SOLOS – Amazon Prime Original
It’s been a sad week so far and it’s only the third day of the week yet. During these dark times, especially when we are feeling helpless, we could all use some warmth and positivity. Something sappy yet something that keeps us grounded to reality. SOLOS, an Amazon prime original is your stop.
I have been hooked on to anthologies from the past year or so and I can never get enough of them. SOLOS was a fresh batch of soft, mushy, warm emotions for my craving heart. It has seven stories in all, which need to be watched in the same order. Not because they are continuous, but because they all come together is a weird way in the last story. SOLOS as the name suggests are one person stories, about what it means to be human, in our most isolated experiences. Played by the best of the best actors, the casting and performances were BRILLIANT.
Spoiler Alert!!!
Leah
If you travel to the future, can I escape your past?
Played by my favorite Anne Hathaway, Leah is a genius physicist working on building a time machine, to change the past so that her mom doesn’t fall sick with ALS. She meets her past and future self, not knowing who is who and discovers that they are what’s blocking her from making a breakthrough. Honestly, I’m a sucker for any kind of time travel stories. The back story and the main plot strongly interlude bringing out the best of acting from Hathaway.
Tom
Imagine meeting yourself; Who do you see?
Played by Anthony Mackie, Tom, an arrogant richie has 5 months left because of lymphoma and has ordered himself an identical twin robot. The robot acts, feels, smells and thinks like him and tries to understand the immeasurable things of his life to accommodate them after his passing. As the plot deepens, we realize Tom’s anxieties, fears and love for his family who he is devastated of leaving behind. His descriptions of Wilder’s intelligence, Peg’s fearlessness and Kelly’s farts melt you. You feel the sincerity in the writing and the character development arc. So beautiful!
Peg
How far would you travel to find yourself again?
First things first, let me confess that I never cry watching anything (except for the one time I watched P.S. I love you), but I did choke on my tears a little bit in this one. Helen Mirren, the Meryl Streep of British cinema, plays Peg, a 71 yr old woman participating in a behavioral study conducted in space with no chance of return to Earth. As anyone on a unidirectional journey of no return would do, she opens up to her only friend, a voice command button, about her life choices, her feeble under-confident personality and her regrets that shaped up to this moment. Most of the scenes in this episode are single shot scenes and Mirren will blow your mind with her expressions. Whimsy, naivety, fear, regret, embarrassment, anger and helplessness – all in one shot. My description doesn’t do it justice.
Sasha
Is the threat outside greater than the one within?
Played by Uzo Aduba, Sasha is locked at her home for 20 years because of a global pandemic. She fears that her all-knowing smart home bot is manipulating her to leave her home and tries to negotiate to stay indoors for some more time. The bot gives her enough reasons and proofs about the safety of the outside world, but in vain. This episode, with all the synchronous background music, perfect interior props and the most dramatic expressions from Uzo Aduba, felt like a theatrical play. I had never watched Orange is the New Black, so her performance came as a surprise.
Jenny
Do you wish you could take back the worst day of your life?
Played by The Crazy Rich Asian girl, Constance Wu, Jenny is waiting in a unique room that looks like a beauty parlor, but she doesn’t remember what for. She tries to reconcile the missing memory fragments, by remembering the incidents from the night before that led to this moment. And that forms the roller coaster ride of the episode. The kind-smiley-girl-next-door impression that I had of Constance Wu, was entirely shaken. Jenny is nasty, arrogant and extremely selfish leaving the memory collector punishing her with disgust.
Nera
Who decides who belongs in the world?
Played by Nichole Beharie, Nera is 7 months pregnant and stuck at home amidst a severe weather warning. She is a single mom, who has volunteered for testing the super fertility boosters. Things take a turn when she unexpectedly goes into labor. With no one to help and 911 unreachable, she delivers alone and discovers that the baby is mysterious. The whole plot unravels from the time she puts on a kettle for tea to the time it boils. This was the one story that I thought was slightly not up to the mark. Nevertheless interesting concept to watch, with a thrill of horror lurking.
Stuart
Who are you , if you can’t remember who you are?
This episode was not Solos in the true sense, because it has two characters. Played by the Morgan Freeman, Stuart is a demented old man living alone on a beach, and has a strange visitor, Otto, played by Dan Stevens. Remember sweet, cute Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey? Otto tries to regenerate Stuart’s memory, by implanting memory chips he procured from the black market. What is his intention and why only Stuart and the connection to the black market is the main plot. If Morgan Freeman says something, you blindly listen to it and follow it immediately. Even if it is something simple like “Green like grass, trees, leaves, salamander and green beans” or something complicated like “The cure for Alzheimer’s should be free and ought to be a human right“.
Watch this latest limited series to know more about what any of this means. You will not be disappointed. After watching so many anthologies with different genres, I was left with a craving for something deeply emotional and simply human. Solos satisfied that. Hope you enjoy this as well. More about movies here and more about other stuff here.
Happy Watching!