From Kibanda Pictures, guided by the steady hands of Likarion Wainaina and the creative penmanship of Brian Munene, the duo responsible for films like The Caller and shows like County 49, Subterranea, the latest Kenyan series on Showmax, promises to be one of a kind. Subterranea is not only Kenya’s first-ever sci-fi series, it also introduces a new and daringly inventive story structure for a narrative set in the country. Like a meme going around the internet, I find myself debating whether Subterranea is sci-fi or fantasy, sharing a lot of thematic and stylistic similarities in a world where sci-fi shows like Severance and Black Mirror air side by side with post-apocalyptic fantasies like Fall Out and Snow Piecer. In any case, I am pleased that Kenya, a country chockfull of crime dramas and telenovelas, has established a presence with this show.
In the series, eight individuals, there by their own volition and identified only by colours and guided by the voice of an AI, are engaged in a synchronized routine within a monotonous bunker in a psychological experiment meant to test the effects of close-quarter secluded relationships on humans. The varying personalities of these individuals immediately emerge, succumbing to generic sci-fi tropes. Black (Peter Kawa, County 49) as the group’s moral compass, Red (Melvin Alusa, Country Queen) as the spiritedly wounded man, Pink (Foi Wambui, Shanga) as the overly bubbly girl masking trauma, Orange (Makena Kahuha, Kina) as the hot, unbothered one, Brown (Biko Nyongesa, Sense8) as the useful albeit carefree talker, Yellow (Pauline Komu, Groove Theory) as the religious maternal figure, Grey (Nice Githinji, The Caller) the mysterious one with a mean demeanour, and finally Green (newcomer Chintu Chudasama) as the loner with antisocial tendencies.
The premise is compelling, but nothing about Subterranea at first seems particularly exceptional. It hovers closely to a typical science fiction series setup and doesn’t do much to break out of that mould. The first episode carries a lot of punch, having to introduce the concept and its characters while banking most of the intrigue in slow, muted, and understated reveals. This episode ends with, as high as stakes go, a good understanding of the characters’ dynamics and a beckoning disposition of what is to come.
The second episode left me deeply unsatisfied with the series’ direction, while the third managed to pick up the pieces and build a captivating infusion of optimism. On one hand, Subterranea presents ethical and philosophical thought experiments, such as the trolley problem, in a direct and oversimplified manner, occasionally incorporating the robot nature of computer conversation into its human interaction that makes stuff like security questions feel excessively hammy. On the other hand, it delves deeply into the complexity of mental illness and its traumatic manifestations. Detached from its continuity, the episodes are very character-driven, slowly peeling off character by character, and if these first three episodes are anything to go by, my feelings will greatly depend on how they handle these individual characters. Seeing an episode of dull divergence of familial conflict where a mother can run away from her children to emerge later lovingly to drift into a pure dramatic high of sibling rivalry and over-dependence is a real whiplash.
Away from these intriguing glimpses of their lives in the outside world, inside the bunker, however, the inconsistencies in the nature of the character’s reality, despite being the whole gist of the show, do very little to win me over. There’s simply no truth to what’s happening within the confines of this bunker, no cause to care about the outcome just yet. One episode ends with one character at the edge of their sanity, compromising everyone in the process, only to start the next with them as the leader and caregiver of everyone else without any consequence. From the exceptionally heightened stakes that the characters don’t seem to fully comprehend enough the more the show progresses, or the rushed thought bubbles that enclose the episodes, like Green’s primed existential loneliness that though good, would feel so powerful if it lasted longer than only a few hours in episode 3, the show is yet to really suck me in.
Despite it all, it’s undeniable that Subterranea is a perfect ground for experimental filmmaking – director Wainaina’s forte – and exceptional acting. The sets, direction, and atmosphere are intricately simple yet effective, never drawing attention to themselves but quickly becoming woven into the show’s fabric. Introspective performances by Chudasama and Kahuha are impressive, and looking at the cast list, I’m curious to see what everyone else does with the cameras on them.
With 5 episodes to go, Subterranea is one I will have to watch unfold to find exactly where it settles within my heart. The show, plagued with the promise of sci-fis like The Maze Runner and The 100, has so far been carried by the mystery and intrigue of its premise, but only time will tell where it stands as a sum of its parts. For Wainaina and his team, what they have been able to achieve with the show is laudable, not only for their own portfolio but for storytelling and growth of the film and television industry in Kenya. Having brought us the first tints of a Kenyan superhero film with Supa Modo and now locking fragments of our cultural personas into science fiction, my confidence is riding on Wainaina steering this into a fulfilling and worthwhile crest in a sea of other global science fiction, and fantasy, while also inspiring more Kenyan filmmakers to be bold and explore more speculative genres rarely seen on our local screens.
Subterranea is now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes every Thursday.
