The Reel Review
Diane Lane stars in this Hulu original series about a post-apocalyptic world, where almost every living male on the planet, any person or animal with a Y chromosome, suddenly dies – except one, the son of the new U.S. president (Lane). It is based on the 2002 DC Comics book series from Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra.
The ten episode series features some interesting post-apocalyptic visuals and Lane’s consistently strong acting as the lawmaker who ends up the new nation’s leader when the men die. Beyond that, the series is saddled with anemic dialogue and convoluted plot. Amber Tamblyn, channeling Meghan McCain, is the former president’s daughter trying to overthrow the new president.
Curiously, every man in the show’s first episode appears to be either a raging ass or a bumbling idiot. As the “last man,” Ben Schnetzer (Pride, Snowden) is Yorick, a maddeningly naive and selfish man-child who will have us all rooting for the end of humanity. Besides Lane, the other best part of this show is Ashley Romans, as the mysterious agent tasked with guarding the new president and carrying out her directives.
Despite its line up of seven female directors and its intention to expand the comic book series by exploring the definitions of gender and gender roles with a trans character, the worst sin of all for this post-apocalyptic show is that it is boring, lacking an ability to capture the imagination of its unusual, interesting premise. Its political drama is also a rehash of our current real life drama – making this, for many, less than appealing entertainment fodder. Other efforts in the sci-fi genre (the early years of The Walking Dead, Children of Men) have been done way better and not required such an exhausting investment in time from its viewers.
REEL FACTS
• Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk) originally was cast as Yorick, the last male, but left the series prior to filming along with Timothy Hutton and Imogene Poots.
• Y: The Last Man originally was planned as a movie in 2007 but after being shelved following years mired in development hell, FX began developing it as a series in 2015.
• Y: The Last Man was filmed in and around Toronto, Canada.
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