Entertainment
Netflix’s 8-Part Hidden Gem Is the Smartest Sci-Fi Drama Since ‘Black Mirror’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Netflix has been one of television’s most reliable sci-fi hubs over the last decade. Between sleeper hits like Sense8 and The OA and the more mainstream success of Altered Carbon and Black Mirror, the streamer has been churning out successful speculative futures and unethical technological procedures for years now. The latest trailer for the last season of Stranger Things only serves as a reminder of just how popular Netflix’s most high-profile sci-fi projects have become, but for all the shows that get their turn in the spotlight, there are just as many hidden gems tucked away in the platform’s vast library. These projects are more obscure but no less compelling, and one in particular combines thought-provoking world-building with sci-fi so intricate it’s sure to delight longtime fans of the genre.
Directed by French filmmaker Audrey Fouché, Osmosis is a 2019 sci-fi drama with eight episodes and a perfect critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Praised for its relatable premise and self-aware storyline, the series failed to garner widespread popularity upon its release and has subsequently been all but discarded, one of the latest in a long line of sci-fi releases to be unceremoniously forgotten. While Fouché’s series falls short in the audience department, it is through no fault of its own. Filled with unethical experimentation and a future overflowing with unique technology, Osmosis essentially feels like an eight-hour Black Mirror episode, perfect for viewers obsessed with exploring the loose boundary between social progress and the pitfalls of human innovation.
What Is ‘Osmosis’ About?
The series revolves around the infamous Vanhove siblings, Paul (Hugo Becker) and Esther (Agathe Bonitzer), self-declared pioneers of neuroscience who have supposedly developed an app that can pair an individual with their actual soulmate. Promising to connect people more deeply than ever before through technology, this Osmosis is both a life-changing bond and the name of the siblings’ business, which is sent into a tailspin when its investors pull out at the last minute. Spiraling to find a new source of funding and maintain public interest in their product, the series’ plot spans the month before the unprecedented app’s hurried launch, during which time Osmosis must first carry out a beta test of its services on a group of young people desperate for a new source of love.
There are plenty of wrinkles in this plan, such as Esther caring less about Osmosis and more about its potential to save her and Paul’s comatose mother, but Osmosis balances a talented cast with enough startling revelations to keep the series moving at a thrilling pace. Targeted by the humanists, an activist group desperate to keep love organic, as well as Osmosis’ main competitor in the field of virtual love, Perfect Match, Fouché ultimately uses the debate over Osmosis’ existence to expand on the role of technology in her speculative future, drawing in viewers with a realistic portrait of a familiar society growing increasingly dependent on artificial connection. When Paul’s wife and Osmosis partner, Joséphine (Philypa Phoenix), suddenly disappears, however, Osmosis’ founder is ultimately forced to reckon with the true cost of his unconventional intimacy.
‘Osmosis’ Explores the Technological Limits of Human Love and Heartbreak
It is through relationships like Paul and Joséphine’s that Osmosis is at its best. Aside from the latter’s sudden disappearance and subsequent struggle to set boundaries with her husband, the experiences of Osmosis’ beta testers test the limits of what even the most complex artificial connections can accomplish. The series focuses on three of the 12 testers in particular. First, there is Niels Larson (Manoel Dupont), a 17-year-old sex addict desperate for the kind of personal connection that can convince him to change. Next is Lucas Apert (Stéphane Pitti), a man second-guessing his idyllic romance with his long-term boyfriend, and finally, Osmosis dedicates the most time to Ana Stern (Luna Silva), a beta tester with an ulterior agenda and a woman whose own insecurities have convinced her she will never find a person to accept her.
Although Osmosis’ implants quickly match each tester with a soulmate who makes them happy, cracks in the system don’t take long to emerge. Between Lucas being matched with a toxic ex who cheated on him multiple times and Niels rushing into his romance so fast that he unravels, Osmosis is full of unintended consequences for what superficially appears to be a noble update to the dating game. Fouché’s series remains fascinatingly broad in its messaging, however. With Esther illegally tampering with these three testers’ minds and the testers themselves placing more faith in an artificial intelligence than their own feelings, Osmosis functions as both a critique of unregulated technology and a warning to anyone who would sacrifice their emotional autonomy for an algorithm. Yet, at the same time, cases like Ana’s ultimately prove the technology can also grant hope to those who need it most, resulting in a nuanced investigation of the ecstatic highs and bitter lows of entering Osmosis.
The Technology of ‘Osmosis’ Is Tailor-Made for a Contemporary Sci-Fi Audience
The series’ exploration of synthetic dating makes Osmosis uniquely relatable and grounds what would otherwise be an incredibly dense, abstract series. With falsified memories and an artificial plane of existence created with each Osmosis bond, Fouché’s series had the potential to be endlessly confusing, but Osmosis‘ focus on personal relationships allows it to embody that unique brand of sci-fi that is as insightful as it is approachable. In the age of Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and countless other popular dating apps, who wouldn’t want to swipe right on an easier method? Combined with Osmosis‘ focus on technological body modification and a runaway AI system, it’s no wonder the show’s best comparisons are series like Black Mirror, as this hidden gem thoughtfully interrogates the most pressing issues of our own time and rapidly accelerating society.
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Osmosis also uses its sci-fi premise to comment on how advanced technology can change the very definition of love, and even hinder it in ways modern audiences can instantly recognize. Both Niels’ storyline and Osmosis‘ virtual sex clubs point to a commodification of instant gratification made possible by futuristic headsets, and the unique relationship between Esther and her artificial intelligence, Martin (Vincent Renaudet), further blurs the definition of true attraction. Osmosis doesn’t function as a simple warning about the damaging effects of unrestricted pleasure, but it still depicts the dangerous ways new devices can further enable humanity’s dark side. Even though Osmosis was unfortunately canceled after only one season, audiences can expect a series full of uniquely relatable depth and thoughtful commentary.
- Release Date
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2019 – 2019
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Pierre Aknine, Mona Achache
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Agathe Bonitzer
Esther Vanhove
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