all eight episodes. Forest’s belief in a predetermined universe grows from his grief over his daughter, while Lily resists the idea that her decisions have no meaning. The series frames their dispute through a strikingly isolated research facility and makes ordinary actions feel charged with consequence.
A past with consequences
In 11.22.63, English teacher Jake Epping, played by James Franco, learns from his friend Al Templeton, played by Chris Cooper, about a diner doorway that leads to 1960. Jake is tasked with preventing President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, but finds that history pushes back against attempts to alter it.
Jake’s relationship with school librarian Sadie Dunhill, played by Sarah Gadon, complicates his mission. As he builds a life in the past, the prospect of leaving Sadie becomes increasingly difficult. Developed by Bridget Carpenter and based on Stephen King’s novel, the miniseries gives its time-travel premise an emotional focus on love and commitment.
Maniac turns inward
Maniac follows Annie Landsberg, played by Emma Stone, and Owen Milgrim, played by Jonah Hill, two strangers who enter an experimental drug trial. The treatment promises relief from psychological suffering and sends them through simulated experiences built around memories and relationships they would rather avoid.
Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the miniseries, whose imagined worlds range from a story involving a stolen lemur to crime plots and elaborate fantasies. Annie is grieving her sister, while Owen feels detached from his family and the world around him. Though their identities shift within the experiment, both continue to seek connection.
Key points
- Devs uses a quantum computer to examine free will, grief and the meaning of choice.
- In 11.22.63, Jake’s mission to change history becomes entangled with his relationship with Sadie.
- Maniac places two troubled strangers inside simulations tied to their memories and relationships.