"It's not a film of Amaya. It is Amaya. She's alive." "But she's not alive. She's a computer simulation." "Explain the difference." "She's going through fixed motions." "As are you. As am I. As is everything else."

Loved the elements of philosophy, modern physics, and Silicon Valley in this intelligent science fiction mini-series. The central premise, that everything in the universe is acting essentially like a ball on a billiard table when struck - that is, deterministically, albeit with many more variables - is fascinating. It begs the question, do we really have free will? It's mind-boggling to think about that, and it's mind-boggling to conceive of a computer capable of modelling it all in a way that allows both forward and backward projection, and that's the premise here. I was also caught completely off-guard by some elements of drama that director (and writer) Alex Garland gives us starting in the very first episode, and it was in a good way. It's a very strong cast too, led by Sonoya Mizuno and including so many fine characterizations that it would be tedious to list them all out. There were a few moments of questionable motivations (even taking into account the film's premise, ha!) and I was not a fan of how it ended, but this is a smart, worthwhile series.