20 Best TV Shows Of 2018

14. Maniac

The basic premise Of Maniac is that it follows two people struggling with different issues - Annie (Emma Stone) has BPD, while Owen (Jonah Hill) is schizophrenic - and partake in a new trial offered by Dr Mantleray (Justin Theroux) that promises to cure all ills.

Of course, the show is much more than that. It's a quite literal drug trip into their minds, and with that comes all kinds of fantastical elements. Director Cary Fukunaga injects it with all the visual splendour that helped win him so much acclaim on True Detective, crafting a reality-bending trip to a world that's just ever so off from our own, and perfectly complemented by writer Patrick Somerville. Unsurprisingly, then, it gets very weird at times, including a Raising Arizona riff centred around a lemur, and a fantasy epic yarn that echoes Lord of the Rings, with Hill and Stone portraying a variety of characters.

The whole cast is good, but it's Stone who steals the show, with a performance every bit as mesmerising as it is complicated. The key to her performance - and Hill's, to a slightly lesser extent - is the ability to portray various characters in the different scenarios conjured up, but also retaining a sense of who she really is, which then makes the emotional payoff towards the end feel truly earned. Underpinning all of this, as well, is that it's not just an otherworldly tale; Maniac offers up a considered meditation on mental health, and the need for human connection.