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Utopia - A new conspiracy thriller from Gillian Flynn - Friday on Amazon

RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
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Oct 25, 2017
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The 8 episode first season of 'Utopia' will drop on Friday, September 25 on Amazon Prime Video. Please tag and label spoilers for the first 2 weeks.

Trailer

Based on the cult 2013 British series of the same name, 'Utopia' is a conspiracy thriller that follows a group of young fans who come together when they discover that the conspiracy in an elusive comic, Utopia, is real. The comic foretells the demise of humanity and the world as we know it, thrusting this group of underdogs to embark on a high-stakes twisted adventure to use what they uncover to save themselves, each other and ultimately humanity.
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The series was developed and written by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects) and the score was composed by Jeff Russo (Legion, For All Mankind).
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Cast

Sasha Lane as Jessica Hyde
Rainn Wilson as Michael Stearns
Dan Byrd as Ian
Javon Walton as Grant
Cory Michael Smith as Thomas Christie
Ashleigh LaThrop as Becky
Desmin Borges as Wilson Wilson
Farrah Mackenzie as Alice
Christopher Denham as Arby
John Cusack as Dr. Kevin Christie
Jeanine Serralles as Colleen

Reviews

TV Guide said:
A lot of thrillers like Utopia have trouble sustaining themselves past the initial premise in the first couple of episodes, but Utopia remains compelling.
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The Playlist said:
With composed style, bloody action, and a healthy dose of black humor, Utopia stabs at what heroism looks like and what cost is paid for slavish devotion to childish things.
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TV Line said:
This high-stakes conspiracy thriller hooked me almost instantly. Even before I had a firm grasp on what was going on, I was invested in the characters, thanks in no small part to the show's terrific ensemble.
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Geek Girl Riot said:
Nothing and no one is safe or sacred in Utopia... There are no good guys, only people who have the right endgame in mind. And that endgame is brutally imaginative, fantastical, and violent. You can't stop watching.
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Chicago Sun Times said:
"Utopia" has numerous and obvious parallels to current real-world events — but this violent, darkly comic, bizarre and consistently involving eight-part series (I've seen the first seven episodes) has its own wild creativity and exists in a universe even crazier than our own.

In nearly every episode, something shocking happens. You cannot take a bathroom break or get distracted by your phone for even 90 seconds, or you'll risk missing something HUGE.
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Einchy

Einchy

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Oct 25, 2017
42,659
I was gonna skip this since I've seen the original but I had no idea Gillian Flynn wrote the remake. Might have to give it a chance after all.
 
Tagg

Tagg

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Oct 25, 2017
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I feel like the selection of reviews in the OP isn't exactly representative of the general critical opinion.

Here are some more:
AV Club said:
Feels curiously stagnant in the seven of eight episodes provided for review. The series incorporates a slew of thematic elements that are eerily timely—an increasingly devastating pandemic, for one—but an overreliance on brutal violence masks the fact that Utopia doesn't have much to say about the corporate overreach or government listlessness that inspired the show's concept.
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tv.avclub.com

Utopia fails to say anything unique about our current moment

Utopia incorporates a slew of thematic elements that are eerily timely—an increasingly devastating pandemic, for one—but an overreliance on brutal violence masks the fact that the series doesn’t have much to say.
tv.avclub.com tv.avclub.com

Hollywood Reporter said:
Flynn is unafraid of rapidly adding more and more branches to the Utopia mythology, which occasionally shocks but seldom intrigues. After seven episodes, the heroes remain underwritten archetypes, the villains are unconvincingly all-powerful yet constantly screwing up and there are more traumatized but precocious children (Javon Walton, Farrah Mackenzie) than there should be in a fight against the end of the world.
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www.hollywoodreporter.com

‘Utopia’: TV Review

John Cusack and Sasha Lane star in 'Utopia,' Amazon's American remake of a U.K. sci-fi series about a group of comic-book fans who chance upon a prophesy of a viral apocalypse.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com
 
z e r t

z e r t

Member
Oct 27, 2017
994
It has good reviews? I'm going to give it an opportunity.

It's going to be weird because the original is one of the best tv shows I have ever seen but this might be fun if I can fool my brain into completely ignoring the original and trying to not make any comparisons between the two.
 
EzekelRAGE

EzekelRAGE

Member
Nov 3, 2017
16,143
Forgot all about this. Think I thought it was canceled for some reason 🤔.

Will check it out.
 
Magenta

Magenta

Member
Oct 26, 2017
72
Ugh she sucks you guys. Props to the screenwriters who fixed Sharp Objects and Gone Girl cuZ her actual writing and storytelling in her books are god awful. My entire book club agrees!
 
Wallace Wells

Wallace Wells

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May 24, 2019
4,843
I will definitely give this a watch but at another time, don't think I could handle watching a pandemic unfold on tv right now

The original was utterly perfect tbh
 
Piston

Piston

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Oct 25, 2017
11,170
Magenta said:
Ugh she sucks you guys. Props to the screenwriters who fixed Sharp Objects and Gone Girl cuZ her actual writing and storytelling in her books are god awful. My entire book club agrees!
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I enjoyed both the show and book for Sharp Objects equally. I saw Gone Girl first and never got around to reading it. I would say she is a great thriller writer at the very least.
 
Gawge

Gawge

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,629
Listened to a review which says that it's incredibly close to the original, but without the same amazing visuals and soundtrack.

Was quite excited for this, but sounds like if you have seen the original you will be disappointed.
 
Nappuccino

Nappuccino

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Oct 25, 2017
13,019
Gawge said:
Listened to a review which says that it's incredibly close to the original, but without the same amazing visuals and soundtrack.

Was quite excited for this, but sounds like if you have seen the original you will be disappointed.
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I still cannot believed they cancelled the original just to remake it.
 
FantasticMrFoxdie

FantasticMrFoxdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
16,409
Mushroom Kingdom
uhh holy shit

Been seing ads for this everywhere and was mildly intrigued that Rainn Wilson is in it...
and only just realized entering this thread this is based on the British one.

I'm def checking this out now. The OG was one hell of a show

Gawge said:
Listened to a review which says that it's incredibly close to the original, but without the same amazing visuals and soundtrack.

Was quite excited for this, but sounds like if you have seen the original you will be disappointed.
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Well damn. The visuals in the OG were on another level.
 

dapperbandit

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,162
I'd be very surprised if this even comes close to the original - the photography, soundtrack, casting... it all came together into this surreal and unsettling combination that presented a sinister and malevolent world just beneath the surface.
 
Floex

Floex

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Oct 27, 2017
1,758
And god that trailer sucked hard. Took all the fear out for some generic American adventure. Urgh.
 
Yōkai_0h-No

Yōkai_0h-No

Member
Nov 20, 2018
340
They should of gotten Paul Walter Hauser to play Arby.
Paul-walter-hauser.webp

I wonder if they will actually do the
School shooting
scene.
 
8bit

8bit

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,390
Pretty high on the list of things that didn't need to be remade, this is. Morbidly curious, I suppose.
 
Tukarrs

Tukarrs

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Oct 27, 2017
3,822
So it's out.

I've watched two episodes and it mostly follows the original version so far.

I was wondering what they're gonna do with Sam and I'm kinda disappointed that they offer Sam. It would have been way more interesting if they killed Ian if they wanted to change things up.

I was never a fan of Becky having fake Diels until the end. I hope they don't repeat that here.

Edit:
So I finished it. Series spoiler including the UK version.
This series really lacked the tension of the original. I never really got a sense of overwhelming dread here. Those scenes with Michael in the original with the blackmail made me anxious for him. I never got quite the same feeling here. I don't know if I liked the changes.

We learn that Becky has Diels here pretty early on, but they never had her speech like in the original about how the disease never existed before a certain date and that it's genetic. I think it weakens her motivation for trying to find out. A cure was never dangled in front of her either in exchange for cooperation.

Milner's 'heelturn' here about having different plans than Christie seems weird. So she's all in favor of making all people like Arby rather than sterilize everyone? This seems like something that should have been figured out before putting all the plan in motion.
I never got the sense that Milner was Mr Rabbit with Christie being a fake. This v
One major disappointment from the original is that they never made the manuscript available for sale. Maybe Amazon will capitalize on it?
 
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Arkestry

Arkestry

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Oct 26, 2017
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I'm just finishing up the first episode and fuck me this is just fucking terrible in comparison to the original. Everything is spelt out in really boring ways, there's none of the mystery or intrigue of the original, and every character feels miscast and mischaracterised. Not to mention the direction/soundtrack just don't fucking work.

I don't know if I'll bother continuing with it because I don't really want to see how the mess up the original in more ways, but it's pretty much what I expected when Fincher isn't the one doing the show. I also read an interview with Wilson and Flynn where they basically said they couldn't do the show as it was in the UK because they want to get to 100 episodes for syndication, which sounds like a terrible way to create a tv show.
 
Vic_Viper

Vic_Viper

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Oct 25, 2017
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So is the original series pretty good? I havent started this version, but I keep hearing that the original was much better. Which is a shame.
 
StrangerDanger

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Jul 18, 2018
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After watching a lot of shows with kids as the main characters and being disappointed, I just can't be excited for those type of shows. Seems like this one fits into that camp based on reviews
 

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Vic_Viper said:
So is the original series pretty good? I havent started this version, but I keep hearing that the original was much better. Which is a shame.
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Original is one of the best mystery shows I ever watched. Cinematography, score, storyline, its got everything.

I show everyone I can the opening scene and almost everyone has gone on to watch the show lol

 
CloudWolf

CloudWolf

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Oct 26, 2017
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Ever since that awful remake of Life on Mars, I'm very suspicious of American remakes of British mystery shows.

Vic_Viper said:
So is the original series pretty good? I havent started this version, but I keep hearing that the original was much better. Which is a shame.
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The original series is amazing. One of the best British tv shows I've ever seen.
 
Arkestry

Arkestry

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Oct 26, 2017
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PogChamp said:
Original is one of the best mystery shows I ever watched. Cinematography, score, storyline, its got everything.

I show everyone I can the opening scene and almost everyone has gone on to watch the show lol

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Just as an example of how much the US version gets wrong, it takes over half the episode to get to this scene so there's none of the confusion or alarm when watching it. It doesn't have any confidence in itself or the audience. Bleh.
 
haxan

haxan

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Oct 25, 2017
1,432
This has absolutely none of the visual panache of the original. It's like they didn't even try. The original is such a striking show visually.
 
rsfour

rsfour

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Oct 26, 2017
16,773
Fuck, forgot that there were two seasons of the C4 Utopia, I'm still on ep 3. Should I finish this, or just watch the US one lol.
 
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