UTOPIA: C4's dark drama featuring torture, conspiracies and a comic book

Not too surprising - ratings were awful iirc and the plot wasn't going anywhere.

yeah it really fell apart in season 2. disappointing. Hope that Fincher does this better in the US. Or at least keeps it to one year.

Finally binged this. Super first series, but the writers made some huge gaffes in the second series, if they were intending a third spoilers I could never buy into Wilson Wilson's moral dilemma (which might makes emotional sense in a moral philosopher but not an uberhacker), the mystery of Mr. Rabbit should have been teased longer, and Lee (yellow-suit) and Terrence (burger sleeper) were key boogiemen worth preserving.

The soundtrack(s) by Cristobal Tapia De Veer are exceptional, best TV soundtracks since Richard Gibbs & Bear McCreary for the BSG reboot. Reminded a bit of Susumu Hirasawa's OST for Paprika

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsJXfkOlCLw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrenNlr1Wzo

The US remake of this is out this year (!), on Amazon (!!) and written by Gillian Flynn (!!!)

Can't say I love the casting for characters Michael Stearns/Dugdale, or what the new Jessica Hyde implies about how the plot will change. Would have prefered a gender swap for Ian (the IT guy) rather than Grant/Alice (the child).

As with Äkta människor/Humans, I expect to pine for a S3 of the originals.

Do you mean her age?

Do we know Grant is definitely not in it? That’s not a full cast by any means (and idk who “Thomas Christie” is meant to be either).

I’ll have a look at this but like you I’ll always want a third series.

Not to get too spoilery here, but in the original, the ethnicity of Jessica Hyde's father plays heavily into the plot. I just don't think it will work as well with a more common ancestry, or one that hasn't suffered the same degree of recent genocide.

Wild guess, Thomas Christie is Lee, but won't have the snazzy lime green suit.

Oh, and the Stearns/Dugdale casting is just too on the nose.

I forgot the girl's name in the original was Alice. Odd to announce that casting and not Grant's.

This went from Fincher/HBO to not-Fincher/Amazon. Hmmm

Not to get too spoilery here, but in the original, the ethnicity of Jessica Hyde's father plays heavily into the plot. I just don't think it will work as well with a more common ancestry, or one that hasn't suffered the same degree of recent genocide.

I know exactly what you mean but I think it makes more sense in an American context? Like the scene in s2 where Becky sends Grant out into the street to find a guy who speaks (redacted) - I’m not sure how you’d make that work in a US context. I mean it would also work if one or both her parents were Rwandan?

Not to get too spoilery here, but in the original, the ethnicity of Jessica Hyde's father plays heavily into the plot. I just don't think it will work as well with a more common ancestry, or one that hasn't suffered the same degree of recent genocide.

I know exactly what you mean but I think it makes more sense in an American context? Like the scene in s2 where Becky sends Grant out into the street to find a guy who speaks redacted - I’m not sure how you’d make that work in a US context. I mean it would also work if one or both her parents were Rwandan?

Actually thinking about it now, there’s no reason to take it at face value. Like Fiona O’Shaugnessy was Irish in the first one & that had exactly zero contribution to the plot, whereas her ethnicity, which she wasn’t even aware of? Very much so.

An Amazon "Original". Do words mean anything anymore?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfMBkiPFh-k

oh, no longer a Fincher thing I see. I'll watch this since it's been a few years since I saw the original; but the second series of the original was a disaster and the whole thing kind of fell apart. maybe they can rectify that.

The reboot has brought some fans of the original out of the woodwork, and one scanned the rare The Utopia Experiments graphic novel produced for the original in its entirety.

Without Neil Maskell as the wheezy psychopath this remake cannot possibly
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/hbo-utopia/images/4/4c/Arby.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140218210738be worth watching.

Assuming Christopher Denham in the Amazon remake is playing the same role as that guy (wikipedia says yes), he's sufficiently creepy imo. I haven't finished this one's first season yet, but I get the impression this one's dialed up the grimness and cast aside the humor nearly altogether.

Downloaded the UK original today, time to finally set up a home Plex again.

Have been watching this! The original is one of the best things I ever saw, series 2 falls off a lot but still great (70s flashback episode is one of my favourite episodes of tv ever). This adaptation is interesting? Feels a bit too on the nose at times, tonally very different and obviously lacking the colour palette/spooky score, but it’s pretty fucked up! Interested in keeping watching all the same.

Christopher Denham btw is very creepy, but in a wholly American way, and he’s not Neil Maskey but it’s a good take on the character.

Suspect that if I already feel Gillian Flynn's an overrated hack then this retread of a better show will not persuade me otherwise.

gyac's critical support making me consider watching this - I too think the first season is amazing and the second season is half amazing/half pointless.

It is critical yeah, it’s a very different beast but interesting if you loved the original as much as I do. We did laugh at the warning before of the episodes that it doesn’t represent a real pandemic, lol. Very timely in terms of the conspiratorial times we live in.

Not having seen the original, the tone of this American version immediately reminded me of the first season of Orphan Black. Had zero clue what would happen in the next five minutes, but couldn't wait to find out. Except with bigger stakes and more explicit body horror (something I can't really cope with too well). Thankfully, those scenes are short and easy to turn away from.

Linking the same sequence in the original series so you can compare without spoiling it for anyone else.

The American one is gorier fwiw

Chris Denham directed a pretty good but hard to Google found-footage horror movie called Home Movie once upon a time.

I'm not gonna check this out though cause the original series was wildly overrated and this is apparently worse

Home Movie is great.

As for the show, I will refrain from being 'that guy' who dips into a thread and shits all over the topic of discussion.

Also anyone who likes Dennis Kelly’s work should be watching The Third Day, which is being dribbled out an episode a week and features gorgeous visuals and a Cristobal Tapia de Veer score like Utopia.

I already feel Gillian Flynn's an overrated hack then this retread of a better show will not persuade me otherwise.

I loved Gone Girl - the movie, anyway - but yeah everything else she's touched not so hot.

The reboot has brought some fans of the original out of the woodwork, and one scanned the rare The Utopia Experiments graphic novel🕸 produced for the original in its entirety.