How to watch Manic - what’s it about and who’s in the cast?
Superbad's Jonah Hill and Emma Stone reunite in this mind-bending mini-series
From when it was first announced in 2016, Maniac became one of Netflix's most anticipated shows ever.
A deep-dive into the most obscure crannies of the protagonists' mind, this mini-series is like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but on steroids.
Where can you watch it, who created it and will there be more? Here are all your questions answered.
Where to watch Maniac?
As with every Netflix original, Maniac will only be available for streaming on their platform.
The miniseries was produced for Netflix by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.
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What is Maniac about?
Maniac follows Emma Stone and Jonah Hill’s characters as they take part in an unorthodox pharmaceutical trial for a new drug which aims to “solve the mind”. During the various stages of the trial, they are sent through multiple universes conjured by their minds in which the two end up finding each other over and over again as they come to terms with their past traumas.
Who wrote Maniac?
In March 2016, before the series was picked up by Netflix, executive producers Cary Fukunaga, Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Michael Sugar, and Doug Wald were looking for a writer to join the project. In October of the same year it was announced that Patrick Somerville, a novelist who had previously worked on the Bridge and HBO show The Leftovers, would be taking up scripting duties.
Who is in the Maniac cast?
Maniac stars former Superbad castmates Emma Stone and Jonah Hill as, respectively, Annie Landsberg and Owen Milgrim.
The main cast also includes Justin Theroux as Dr. James K. Mantleray, Japanese-born British actress Sonoya Mizuno, Gabriel Byrne as Owen’s father and Sally Field as Dr. Greta Mantleray, Dr. James’ mother and a famous therapist.
Where is Maniac filmed?
Maniac is set in a futuristic New York City and was entirely shot in the city in 2017.
How many seasons of Maniac are there? Will there be a season 2?
Ten half-hour episodes of Maniac were released on Netflix on 21st September 2018. Only days after the show’s debut, writer of the show Patrick Somerville told the Hollywood Reporter that the show was only ever intended as a limited series and there will therefore most likely not be a season two.
What to watch next? Similar shows to Maniac
The mind-bending multiverses will be quite hard to replicate by any other show, though a few shows touch on similar themes.
In Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne’s character finds herself in a time loop where she has to relieve the same day over and over again and as she works out how to escape it, she also comes to terms with the trauma her mother has inflicted on her.
Meanwhile Netflix’s Sense8 explores a cluster of people around the world whose minds are interconnected and who can tap into each other’s abilities and sensations at will and use this power to fight those who out to hunt them.
If instead you were captured by the futuristic technology of Maniac, there is a little-known show that is dedicated entirely to exploring how futuristic technology can impact the human psyche. You might have heard of it before... it’s called Black Mirror.
