Netflix is littered with original TV shows that people binge upon arrival and then kind of forget about. That was the case with Maniac, which hit the streaming service in September 2018 and grabbed subscribers because of the intriguing premise and the two lead actors. The series was led by two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone and two-time Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill, who had previously worked together back in 2007’s Superbad, and both broke out because of the film. Seeing two accomplished actors reuniting after a decade is enough to attract viewers, but then you learn what Maniac is about and you have to watch it.
The show follows Stone’s Annie Landsberg and Hill’s Owen Milgrim as two strangers who form an unlikely bond while taking part in an intense pharmaceutical trial that leads them on a mind-bending adventure. This premise allowed the show to explore genres beyond sci-fi and thriller, while leaving you unsure of what would happen next. You never quite knew what was real and what wasn’t. Fans of Maniac will be happy to know that there are plenty of other trippy shows featuring stellar casts out there if you want to have your mind blown again.
5) Mr. Robot
When Mr. Robot first premiered in 2015, it immediately started messing with the heads of its viewers. The techno-thriller follows a cybersecurity engineer who also moonlights as a hacker as he gets recruited to join a group of “hacktivists” who attempt to destroy debt records and take down the largest financial corporation in the world. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like it has all that much in common with Maniac, but both are shows that feature twists, secrets, and a sense of never being quite sure what’s going on.
The bigger connection between Maniac and Mr. Robot comes from the focus on mental health. Mr. Robot protagonist Elliot lives with clinical depression and dissociative identity disorder, among other mental illnesses. On top of that, Elliot is portrayed by Rami Malek, who, like Emma Stone, has won an Academy Award. Not many shows can boast Oscar winners, commentary on mental health, and stunning plot twists like these two.
4) Severance
The newest show on this list is Apple TV+’s Severance, which premiered in 2022 and is gearing up for its third season. The show focuses on a group of people working at Lumon Industries who are “severed,” which means their memories are split between their work and personal lives, leading to two different identities. We watch as the work “innies” fight to have a life beyond their jobs and learn more about the heinous company they’re employed by.
Both Severance and Maniac center on people who try to erase their pain through some kind of memory experiment and involve fractured identities, which allows them to explore similar themes. Even with the great lengths they take, that pain finds its way through. Each series also features surrealism, elements of corporate dystopia, and manages to balance the intense nature of the story with unexpected bits of comedy. Most importantly, both shows reveal that the true nature of the characters’ healing is through human connection rather than soulless corporate technology.
3) Black Mirror
When Maniac premiered on Netflix, it instantly reminded a lot of people of Black Mirror. The anthology series originally premiered in 2011 but moved to Netflix and became a staple of the platform. Each episode tells its own standalone story, often set in near-future dystopian worlds and focusing on the dangers of technology. Inspired by The Twilight Zone, installments handle themes relating to contemporary social issues. Both Black Mirror and Maniac, like Severance, see characters who attempt to use technology to solve their deep-rooted issues.
Episodes of Black Mirror like “Playtest” and “San Junipero” feel like they could work in the world of Maniac. The way they play with reality and their exploration of grief and trauma are right in line with how Maniac works. Both shows also feature futuristic worlds that are just off-putting. Like Maniac, Black Mirror benefits from great acting by the likes of Hayley Atwell, Wyatt Russell, Daniel Kaluuya, Cristin Milioti, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jon Hamm, just to name a few.
2) Legion
As outlandish and wild as the reality-bending Maniac is, it probably feels off to compare it to a superhero TV show. However, Legion isn’t your ordinary series about superheroes. Running from 2017 through 2019, Legion is an X-Men-style show set in a parallel universe from the Fox films. The series tells the story of David Haller, a mutant diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age who struggles to control his incredibly powerful psychic abilities, all while being manipulated by sinister forces.
Nothing in Legion is as it seems, especially since Haller is far from a reliable narrator. The wacky elements make sense in a world where people have superpowers, yet a lot of what happens takes place in the minds of the characters, which is how things go in Maniac. Again, a focus on mental health is a key part of what makes both shows click, as are the blurred lines of reality, and the purposefully disorienting editing.
1) Atlanta
The first trailers for Atlanta suggested it would be a comedic show about the life of a college dropout who becomes the manager for his rapper cousin. While that’s true, Atlanta ended up being far more than that, as the show goes to dark places, features some of the most unsettling surreal scenarios, and does a great job of blending genres. Premiering in 2016, the series immediately feels odd through Darius’ eccentric personality and the unexpected tone shifts.
Atlanta dives deeper into the weird in episodes like “B.A.N.” and “Barbershop”. The installment that truly took the series over the top is “Teddy Perkins”, which is so weird that it needs to be seen to be believed. The series is aesthetically pleasing, absurd, and just a bit off. Like Maniac and these other shows, it also has a great cast with Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, and LaKeith Stanfield all breaking out in the years since.
Do you have any other shows to suggest to Maniac fans? Let us know in the comments!
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