It is a series of science fiction embodied by director David Wiener. In this series, the TV adaptation of Aldous Huxley's book appears in a miserable future. The director is trying to present a complete model about this mysterious book that has caused great controversy.
The nine-part debut season feels like it's built on miscalculation atop miscalculation, but the gravest one is that the citizens of New London are effectively extraterrestrials.
A well-made, thoughtful show, succumbing only occasionally to the silliness of its extreme premise. That is about as much as you can ask from a debuting drama series in this moment of content.
As it unfolds, "Brave New World" fits only the most nebulous sense of the word "interesting," with its most relevant commentary left behind in the Savage Lands.
It's not an immediately gripping techno-satire, nor a mindbending puzzle box. It's not an impressive sci-fi world, nor a bold piece of sex-violence-profanity prestige. It's just a disappointing adaptation trying to be everything for everyone.
Though the "Westworld" parallel applies to the affluent creeps-exploiting-the-poor in an amusement park narrative, "Brave New World" is much more rewarding to watch.
There's a lot of talk about the "social body" in a lavish new limited-series adaptation of Brave New World... But it's the many scantily clad bodies writhing in orgiastic abandon that you might remember after watching this sleek and sensual depiction.
"Brave New World" isn't bad - what remain of Huxley's central ideas here are still relevant and important. They're just presented in a such a muted way you wind up thinking of another Rolling Stones song, about wanting more satisfaction.
