# Maniac (2018)

> Two strangers enrolled in a mysterious pharmaceutical trial promising a permanent cure find their minds turned into surreal, unpredictable worlds.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/63881

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 40 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama, science fiction
- Created by: Patrick Somerville, Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Sonoya Mizuno, Ramya Pratt, Maho Honda, Justin Theroux, Sally Field, Lauren E. Banks
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580146/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: mild
- Tone: absurdist, surreal, darkly comedic, melancholic, unsettling, whimsical

## What critics say

Audiences rate the miniseries positively for its inventive, surreal take on mental health and its committed lead performances.

## Synopsis

Maniac (2018) is an American science fiction dark comedy miniseries created by Patrick Somerville and Cary Joji Fukunaga for Netflix. Across ten episodes of roughly forty minutes each, Emma Stone plays Annie Landsberg and Jonah Hill plays Owen Milgrim, two strangers drawn to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that promises to solve their problems permanently. Sonoya Mizuno plays Dr. Azumi Fujita, one of the researchers running the program, while Justin Theroux and Sally Field play the Mantleray doctors whose experiment sits at the center of the story. The engine of the series is the trial itself: each session drops the participants into a shifting sequence of constructed realities, and every episode reshapes what the cure is supposed to mean. The tone blends absurdist humor with unsettling psychological unease, treating fragile minds with a wry, surreal lightness. Its clinical white corridors, retro-futuristic technology and dreamlike set pieces give it a distinctive look. Fans of Legion, Devs and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will find resonance in its layered, mind-bending exploration of memory, grief and the limits of repair. It is a single-season limited series, told as one continuing story, and it rewards close attention throughout.

## Shows like Maniac

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- [The Big Door Prize (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/121127)
- [Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/107091)
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- [Severance (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/80546)
- [The Mind, Explained (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/79099)
- [Dispatches from Elsewhere (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/69550)
- [Shining Girls (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/88905)
- [Open Your Eyes (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/107295)

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