Brave New "Utopia"

The similarities between the six-episode British thriller "Utopia" and the graphic novel "Watchmen" are numerous. Both involve massive conspiracies with powerful people behind the scenes trying to manipulate global events. Both involve a lot of graphic violence, so even though comic book imagery and several child characters are involved, they are absolutely not meant for the kids. And then there are the visuals, full of bright primary colors, with a special emphasis on bright yellow. "Watchmen," of course, had an expensive theatrical adaptation that pushed the boundaries regarding violence and sexuality in superhero films. "Utopia" does not have superheroes, but it accomplishes similar goals. And it's a hell of a lot better.

"Utopia" revolves around a graphic novel of the same name, which is the subject of all kinds of wild theories about it possibly predicting the future or being based on real, covered-up events. The manuscript for an unpublished second volume falls into the hands of a fan named Bejan (Mark Stobbart), who intends to share it with fellow regulars from a "Utopia" website, post-grad student Becky (Alexandra Roach), directionless IT worker Ian (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), survivalist hacker Wilson Wilson (Adeel Akhtar), and Grant (Oliver Woollford), who has been passing himself off as a stock trader, but is actually an eleven year-old boy. However, a pair of remorseless killers, Arby (Neil Maskell) and Lee (Paul Ready), from a secret organization called The Network, are also looking for the manuscript. In the opening scene of the first episode, we watch them murder everyone in a comic book shop for information on its whereabouts. Finally, there's Michael Dugdale (Paul Higgins), a hapless civil servant that The Network is blackmailing to do some very, very bad things.

What immediately catches your attention about "Utopia" is how good it looks. The cinematography is gorgeous, and creates this wonderful feeling of artificiality and unease. Nearly every frame conveys the sense that there is something not quite right about this version of the UK, which is beautiful and brightly colored, but seems to be nearing the tipping point of something terrible. And at this point, I should warn again that this is a very violent program. People are killed cruelly and graphically, in significant numbers, and there's a squirm-inducing torture scene in the first episode. Horrible things are regularly threatened with an ease and nonchalance that is genuinely shocking. However, there's a certain honesty to the portrayal of violence here. It's all real-world horrors, not played up for the audience's visceral pleasure, always portrayed negatively, and always, always with terrible consequences. No slow-mo and no silly CGI blood spatter. Take that, Zack Snyder!

Okay, I'm being unfair, but I couldn't help thinking that a more stripped down style and a limited television series format like this would have suited Watchman" so much better. "Utopia" has the length to acquaint us with its large cast and set up a big, epic story. However, it still moves fast enough to resolve everything within six hours, and nearly every mystery or new development that is introduced in one episode is dealt with or at least expanded on in the next episode. So there's a mystery woman named Jessica Hyde (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) that the two killers are looking for? We meet her by the end of the first episode, learn her backstory in the second and third, and by the sixth her whole story arc pays off with a bang. And the big conspiracy that most television shows would drag out for multiple seasons? We get the big reveal in episode five, and it's a doozy. For those of you who love puzzle and mystery shows, "Utopia" is one of the most satisfying I've ever seen.

With the recent leaps that television has been making in quality and willingness to push boundaries, in many ways it's surpassing film as the best medium for comic book adaptations. "Utopia" wasn't based off of a real comic property, but it certainly understands their conventions, and tells a story similar to what we might expect from Grant Morrison or Alan Moore. Though "Utopia" has science-fiction elements, it's the social commentary that stands out. The show has subtle and not-so subtle messages about media manipulation, racial tensions, environmental crises, sources of global unrest, and the cost of doing the right thing. Of course, the story is fantastic and impossible, but it's built on an awful lot of real-world issues that people don't like to talk about. And that's what helps it to strike such a nerve.

Yet again, it's British television that is the source of one of the most exciting pieces of genre work I've seen in a long time. However, in this case I'm not surprised that "Utopia" hasn't reached the States yet, and probably won't for a long time. It's highly provocative stuff that really pushes a lot of buttons, and has the kind of content that many people can't handle. But if you think you can, I highly recommend seeking it out. There's been nothing else quite like it – at least, outside of the comics.
---