Wake up, eat, learn, work and sleep. Everyone is precariously living each day on end, waiting for a change in scenery—something that is capable of making us feel more alive. Teenagers often live off of routine. The days will start to bleed into one another, making everything seem dreary and boring. Imagine being able to completely change reality by getting a procedure that splits the human brain into two. This is exactly what the characters in “Severance” decide to do.

“Severance”, which was released in Feb. of 2022, follows the story of Mark: a mid-level executive, at what seems to be a post-modern biotech corporation called Lumon, that indulges in an experimental procedure allowing employees to sever and compartmentalize their memories between their work and personal lives. Their work personas and their after-hour personas have absolutely nothing to do with each other and exist as completely separate personalities. These two personalities are referred to as “outies” and “innies”: innies being their work selves, and outies are their personal selves. The problems that arise from this start when a mysterious colleague warns about the uncertainty behind the corporation’s plaster white hallways. Mark works with his three co-workers,: Irving, Dylan and Helly, to uncover the untold secrets of Lumon. The plot itself is beyond fascinating, but having a deeper understanding of every motive in the show makes it even more incredible. 

“Severance” falls under the sub-genre of psychological thriller that traverses through themes of technological manipulation, dystopian governments and complex human survival tendencies. In today’s age, humans are greatly impacted by the kinds of technology they are around. Whether it’s just mindless scrolling through the internet, or interacting with articles to gain information, every intake of media is planting a seed inside their brains that can either create a positive or negative impact. This is what the show does such a fantastic job demonstrating. A procedure that is physically able to remove your consciousness for hours a day, without it being noticeable, is something that nearly every person aching for change would take on. Not to mention the fact that the version of the character signing up for severance doesn’t even consider the fact they are quite literally sending their physical form away to do a job they know nothing about. It is manipulation. This is a metaphor for high-value companies that pump their workers until they are exhausted and are brainwashing them into doing their bidding which becomes a tiny fraction of the bigger picture. 

The simple fact that solidifies what I gained from watching this show is that humans are almost always eager to do whatever it takes to make a hard situation easier. Living in general is all about cutting corners. It is about decision making and creating hacks that essentially become addictive to survive. In the show, the characters who were severed did it of their own free will. There was no bigger bad forcing them to partake in the surgery. This speaks for itself. Whatever it is that each character had to endure in their personal life became so unbearable to live with that they had to do quite literally anything they possibly could to make it go away. Self-destruction is an evident issue in modern day society. This stems from the idea of lust and the desire humans have for attaining the ideal “perfect life”. It’s a silent-killer. Something one can learn from “Severance” is that the outies do not view their innies as people. This creates tensions when the viewers get to see the original personalities that blossom within the innies in the workplace. The question asked throughout the show is: “Why would I do this to myself?” This is a relatable question that most people have to ask themselves after finding they’ve completely spiraled out of control. 

One thing about this as well is that this applies to teenagers as well as adults. Working a nine-to-five job is not at all necessary to relate to the content of this show. The overall idea that there is a way to escape the dreadful everyday routine of school, work or even extracurricular activities is an extremely tempting offer. It is not at all uncommon for humans to mask themselves in different situations. I know I am not the same person at school that I am at home, and I’m not the same person I am at home that I am at work. It is a seesaw of back and forth, up and down. This creates an identity crisis that is almost expected for humans to experience. It is hard to know who someone truly is when they cannot truly be themselves, and this is the most perceptible issue in the world today. 

Besides the underlying themes and metaphors, the show itself is wonderfully put together. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the show uses a unique color palette of stem green, bleached coral, jet black, wide-scale blues and deep-toned grays to constantly stimulate the viewer. The director, Ben Stiller, uses the most intricate form of symmetry in almost every scene, really bringing the whole concept of the show together. The writing is seamless, and the characters are so well drawn out causing them to be so complex. In addition, the soundtrack of just piano instrumentals creates an eerie feel and allows the viewer to remain on the edge of their seat. More shows that remind me of “Severance” are Netflix’s “Black Mirror” and “Westworld” on HBO Max. Each one indifferently creates its own world of beautiful cinematography and thrilling plot points. I highly recommend “Severance” for anyone to watch as it is, in my opinion, one of the best shows 2022 was able to offer.