Our take
After Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, showrunner Vince Gilligan surprised us with this alien sci-fi series. It isn’t just because of the genre. Rather than the usual alien invasion, or even the post-apocalyptic dystopia we’ve previously seen, Pluribus instead has an alien-sent virus transforming the rest of the world into a pacifist hivemind, with immune protagonist Carol Sturka the only one left to object to it. Some aspects directly mirror today’s hot button issues such as COVID, AI, and the internet’s echo chambers, but the premise strips down these issues to the essence, creating a playground where Carol reckons with the fate of the world in her hands. Pluribus builds upon sci-fi fundamentals to capture the conflict between individual freedom and the common good.
What it won
Golden Globes
2 noms
The story
The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.
Elsewhere
"It is simultaneously just as committed to questioning Carol’s worldview and illustrating alternative ways of thinking about agency, happiness, and communal good."
— Kathryn VanArendonk
"I humbly recommend paying attention to how it makes you feel. The strangeness is the point, and the strangeness is worth savoring."
— Ben Travers
The details
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
