Hit or Miss: SOLOS

Science fiction is often overlooked as it usually hides any sort of challenging messaging or nuanced ideas with a masquerade of slick visuals filled with lots of techno-babble to try and make you feel like you are watching something alien or in the future, but it is through this lens of a conjured reality in which the possibilities are endless, the technologies advanced, and the people much different from what we might be familiar with. Storytellers can approach the far reaches of space with the greatest amount of humanity and inform the audience not just on where we are, but where we could go, for better or for worse.

That is why I have been eagerly awaiting a new science fiction anthology series titled SOLOS, directed and created by David Weil (Hunters) follows seven different characters as they “set off in a thrilling adventure. They’ll come to reckon then even in our most isolated moments we are all connected through the human experience” That is a grand and charming description, one that reminds me of late night viewings of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s best pieces of fiction and the introspective existentialism of the Blade Runner films. The cast is studded with multiple Academy Award winners: Uzo Aduba, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathway, Dame Helen Mirren, starring along with Constance Wu, Dan Stevens, Nicole Behari and Anthony Mackie. Amazon has been doing a fantastic job of crafting inclusive casts in most of the productions they greenlight. Not just this, but also in a report from Entertainment Weekly, one episode in particular highlighted the creator’s goal of inclusivity, "The piece was written by Stacy Osei-Kuffor, a Black woman, starring Nicole Beharie, a Black woman, and it was so important to me that it was realized on screen by a Black woman as well," notes the creator David Weil. He then tapped director Tiffany Johnson to complete the trio of Black female creators.

In terms of the acting firepower, a cast of this magnitude changed the style of the show, considering it was made during the global pandemic of 2020, and comments on that implicitly in several episodes. The trailer conveys a sense of loneliness and a longing for connection that seem to be a major theme across each episode, something the creators wanted to create in such a time to comment on it, but also reflect and offer a look into a brighter, more hopeful future in which we can foster greater connections after this year spent apart. In an interview with Syfy Wire, Dan Stevens, who shares the screen in the only two episode arc of the season, remarks on the veteran actor and how much of a joy it was to watch Freeman work, “there's just a shot of him on the couch and you see something cross his mind. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's masterful. I love watching that on a screen but getting to see it up close and personal was magical.” Stevens also alludes to the monologuing nature of the film with fellow star Anthony Mackie, remarking in a reunion of Juilliard alumni with EW that it reminded him of his earlier days studying theatre at Julliard with the creator Weil stating, "It's just him on camera for 30 minutes straight. It's a play. I think each of these are plays. They're filmed theater, so to speak. So Anthony was really excited about that.” The theatrical nature is something that lends to the ease of shooting during a pandemic and not being able to travel or film on location and to focus on following in the footsteps of the manically popular anthology series on Netflix: Black Mirror, which primarily told stories in a harsh light. Black Mirror showcases the dangers of emerging technology and social media while playing with genre conventions and the conventions of traditional television with its interactive film Bandersnatch, marking a resurgence in interactive live-action filmmaking and winning two Primetime Emmy’s in the process. SOLOS attempts to contrast the dark mirror of a dystopian future, and show the shine of an actual mirror, one that might be closer to a brighter future we are desperately clinging to after this past year. With a somber, yet hopeful tone reflecting on isolation, it tells science fiction stories that capture the spirit of the human condition to draw on the experiences spent alone over the pandemic. 

SOLOS is definitely going to be a must-watch for science fiction fans, thespians, and storytellers, and premieres on May 21st on Amazon Prime Video.