In 2013 Dennis Kelly, known for his work on BBC’s Spooks and Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical, approached Channel 4 with an idea for a new show, Utopia, wherein a ragtag group of comic book nerds get caught up in a conspiracy theory to sterilise the human race in an attempt to control the population before the inevitable environmental collapse that would take place in the coming decades. It was incredible, check out my review for it. I believe it stands as one of the greatest British crime thrillers ever created thanks to Kelly’s excellent script, the gorgeous cinematography, the amazing score, and the fantastic performances. But there was one problem, nobody watched it. The show was cancelled after 6 episodes and then revived for another 6 episode stint the following year but due to the lack of interest Kelly never got to tell the rest of his story and it appeared that Utopia would fall into cult obscurity with the only people who gave a shit about it being nut jobs like me. But then Gone Girl happened. Seemingly unrelated I know, but Gone Girl’s author Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay for the film which was then directed by David Fincher in 2014. Both the book and the film were huge successes and as a result Flynn became the new top crime thriller writer of the century…and she is clearly also a nut job like me because she saw the potential in Utopia.
Utopia is a 2020 U.S crime thriller written by Gillian Flynn, based off the series by Dennis Kelly, and produced by Amazon Studios exclusively for Amazon Prime. That collection of words is something I thought would never happen but yeah, it’s happened, so I’m rolling with it.
Utopia is about a group of comic book nerds who find out that a sequel to their favourite comic book, Dystopia, has been discovered and is up for auction. The group consisting of Sam (Jessica Rothe), Ian (Dan Byrd), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), and Wilson (Desmin Borges), travel to the auction to bid on the comic, Utopia, so they may uncover the secrets hidden within. They believe Utopia contains information regarding pandemics that are yet to have occurred. But when everyone who saw the comic at the auction is reported to have been murdered less than 24 hours after seeing it, the group go into hiding realising that a secret organisation is after them in order to hide the secrets contained within Utopia. Another fan of Dystopia, Grant (Javon Walton), steals Utopia after witnessing the assassination of the auction winner. The core group are contacted by Jessica Hyde (Sasha Lane) the thought fictional main character of the two comics, who is looking for information on Utopia as she believes it contains the identity of a man named Mr. Rabbit. Meanwhile, outbreaks of an unknown virus are happening all over the United States, Dr. Michael Sterns (Rainn Wilson) discovers a vaccine which medical conglomerate Christie Corp are very interested in distributing to those affected, and their families.
It's a difficult premise to explain but it’s delivered really well by the series, in fact for those of you familiar with the UK Utopia series, it’s almost the same plot. Some small details here and there have been changed to fit in with an overall more detailed and character driven narrative. This has its pros and cons. The benefit is that the story feels as though the characters have an impact on what is happening, in the UK Utopia series it very much felt like everyone other than Jessica and the mysterious Mr. Rabbit were just along for the ride. But the U.S Utopia gives these characters agency in the world they are inhabiting.
Utopia is a 2020 U.S crime thriller written by Gillian Flynn, based off the series by Dennis Kelly, and produced by Amazon Studios exclusively for Amazon Prime. That collection of words is something I thought would never happen but yeah, it’s happened, so I’m rolling with it.
Utopia is about a group of comic book nerds who find out that a sequel to their favourite comic book, Dystopia, has been discovered and is up for auction. The group consisting of Sam (Jessica Rothe), Ian (Dan Byrd), Becky (Ashleigh LaThrop), and Wilson (Desmin Borges), travel to the auction to bid on the comic, Utopia, so they may uncover the secrets hidden within. They believe Utopia contains information regarding pandemics that are yet to have occurred. But when everyone who saw the comic at the auction is reported to have been murdered less than 24 hours after seeing it, the group go into hiding realising that a secret organisation is after them in order to hide the secrets contained within Utopia. Another fan of Dystopia, Grant (Javon Walton), steals Utopia after witnessing the assassination of the auction winner. The core group are contacted by Jessica Hyde (Sasha Lane) the thought fictional main character of the two comics, who is looking for information on Utopia as she believes it contains the identity of a man named Mr. Rabbit. Meanwhile, outbreaks of an unknown virus are happening all over the United States, Dr. Michael Sterns (Rainn Wilson) discovers a vaccine which medical conglomerate Christie Corp are very interested in distributing to those affected, and their families.
It's a difficult premise to explain but it’s delivered really well by the series, in fact for those of you familiar with the UK Utopia series, it’s almost the same plot. Some small details here and there have been changed to fit in with an overall more detailed and character driven narrative. This has its pros and cons. The benefit is that the story feels as though the characters have an impact on what is happening, in the UK Utopia series it very much felt like everyone other than Jessica and the mysterious Mr. Rabbit were just along for the ride. But the U.S Utopia gives these characters agency in the world they are inhabiting.
So, what do I like? As a massive fan of the UK series I had my apprehensions about a U.S remake but for the most part Utopia U.S is on par with the UK version. The small changes to the story at first seemed weird, but it often allows the characters to have a greater effect on the story, or even just give them a bit more to do. Michael Sterns for example, in the UK series he’s a civil servant that works for the Department of Health and is little more than a pencil pusher who gets blackmailed into giving the ok on the flu vaccine distribution. In this version though he’s a virologist who discovers the vaccine and is then contacted by Christie Corp who want to get it pushed past the FDA without any human testing. Because he’s not on side with them, and they don’t hold anything over him, it provides a more interesting story for his character as he is tricked and manipulated into doing what Christie Corp want.
In fact, in general I prefer what they have done with the characters in the U.S version. There are some exceptions to this such as Jessica, Grant, and Arby. But overall, the characters are better written, and have more to do. The writing is also pretty great, dialogue overall is improved and the way conversations progress feels more natural. It’s also got more humour in it, which actually goes a long way considering how bleak the show can get at times.
The fact that the series run is 8 episodes rather than 6 means it can go into much more detail into some areas of the story that were just quickly glossed over in the original, for example; the entire first episode is basically original content. It gives us the origins of how Utopia was found and spends more time with our lead characters so we get to know what kind of people they are right out of the gate.
Sadly, it’s not all peaches and gravy though. There are a few issues I have with the changes that have been made. Firstly, I'll address Sam. Without giving away too much Sam is kind of not really in the show that much, which is why it baffles me that she is the one we spend the most time with in episode 1 and she’s played by Jessica Rothe. It’s a waste of her considerable talent and it makes me wonder whether Amazon were concerned nobody would watch it unless a known actress was in it, but then why Jessica Rothe and why not cast her in a slightly bigger role?
Next there’s Grant. In the UK version Grant is a little shit and could be a bit of an annoyance, but he was a major player in the story. But U.S Grant is pretty much the opposite, in fact he does so little throughout the series I forgot he was there most of the time. I’m also disappointed that the big controversial moment didn’t make it into the U.S version, or at least something on a similar level. In the UK show Grant is framed for a school shooting where several of his classmates were killed. I understand maybe not doing a school shooting for U.S audiences (a little too close to reality maybe?) but what it’s replaced with instead is that Grant is framed for murdering a family. It’s nowhere near as shocking or impactful and due to Grant already having a minimised role it makes his character feel redundant.
Jessica is not bad, but she’s not smart like she is in the UK version. Instead she’s just a bit of a brute who rather than using her wits to get what she wants instead just threatens to kill people or straight up kills them as an example to other people. As a result, her character is significantly less interesting than she should be.
In fact, in general I prefer what they have done with the characters in the U.S version. There are some exceptions to this such as Jessica, Grant, and Arby. But overall, the characters are better written, and have more to do. The writing is also pretty great, dialogue overall is improved and the way conversations progress feels more natural. It’s also got more humour in it, which actually goes a long way considering how bleak the show can get at times.
The fact that the series run is 8 episodes rather than 6 means it can go into much more detail into some areas of the story that were just quickly glossed over in the original, for example; the entire first episode is basically original content. It gives us the origins of how Utopia was found and spends more time with our lead characters so we get to know what kind of people they are right out of the gate.
Sadly, it’s not all peaches and gravy though. There are a few issues I have with the changes that have been made. Firstly, I'll address Sam. Without giving away too much Sam is kind of not really in the show that much, which is why it baffles me that she is the one we spend the most time with in episode 1 and she’s played by Jessica Rothe. It’s a waste of her considerable talent and it makes me wonder whether Amazon were concerned nobody would watch it unless a known actress was in it, but then why Jessica Rothe and why not cast her in a slightly bigger role?
Next there’s Grant. In the UK version Grant is a little shit and could be a bit of an annoyance, but he was a major player in the story. But U.S Grant is pretty much the opposite, in fact he does so little throughout the series I forgot he was there most of the time. I’m also disappointed that the big controversial moment didn’t make it into the U.S version, or at least something on a similar level. In the UK show Grant is framed for a school shooting where several of his classmates were killed. I understand maybe not doing a school shooting for U.S audiences (a little too close to reality maybe?) but what it’s replaced with instead is that Grant is framed for murdering a family. It’s nowhere near as shocking or impactful and due to Grant already having a minimised role it makes his character feel redundant.
Jessica is not bad, but she’s not smart like she is in the UK version. Instead she’s just a bit of a brute who rather than using her wits to get what she wants instead just threatens to kill people or straight up kills them as an example to other people. As a result, her character is significantly less interesting than she should be.
Then we have my big issue, well it’s two separate issues but they can be combined into one complaint. The villains don’t really work in this version of the show. So, the larger of the two problems with this is that the organisation that oppose our heroes and their quest to uncover the secrets of Utopia is, for intents and purposes, a cult. There’s no real way to word it better, people are born into this closed off society and indoctrinated into believing they are martyrs for a cause greater than themselves. Everyone has a purpose and they know very little about how the rest of the world actually functions. Compare this to The Network in the UK Utopia series and they were a secret organisation created by scientists and government agents who used espionage to operate. To me, the UK one is far more threatening because they are literally embedded in the government, they are everywhere. With the U.S one, it’s considerably more, well, American. They’re outsiders, they aren’t integrated with us, but they are seeking to change the ‘normal’ way of life to meet their world views. It’s suddenly very us vs them, which I guess in America’s current sociological climate is appropriate but I don’t feel it works as well for this kind of story.
Secondly, something that whilst smaller bothers me more, is what they did to Lee & Arby, or in the U.S version Rod & Arby. Firstly, Lee & Arby were two sides of the same coin. Lee was bubbly and intelligent, and completely in control. Arby was stone cold, emotionless and an extremely intimidating presence. Rod doesn’t work in this new pairing because he isn’t the one in control of the situation. Instead Arby seems to be the leader of the two, but he’s also nowhere near as threatening as he was in the UK show. Niel Maskell’s performance as Arby in the UK show is among my favourite performances of all time admittedly, so it was always going to be difficult to please me when it came to this aspect. Christopher Denham’s performance in this role falls short on so many levels and he becomes a mash-up of every calm yet mentally unhinged person you’ve ever encountered. There’s nothing about him that stands out and personally it was a huge shame to see such a great character get essentially watered down into a stereotype.
Then comes how the series is generally put together. The UK series was gorgeously shot and edited, helmed by directors like Mark Munden (currently working on the excellent and equally visually arresting The Third Day), who did a whole lot of world building using simple yet extremely effective shots. The U.S show, whilst not ugly, just seems pretty standard. There are few times where the camera really does anything interesting beyond shot-reverse shot of characters talking. The colours aren’t so vivid or meaningful, and though the show contains more violence than the UK version did, it’s not as graphic so it can feel disconnected from the grounded reality of the rest of the show. On top of this the score is again not quite as good as the UK’s one, not to say it’s bad but it’s just not memorable. I can remember most of the important tracks from the UK series because they are haunting and seared into my brain, but the U.S ones I hardly noticed were there other than the opening credits.
It’s also probably worth mentioning the elephant in the room. Yes, the story deals with a viral pandemic, and yes, it is framed as a conspiracy for the benefit of particular people. Some people have been criticising the show for making this kind of content in the midst of a real global pandemic where concerns over its origins have been somewhat under scrutiny, particularly by the U.S Government. Is it poor timing? Maybe, but personally I feel like it makes this kind of story more relevant than ever because we are able to understand it better. The virus depicted in the show is nothing like what we are experiencing with COVID-19 too, so the connections people are making are flimsy at best.
Do I like the U.S remake of Utopia? Yes. Would I recommend you watch it? I wouldn’t say no, but check out the UK one if you can instead. I guess it depends what you’re after though. If you’re after something more akin to a spy thriller with some incredible cinematography and music then check out the UK show. But if you want a story about a cult trying to ‘save the world’ with a bit more character depth then opt for the U.S version. Both are great in their own right, personally I prefer the original but I certainly congratulate Flynn and everyone involved in the remake for producing a show that was simultaneously faithful to the original material, and also tries to do something new. To be perfectly honest I’m just thankful it exists at all and I hope that it’ll last longer than the UK version did!
Secondly, something that whilst smaller bothers me more, is what they did to Lee & Arby, or in the U.S version Rod & Arby. Firstly, Lee & Arby were two sides of the same coin. Lee was bubbly and intelligent, and completely in control. Arby was stone cold, emotionless and an extremely intimidating presence. Rod doesn’t work in this new pairing because he isn’t the one in control of the situation. Instead Arby seems to be the leader of the two, but he’s also nowhere near as threatening as he was in the UK show. Niel Maskell’s performance as Arby in the UK show is among my favourite performances of all time admittedly, so it was always going to be difficult to please me when it came to this aspect. Christopher Denham’s performance in this role falls short on so many levels and he becomes a mash-up of every calm yet mentally unhinged person you’ve ever encountered. There’s nothing about him that stands out and personally it was a huge shame to see such a great character get essentially watered down into a stereotype.
Then comes how the series is generally put together. The UK series was gorgeously shot and edited, helmed by directors like Mark Munden (currently working on the excellent and equally visually arresting The Third Day), who did a whole lot of world building using simple yet extremely effective shots. The U.S show, whilst not ugly, just seems pretty standard. There are few times where the camera really does anything interesting beyond shot-reverse shot of characters talking. The colours aren’t so vivid or meaningful, and though the show contains more violence than the UK version did, it’s not as graphic so it can feel disconnected from the grounded reality of the rest of the show. On top of this the score is again not quite as good as the UK’s one, not to say it’s bad but it’s just not memorable. I can remember most of the important tracks from the UK series because they are haunting and seared into my brain, but the U.S ones I hardly noticed were there other than the opening credits.
It’s also probably worth mentioning the elephant in the room. Yes, the story deals with a viral pandemic, and yes, it is framed as a conspiracy for the benefit of particular people. Some people have been criticising the show for making this kind of content in the midst of a real global pandemic where concerns over its origins have been somewhat under scrutiny, particularly by the U.S Government. Is it poor timing? Maybe, but personally I feel like it makes this kind of story more relevant than ever because we are able to understand it better. The virus depicted in the show is nothing like what we are experiencing with COVID-19 too, so the connections people are making are flimsy at best.
Do I like the U.S remake of Utopia? Yes. Would I recommend you watch it? I wouldn’t say no, but check out the UK one if you can instead. I guess it depends what you’re after though. If you’re after something more akin to a spy thriller with some incredible cinematography and music then check out the UK show. But if you want a story about a cult trying to ‘save the world’ with a bit more character depth then opt for the U.S version. Both are great in their own right, personally I prefer the original but I certainly congratulate Flynn and everyone involved in the remake for producing a show that was simultaneously faithful to the original material, and also tries to do something new. To be perfectly honest I’m just thankful it exists at all and I hope that it’ll last longer than the UK version did!