Critic Reviews

“Utopia” thinks big to erect its overarching structure, but thinks small to give that structure its support. And it’s loaded with great work from its cast, particularly Lane, a talented actress with a gift for slipping in and out of genres and easily fitting into each.

“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.

The conspiracy plot is twisty and surprising, and is the rare plot like this that stays interesting as it gets deeper. A lot of thrillers like Utopia have trouble sustaining themselves past the initial premise in the first couple of episodes, but Utopia remains compelling.

This show zeroes in on the current social… well, current: panic, terror, distrust, feeling controlled, feeling like no one is in control; the kind of moment when it’s all too easy to believe the most unhinged conspiracists are probably onto something and where everything feels unequivocally as though it’s falling apart for good. It does it stylishly. Generously. Lavishly.

It demands to be binged, but it’s not just a thrill ride. There are so many interesting ideas in Utopia, and little echoes of other great science-fictions, such as Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and paranoid film thrillers, such as The Parallax View (1974), that it seems unlikely to pause here.

Like all conspiracy theories, Utopia’s central narrative ends up being a bit too grandiose and hokey to be entirely believed—which is sort of a relief, given how psychologically enveloping the conspiracy is for the first few episodes. But maybe that’s why I found it unnervingly compelling, too.

Presented across numerous plot threads, “Utopia” is not for casual viewers, or those unwilling to dive deep into the bleak and batty. It's all part of a massive, playful game by Flynn, and it slowly sucks you in.

Utopia is at times uncomfortable and occasionally gruesome, but as edgy dramas go, effectively maintains its momentum from one hour to the next. For those with the stomach for such stuff, that's more than enough to earn a place on a crowded streaming menu.

Our heroes are meant to be sassy outsiders, the dialogue sometimes strays into teen-movie territory, and I found myself wishing everything was 30 per cent sharper. We can see what's coming, even when the characters can't, which reduces the tension.

The result could be a fascinating mashup of sensibilities, but instead, the series flattens and settles into a more basic middle ground. Accidentally relevant topics or no, “Utopia” ends up feeling like a decently entertaining version of stories that have been told before.