Television series

Maniac

Name: Maniac
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Science Fiction
Released: 2018
Cast: Sonoya Mizuno, Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux, Sally Field

Ten episodes of gorgeous, unhinged genre-hopping, as two lonely strangers volunteer for a drug trial that scrambles their subconscious into a fantasy anthology — Long Island noir, elf quests, fake-Icelandic melodrama. It's Cary Fukunaga at his most visually indulgent, anchored by Stone and Hill playing profound sadness under absurdist wigs. For people who want their sci-fi weird, their comedy dark, and their emotional gut-punches disguised as jokes.

TVMaze rating

6.7

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Legion2017

Noah Hawley turns mental illness into pure visual spectacle — a superhero show that abandons plot logic for mood, colour, and dread. The closest thing on TV to Maniac's aesthetic ambition.

But Deliberately disorienting; if you need a show that explains itself, this will frustrate you fast.

Russian Doll2019

A prickly, self-destructive woman gets stuck reliving her own death, and the show uses its sci-fi gimmick to sneak up on real grief. Sharp, funny, and surprisingly tender by the end.

But The time-loop structure means some repetition by design — it can feel circular before it clicks.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004

The blueprint for using memory-erasing sci-fi as an excuse to get achingly honest about heartbreak. Gondry's visuals and Kaufman's script still feel unmatched two decades later.

But It's melancholy at its core — not a laugh-riot despite the premise's whimsy.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Charly1968

Same premise as Neberdine's pills — a treatment promising to fix the mind, permanently — played entirely straight, showing what the fantasy costs when nobody's joking.

An intellectually disabled man undergoes an experimental treatment that dramatically boosts his intelligence — and the film refuses to let the miracle stay a miracle. Cliff Robertson won an Oscar for a performance that earns every bit of its heartbreak.

But Dated in style and pacing, and its ending is genuinely devastating with none of Maniac's cushioning humour.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things2020no page yet

Kaufman again, this time fully unmoored — a road trip that dissolves into something closer to a fever dream about identity and regret. Deeply strange, deeply sad, unforgettable.

But Willfully cryptic; some viewers will find it more homework than entertainment.

Devs2020

Alex Garland's tech-cult miniseries trades Maniac's chaos for cold, meditative dread, but shares its obsession with whether a machine can fix — or replace — the human mind.

But Glacially paced and philosophically heavy; not for anyone wanting momentum.

The OA2016

A trauma survivor's story spirals into interdimensional mystery with the same swing-for-the-fences sincerity Maniac has. Genuinely moving, genuinely bizarre, made by people unafraid to overreach.

But Its final stretch asks for a leap of faith that lost a lot of viewers.

BEEF2023no page yet

Two broken people's rage becomes an ever-escalating spiral of bad decisions — same DNA of damaged strangers colliding, just swapped from drug trial to road-rage feud. Blackly, bitterly funny.

But The characters' self-sabotage is exhausting by design; if you need likeable leads, look elsewhere.

Black Mirror2011

The anthology granddaddy of tech-messes-with-your-head storytelling. Uneven across seasons but the highs share Maniac's interest in technology promising salvation and delivering something stranger.

But Quality swings wildly episode to episode; you'll need to pick your entry points.

Dollhouse2009no page yet

Joss Whedon's underseen thriller about people whose personalities are wiped and rewritten for clients — a pulpier cousin to Maniac's mind-as-malleable-clay premise, with real bite underneath the genre trappings.

But Shaky first half-season and low budget seams show; it takes patience to reach the good stuff.

Paprika2006

Owen and Annie's shared subconscious fantasies are basically Paprika's dream-sharing tech reimagined as pharmaceutical trial — same idea, different machine, different country of origin.

Satoshi Kon's anime about a device that lets therapists enter patients' dreams, until the dreams start leaking into waking life. Visually delirious, structurally audacious, and clearly an ancestor of Maniac's shared-hallucination sequences.

But Dense, fast, and unapologetically Japanese-anime in its logic — not a gentle entry point if you've never watched anime.

Altered States1980no page yet

Same engine as Maniac — self-experimentation to reach some deeper truth about the mind — but shoved into full body-horror register instead of tragicomedy, showing how much darker this idea can get.

A scientist experiments on himself with sensory deprivation and hallucinogens, chasing altered consciousness until his body starts changing too. Ken Russell shoots it like a horror movie having a nervous breakdown.

But Genuinely go-for-broke campy and grotesque; it wants to freak you out, not charm you.