‘Devs’: Here’s What Alex Garland’s FX TV Series Is About
Writer/directorAlex Garlandleft a huge mark with his 2015 directorial debutEx Machinaand sliced his way through our psyches in a much different way with this year’sAnnihilation. Last month, we heardhe would be following that up with a new science fiction TV series for FX. Now the cable channel has officially ordered a pilot, and we know the show is calledDevs.Read on to learn some plot details about Garland’s new sci-fi show.
Deadlinereports that FX has commissioned a pilot forDevs, which Garland wrote and will direct. Here’s their description for the new show, which is being described as a “tech thriller”:
Garland previously stated that this show would have more in common withNever Let Me Go(which he wrote) orEx Machinathan with the more hallucinogenicAnnihilation, and after reading that breakdown, I’m getting a veryEx Machinavibe. That film centered on an enigmatic creator of a cutting-edge tech company that’s responsible for some sketchy shit, and it seems as if Garland is using a similar framework here.
This also sounds like much more of a fast-paced thriller than anything Garland has handled before, which is exciting. And while that premise may seem traditional on paper, Garland’s previous work proves that he’s rarely’s content to work on a project that’s straight down the middle. He tends to fold cerebral, haunting messages into his work, and I expectDevsto be a bit more challenging than its description indicates.
We know Garland will write and direct the show’s pilot, but will he have time to helm every episode of the series (assuming it gets picked up)? In an interview withFandango, Garland explained thatDevswould be an eight-part show and that while he’d like to direct each part, that’s still up in the air. “It’s already written [and] my plan at the moment is to direct the eight episodes, but for practical reasons that might not be possible,” he said.
Be sure to check outAnnihilation, which is still in some theaters and is available on Netflix outside of the United States right now. For more from Alex Garland,read our full interview with him here.
