'Solos' review: Single-character sci-fi anthology has its limitations 

WHAT IT'S ABOUT A sci-fi anthology series packed with A-listers, "Solos" plays like the minimalist cousin of "Black Mirror." Each of the seven episodes except for the finale involves a different on-screen character engaged in a monologue or conversation built around the interplay of technology and humanity.

Plotlines include a dying man meeting the identical robot who will replace him; a physicist pursuing a time-travel breakthrough who comes into contact with her past and future selves; and another character battling with a smart home device after spending 20 years locked inside following the onset of a viral pandemic.

The cast includes Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, Helen Mirren, Uzo Aduba, Constance Wu, Nicole Beharie, Dan Stevens and Morgan Freeman. "Solos" is created by David Weil, while episode directors include Zach Braff and Sam Taylor-Johnson.

MY SAY This is a resonant moment for a series examining the fundamental loneliness at the heart of the human condition and the unreliability of technology as a lasting salve for it. We have all spent a large portion of the past year as isolated as these characters, with Zoom and other forms of digital connection having replaced the public square.

But there's a reason the whole notion of a single-character, one-act drama remains more common in theater than on film and TV, which tend to favor subtlety rather than theatricality. There's a high bar for maintaining a compelling on-screen monologue for the length of each episode, spanning roughly between 20 and 30 minutes.

Weil assembles the right cast to manage this, of course, but through a viewing of the first four episodes, only Aduba seems to really understand how to deliver exactly what the material demands.

The series commences with the Zach Braff-directed episode starring Hathaway as Leah, who must play opposite two versions of herself as she works to unlock a secret to traveling through time in what appears to be a cozy, technology-laden basement.

Hathaway, an excellent and strangely underrated actor given her Oscar-winning pedigree, gives her usual performance filled with passion and conviction. But she has to contend with dialogue built around obscure concepts like a cauchy horizon (it's a physics thing; don't worry, this critic had to Wikipedia it too) and tear-streaked moments rivaling her "I Dreamed a Dream" showstopper in "Les Misérables."

The same basic issues afflict the Anthony Mackie and Helen Mirren episodes. These are great actors asked to carry the burden of providing reams of exposition, while presenting characters worth caring about engaged in a complex narrative, all while subject to the severe conceptual limitations.

Aduba, the star of the fourth episode, benefits from a higher caliber of writing and the sadly relatable drama of her traumatized character Sasha afraid to venture outside decades after a pandemic.

But she also provides a full and rich sense of this person, cycling through a fusillade of emotions that clearly convey the stakes of the moment as she fights with the technology that has stood in her way.

BOTTOM LINE Aduba's episode stands out among the first four episodes of "Solos," which collectively illustrate how difficult it is to pull off single-character drama on-screen.