True Confession: I Fell Asleep Watching “Maniac”

Part 1: I am a big fan of Cary Fukunaga. I think the guy has everything going for him. He’s a great director, writer, producer, with an edgy sensibility and stylistic approach I really dig. Plus, he’s young, handsome and Japanese-Swedish-American. He’s almost too good to be true. “True Detective” Season 1, “Beasts of No Nation” and “Jane Eyre”, are all examples of elevated storytelling in which the director is able to extract performances from actors that transcend their best work, and his vision fully permeates each frame.

Part 2: I am also love Jonah Hill and Emma Stone. They make our turbulent times lighter, sweeter and more bearable in whichever roles they inhabit. Plus, I spend the bulk of my “entertainment time” consuming content from Netflix, which I believe is one of the best things that ever happened to the media industry. When “Maniac” was announced it seemed like a magical thing. From the trailer, I imagined a cross between “Black Mirror”, “True Detective”, “Sin Nombre” with, for some reason, elements of “Birdman” and “Wolf of Wall Street” mixed-in. So, I was really psyched to watch “Maniac” in one long and orgiastic spell when it premiered Sept 21.

Part 3: I was glad the cable guy had recently fixed the network so there were no bandwidth issues. (We have these types of 19th century type problems in DUMBO, Brooklyn). With one of my best and very opinionated friends for company, I fired up Episode 1 around 9 pm and started to watch. Within 7 mins, I fell asleep. I wasn’t dozing off, I was later told. I fell into a deep, rich, black sleep. The kind of sleep I long for and never get. I woke around midnight and the room was dark and empty. Everyone had left and the TV had been switched off to let me “rest”.

Conclusion: There is none. I am not saying the series sucks. I am only reporting what happened during my first attempt at watching it. Please don’t let this report dissuade you from giving it a go. In fact, below are two very different takes on it from much more reliable sources.

“Maniac presents loneliness as the most fundamental of human problems and uses the disorienting and fantastic to deliver a clear message about a simple solution: it’s easier with friends.”

“Netflix's 'Maniac' has a surprisingly simple message at its core” - MASHABLE

“At its worst moments, Maniac feels similarly unsupervised—a story told without budgetary constraints, audience concerns, or adult supervision. It's algorithmic greenlighting at its worst: High-end filmmaker + big-name stars + 'smart' ideas = 'Go crazy, gang.'”

Maniac is the most Netflix-y Netflix show yet and in a bad way. - WIRED