As I talk to people, I find that it has become more and more difficult to make a movie recommendation that anyone will actually act upon. Conversely, almost any TV show I recommend to anyone is usually tried out within a few weeks.
It’s not hard to see why this is the case. This change isn’t due entirely to the Netflix revolution of TV. I think a big part of what’s keeping people at home is the fact that TV is becoming better and better. Some of the best, most unique cinematic experiences aren’t being projected onto your local theater screen, they’re being streamed from your living room TV. Riveting stories such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and David Fincher’s Mind Hunter aren’t being converted into films, but are meticulously planned out as series. Filmmakers have started viewing TV as long-running movies presented in parts, and it has increased the quality of shows immensely.
Mr. Robot is a prime example of treating your TV show like a movie. In fact, creator and director Sam Esmail originally planned it as such. His mindset shows in the work. This show feels more cinematic and more creative than most movies I’ve seen in the last year.
Mr. Robot is about group of cyber-hacker vigilantes attempting to free the world of its debt by taking down E-Corp, a company symbolic of every Amazon, Google and Apple-like company that seeks to drain consumers’ pockets and keep a stranglehold on the world market. It’s a show that has a lot to say about technology, consumerism and big business. It doesn’t stop there, however. At some point the characters have to examine their own beliefs and the motivation behind their actions – and justify them amidst the chaos of revolution.
The story aims at achieving global economic change and does more in one season than most shows do in three, all without compromising the pacing, the characters or making the plot feel over-bloated. By then end of season one, and especially during season two, Mr. Robot takes its story, concepts and characters to the next level. It explores them in ways that conventional TV would deem too risky. Unlike other shows, which draw out means to an ultimate end for what seems like eternity (I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead), Mr. Robot quickly shifts its focus to the fallout of those insane ends achieved through insane means.
Elliot, our main character, is antisocial to the point of addressing an imaginary person in his head as a form of catharsis (a clever excuse for narration that breaks the fourth wall, while feeling natural and enhancing the themes of the show), and he’s a morphine addict in denial. Rami Malek deserves every praise and award for his performance as this mentally disturbed hacker. In a single episode, the character goes from crying about loneliness to snorting drugs to making cynical, snarky remarks inside his head as he tries to maintain a façade of normalcy. This is not an easy role to play, but Malek makes Elliot as real as the most introverted person you know (or maybe the one you don’t actually know) at your job or on your block.
He is a character with all the answers in his head. When he achieves something, it’s pretty game-changing, but the show undercuts his achievements to highlight a greater struggle. Unlike shows like Sherlock where the main hero’s main obstacle is the dilemma of an external plot, Elliot’s main conflict comes from within. His psychological and spiritual demons run so deep that, at times, his crew questions just how reliable, or sane, he is. Eventually, every minute of Elliot’s screen time, whether by himself or in the middle of a crucial mission, is plagued by his inner struggles. In the end, Elliot is not a great character for his achievements in the world, but for the achievements within himself.
Elliot is complex enough to carry the show, but director Esmail takes full advantage of the runtime a TV show offers by making every other character complex and rife with potential for development and change. Within the first season, the struggling high-class businessman Tyrell Wellick was my favorite side character. His struggle to maintain power while believing in self-help mantras to the point where it looks cultish was fascinating and engaging. It makes you examine your own drive for success and the lies you tell yourself to maintain a path to material wealth that may be fruitless or, even worse, damaging to who you are as a person.
Esmail’s direction of this show must be noted as well. His talent makes this show feel as cinematic and professional as a show by a veteran director such as the previously mentioned Mind Hunter by David Fincher. Every shot is filled with purpose and interesting ideas. I dislike movies and shows that are so visually uninteresting that you can follow them without even looking at the screen. Fortunately, Mr. Robot has as much going on within the frame as within its well written dialogue.
The cinematography here is unconventional and creative. Esmail plays with established rules of headroom and lead room to communicate feelings and themes. Almost every shot in the show is framed unconventionally, placing characters’ heads at the very bottom corner of the frame, creating a sense of claustrophobia, of being trapped, or to highlight the corporate buildings and suited businessmen that the show is so schizophrenic about. Despite all these odd framing choices, the shots never once feel amateur or unnatural. Any discomfort you feel is intentional, and any oddness you experience is by design.
I could spend an entire article detailing what works about every aspect of the show. Mr. Robot is truly a show for the new golden age of television. It embraces inventive stories with significant meaning while making complex characters that develop through every episode and going beyond technical perfection to achieve something truly unique and memorable.
Since I started streaming it on Amazon Prime in January, I have been enthralled. This is a show that offers an experience that most shows (and even most movies) don’t even come close to matching. The USA Network has crafted a show which can contend with and beat the best of HBO or Showtime.
It’s a show that perfectly demonstrates why I, admittedly in a pretentious way, dismiss shows that don’t grab my attention by the end of the first episode. It raises the bar for TV like Breaking Bad did over a decade ago. In fact, I’m a season and a half into Mr. Robot, and it’s on track to replacing Breaking Bad as my all-time favorite.
I can gush about this thing for 10,000 words, but it’s time I stopped and let you login to Amazon or get on the USA Network’s website to experience Mr. Robot for yourself.
Should you stream Mr. Robot? Absolutely, yes.
