The Netflix limited series, Maniac, debuts Friday, September 21. This is a spoiler-free review for all 10 episodes.
Maniac, a 10-part event series starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone – who reunite for the first time since Superbad provided both of them with breakout roles – is a moderately-amusing, overly-trippy romp that’s sure to garner even more attention now that director Cary Fukunaga, of True Detective: Season 1 fame, has been hired to helm Bond 25.
Hill and Stone, giving it their ambitious all, play lost, damaged souls wandering a satire-saturated “five minutes from now” future world. The results here are mixed, yes, though Maniac’s cardinal sin is that it never touches down long enough to fully resonate emotionally the way it sets out to. It’s unpredictable and full of loopy left turns, sure, but it’s also often dull. Most definitely, it’s another instance of a Netflix show blowing its horn for ten notes when five would have done nicely, but it’s also because this specific type of oddball absurdist art doesn’t benefit from the almighty binge.
Source: IGN.com Netflix's Maniac Review: How is the Bond 25 Director's Surreal Series?