''Solos'' is an American dramatic

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

miniseries created by

David Weil David Weil is an American academic and economist who was the nominee to serve as administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the United States Department of Labor in the Biden administration. He previously served in this role during the Obama ...

and produced by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

. It stars

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an ...

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...

Constance Wu Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, fo ...

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV acclaimed period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as D ...

and

Nicole Beharie Nicole Beharie is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in films such as the drama '' American Violet'' (2008), the psychological drama '' Shame'' (2011), the biographical sports drama '' 42'' (2013), and the independent ...

. The seven-episode series premiered on May 21, 2021 on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

in UK, United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, India, New Zealand and later that year in additional territories.

Premise

The series ponders what it means to be human, arguing that we are connected to others through shared experiences, even in our most isolated moments.

Cast

as Stuart, a patient in an Alzheimer's facility, later revealed to be a memory thief/junkie (by either hacking or by force). His confirmed thefts are Leah, Tom, Peg, Sasha, and Otto, whose memories he stole when Otto was a child, amongst hundreds of other victims. Freeman's character narrates the beginning of each episode and appears in his own. *

as Leah, a scientist in 2024 trying to attempt time travel using "the

Cauchy horizon In physics, a Cauchy horizon is a light-like boundary of the domain of validity of a Cauchy problem (a particular boundary value problem of the theory of partial differential equations). One side of the horizon contains closed space-like geodesics ...

" *

as Tom, an angry businessman who is later revealed to be the adoptive father of Peg. He also plays a robot designed to replace him when he dies. *

as Peg, a senior citizen who joins a space program because she felt invisible. Tom is her adoptive father. *

as Sasha, a woman who has lived in her smart house for 20 years and thinks it is trying to trick her to leave. *

as Jenny, a self-loathing, self-destructive woman who is in a waiting room and doesn't know why *

as Nera, a pregnant woman who gives birth during a blizzard lockdown to a son who ages quickly *

as Otto, an NHS worker who steals a cure for Stuart to repair his Alzheimer's, later revealed that Stuart stole all his memories as a child on the day his mother died ("Stuart"). Stevens also voices Tym, the AI Space Shuttle in Peg's episode

Co-starring

* Hannah Dunne as the voice of Leah's sister Rachel ("Leah") * Carol Smolinsky as the voice of Leah's mother ("Leah") *

Jack Quaid Jack Henry Quaid (born April 24, 1992) is an American actor. He made his acting debut with a minor role in the dystopian film '' The Hunger Games'' (2012) before his breakout role as vigilante Hughie Campbell in the Amazon Prime Video superhero s ...

as the voice of Zen, Sasha's smart house ("Sasha") *

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', ''NYPD Blue ...

as Nia, Sasha's best friend ("Sasha") *

Chris Diamantopoulos Chris Diamantopoulos (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor. He played Russ Hanneman in the HBO series '' Silicon Valley'' and starred in the film '' The Three Stooges'', and the TV series ''Good Girls Revolt''. He currently voices Mickey Mouse ...

as the technician downloading Jenny's memories ("Jenny") *

James Monroe Iglehart James Monroe Iglehart (born September 4, 1974) He met his wife Dawn in the Mt. Eden High School show choirBlank, Matthew"The Genie of Broadways Aladdin James Monroe Iglehart"playbill.com, March 18, 2014 and they married in 2002. Filmography ...

as the voice of the supervising technician overseeing the procedure ("Jenny") * Jacob is played by McCarrie McCausland at 15, Sephen Gray at 2, Percy Daggs IV at 6, and Andre Robinson at 11 ("Nera")

Episodes

Production

greenlighted the series in October 2020. In February 2021, the title was announced. Weil is executive producer, and Laura Lancaster,

Sam Taylor-Johnson Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson OBE (née Taylor-Wood; 4 March 1967) is a British filmmaker and photographer. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's ''Nowhere Boy'', a film based on the childhood experiences of The Beatles songwriter an ...

and Pixie Wespiser produced. Weil makes his directorial debut directing three episodes and Taylor-Johnson directs two. Other directors for the series include

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

and Tiffany Johnson. The cast was announced in February 2021, and their characters' names were announced in April 2021.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...

from October 9 to November 19, 2020.

Release

The series debuted on

on May 21, 2021, for the UK, United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, India, New Zealand. Other territories debuted later that year.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the miniseries holds an approval rating of 47% based on 30 critic reviews and an average rating of 5.85/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A star-studded cast and a smattering of truly lovely moments can't save ''Solos'' from feeling stranded in space." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Amazon Video original series 2021 American television series debuts 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming English-language television shows Television series by Amazon Studios