One of the most highly acclaimed television productions of recent years, “Severance” (released as “Ruptura” in Brazil), the Apple TV+ sci-fi series released in 2022, establishes an intriguing premise: employees of the mysterious Lumon Industries volunteer to undergo a procedure that surgically separates their personal and professional memories, ensuring that their work and private lives never overlap. The procedure thus creates an intermittent alter ego, mutually unaware of the other self and hyper-focused on its respective domain. The deft direction of Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, coupled with stellar performances from the cast, does justice to Dan Erickson's brilliant plot. Here, however, we focus on how the show's primary setting—the corporate headquarters in the fictional town of Kier—heightens the distress of the small team of employees through the architecture that houses and alienates them during the workday.
As this discussion does not concern the plot, this article is spoiler-free.
The fictional tech company is brought to life through studio sets built by the production design team led by Jeremy Hindle, alongside interior and exterior shots of the stunning Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey. Designed by Eero Saarinen in the late 1950s, the 2-million-square-foot modernist complex has housed American telecommunications giants throughout its history and now hosts local startups in both new and original spaces, following a 2013 renovation by Alexander Gorlin Architects. However, the intersection of cinematography—through the desaturated lens of Jessica Lee Gagné—and Hindle's visual effects dampens the atmosphere of the space, lending the concrete, glass, and metal envelope a cold, oppressive, and inescapable character. The camera work thus establishes the tone of a containment vessel that leaves occupants feeling powerless, whether due to the labyrinthine corridors or the massive structure surrounding them. Yet, the sequences of this dystopian production do not seek to render the space logically comprehensible. Uncanniness is a tool "Severance" deploys from its very first minutes, and a guided tour in the third episode only amplifies this sensation.
