Severance season 1 review: A chilling blend of satire, sci-fi, and identity
Apple TV+’s Severance, directed with unsettling precision by Ben Stiller, builds on a brilliantly eerie premise: what if your work and personal life could be completely severed? Employees at the mysterious Lumen Industries undergo a surgical procedure that splits their consciousness in two—“innies” who live only at work, while “outies” experience the good life.
Mark (Adam Scott), mourning his wife’s death, chooses severance as a way to escape grief for half his waking life. The result is a rather bizarre experiment in enforced work-life balance, with one self shielded from pain while the other remains trapped in an endless corporate loop.
Identity and free will
The series slowly unpacks the psychological and philosophical cost of such a split. Helly (Britt Lower), a new employee of Lumen, awakens on a conference table with no memory and immediately questions her existence: “Am I livestock... Did you grow me for food?” Her attempts to resign as well as escape Lumen underscore the chilling lack of agency within Lumen’s system.
Meanwhile, in another section of the facility, love is blooming between Irving (John Turturro) and Burt (Christopher Walken), who share a tender connection, which hints at deeper wounds hidden in their “outie” lives. The multiple story arcs expand the show beyond corporate satire, bleeding into explorations of identity, memory, as well as free will.
Severance and satire
Severance is also a sharp parody of office culture under late-stage capitalism. Dylan (Zach Cherry) obsesses over meaningless workplace prizes... finger traps, caricatures, and trinkets, while group photos and bonding exercises mask the malevolence of Lumen.
What Lumen actually does remains unclear during the first season; however, the cult-like reverence for its founder, which is enforced by Harmony (Patricia Arquette) and her oddly happy and bombastic deputy Milchick (Tramell Tillman), points toward sinister intentions. The unknown nature of their data work only heightens the dread.
Performances and direction
The casting is impeccable. Adam Scott’s quiet every-man presence anchors the story, while Patricia Arquette delivers cold authority as Lumen’s unsevered leader. Turturro and Walken bring surprising emotional weight, and Tillman’s Milchick is as terrifying as he is hypnotically watchable.
Stiller's minimalist production design, sterile hallways, and carefully skewed camerawork amplify the surreal atmosphere, echoing the works of Charlie Kaufman, Wes Anderson, and Orwell, yet the show remains distinct and original.
Severance builds steadily, unraveling its mystery with a continuous slow burn.... Especially when a man claiming to be Mark’s former colleague Petey (Yul Vazquez) reveals he has undergone reintegration—thought to be impossible—the series takes a darker turn. His warning of Lumen’s “terrible purpose” provides a more traditional sci-fi thriller thread to balance the existential horror.
Conclusion
Severance is both intellectually rigorous and surprisingly funny. Its satire of corporate rituals and its meditations on the nature of self are moderately laced with absurd humor, preventing the show from sinking into pure despair. Though it begins slowly, the series evolves into one of the most distinctive television dramas of recent years. Beautifully acted, directed with eerie confidence, and written with precision, Severance is not only Apple TV+’s most original drama but also one of the most thought-provoking explorations of identity on television.
Our Severance season 2 review is officially live.
