Utopia and 4 Other Bizarre TV Series That Will Turn Your Mind Inside Out
A strange hospital, a mysterious graphic novel, and a legendary dystopia.
There are series that are not subject to logic – they have their own laws. They involve the viewer in supernatural worlds, inviting him to enjoy the poetics of surrealism and ride the rollercoaster of absurdity.
We have compiled a list of the most striking series filled with the grotesque, madness, and phantasmagoria.
1. Utopia, 2013-2014
In a comic book store, a killer shoots clerks and customers, while a man keeps asking a question that no one knows the answer to. Then a girl with a conspiracy theory, a hacker with a personal bunker, a child from the lower classes and a system administrator appear.
They are all looking for the graphic novel Utopia, created by a genius madman. The geeks will save humanity if they can guess who Mr Rabbit is, whose menacing shadow hangs over the world.
Utopia is a show with some unimaginable dynamics that does not stop for a second. The story of a group of fans of the esoteric book Utopia who are accidentally drawn into a global conspiracy is one big acid trip, an adrenaline ride that will not let you get bored. By the way, where is Jessica Hyde?
2. The Prisoner, 1967-1968
A secret agent suddenly resigns. He is immediately kidnapped and brought to The Village. This suspiciously idyllic place is equipped with the latest technology of the 1960s, and it is impossible to get out.
The residents wear numbers instead of names and enjoy the benefits of civilization. Occasionally, flying balls appear and kill someone, but the rest pay no attention.
The agent is assigned number 6, and the mysterious "they", led by number 2, begin a series of psychological experiments to extract from the former spy an answer to the series' main question: why did he quit?
The Prisoner became the precursor of many series, from Twin Peaks to Lost. Images from it flash in the first The Matrix. Stephen King used dialogue from it in Hearts in Atlantis. Half a century later, The Prisoner remains a brilliant dystopian satire and a wild ride for viewers who are left guessing: will number 6 escape?
3. The Kingdom, 1994-2022
The Kingdom is the first and so far only series by Lars von Trier. The first season of the project was released in 1994, the second in 1997 and the third in 2022.
It is easiest to consider The Kingdom as a European Twin Peaks, because in the 1990s, among the great directors, only David Lynch, and then von Trier, dared to make revolutionary projects on television.
The Kingdom is an incredible fusion of gothic horror about ghosts, a satirical comedy about eccentric doctors, and a medical soap opera with many plots and characters.
4. Angels in America, 2003
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tony Kushner, the miniseries is directed by Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols, has won Emmys and Golden Globes, and features a star-studded cast.
Al Pacino plays a legal shark, Emma Thompson appears in two roles – a divine messenger and a businesslike nurse, and Meryl Streep plays four roles at once, including an old rabbi.
Mysticism is indistinguishable from reality, divine comedy coexists with human tragedy. The angel is both beautiful and funny, floating in an unearthly glow and smashing the refrigerator.
Nichols uses almost no special effects, but that does not detract from the feeling that you are watching someone else's dream about the fragility and invincibility of life.
5. Legion, 2017-2019
David Haller, nicknamed Legion, is like Jon Snow: he knows nothing. Not that he has superpowers, or that his father is Professor Charles Xavier, or what dark depths his subconscious hides.
He has spent most of his life in mental institutions, diagnosed with schizophrenia. But suddenly a secret organization and a girl who cannot stand being touched take an interest in him. And David begins to bend the changing world to his will.
Almost all the adventures of Legion, one of the most powerful mutants in the X-Men universe, take place in his head. And the series never lets you forget that for a minute.
Reality splinters like the multiple personalities of the mentally unstable David. The plot moves in a spiral and the characters disappear without warning in one place and reappear in another.