I must admit when I heard about Severance and that Ben Stiller directed the majority of the episodes and Adam Scott was the lead actor, I was sure it would be a comedy! As a matter of fact, I sold my wife on giving this a try on the basis of the involvement of Adam Scott (who she loves in Parks and Recreation) and Ben Stiller!
How to Download Severance
You can download or stream the film from Apple TV. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. If you want to check out more films directed by Ben Stiller, read our reviews of Bros, Madagascar, or Night at the Museum.
The Movie Review
While there are certainly some quirky moments and characters, Severance is not a comedy! What we have here is one of the cleverest and best-made TV thrillers I have seen in a very long time. I will admit, I often question if Apple TV+ is necessary, but they have had some fantastic original programming and I would put this at the top of the list.
Now, I am going to be very, very careful here with what I tell you about the plot. One, I do not want to spoil things, but also, the show drip feeds you little bits of information so even by the time of the season finale, you still do not know the full story. This is storytelling at its very best and I am actually glad I did not start it until all 9 episodes had aired as it was so much fun to binge-watch.
The setting of the show is a large biotechnological company called, Lumon Industries. Lumon Industries has this rather strange practice called Severance. Severance is where an employee will have their consciousness separated so that what they do at work, stays at work!
Just imagine if you could clock out of work and not have to take all of the BS that you have dealt with for the day home with you, I am sure many of us would sign up. Well, team leader, Mark has recently lost his wife, and a chance meeting with a strange employee after work has him start to question what he does at work.
Adam Scott as Mark is just incredible, I was a little worried I would just see him as Ben from Parks and Recreation, but he pulls off this role amazingly well. As a matter of fact, Severance has one of the strongest casts of any TV show of the last decade, it is very impressive the talent they have on screen here.
We have John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Christopher Walken, and more! I am sure I am forgetting some notable actors, but the point I am trying to make is that this is a very talented cast that is bringing this show to life. The way that the characters work and private lives also interwind is just so cleverly done, it always leaves you guessing as to what the heck is going to happen next and what is really happening at Lumon Industries!
One thing that they absolutely nailed with Severance is the pacing. Some shows can feel rushed or seem that they have a couple of episodes too many, but that is not the case here. One episode even straight up ends in the middle of a major moment, I could not even imagine having watched this as it aired and having to wait a whole week to see the conclusion!
Trust me when I tell you that Severance is a show that you need to know as little about before you go on, I am still not 100 percent sure I know what is going on! This is a great show, it has a fantastic and intriguing premise, and an awesome cast of characters and it makes you want to watch the next episode right away as soon as the credits start.
