Devs (2020)

In his blog, Scott Aaronson has nailed Devs as a "cultural appropriation," which, all things considered, is a compliment. Aaronson was referring to the culture of quantum computing in particular, but much more is appropriated and is aptly summarised---again, by Aaronson---as existential musings of Aaronson's eleven-year-old self.

Alex Garland (writer, director, and, according to credits, "creator") comes across as a team player, but, on this project, he has denied himself a team. This handicap notwithstanding, the series endures, in large part thanks to its visuals and Sonoya Mizuno's physique. The words she's been programmed to utter fall flat, but her body knows how to be present. Thankfully, the director knows that it knows.

Two facts redeem the series. First, the eleven-year-old Aaronson used to ask good questions; one can look for answers elsewhere. Second, the shortcomings of the story line and the dialogue, flat and stereotypical characters, and factual errors can all be written off as a noisy simulation of a simulation of... Noisy, but still worth living or, at least, examining.