Upcoming Netflix Series Starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Takes Place in a Psychiatric Institution

The first images from an upcoming Netflix series starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill have been released. The show is called “Maniac,” and is based off a Norwegian comedy by the same name.

In fact, you can watch all 10 episodes of the original “Maniac” on Netflix right now. And although we don’t know how much the newer series will stray from the original plot, here’s what we do know.

The original “Maniac,” which was released in 2014, takes places in a psychiatric institution. The protagonist, Espen, (played by Espen PA Lervaag, who co-created the show), lives in a fantasy world. As a piece in IndieWire describes it:

While staying at a mental facility, Espen winds through a series of fantasies that feature fictional versions of himself and hospital staff. These range from “Lord of the Rings”-style adventures to him being the star of a sex comedy’s American football team.

In the original, every episode bounces back and forth between Espen in his fantasy and the reality of the psychiatric hospital. It’s unclear whether he is diagnosed with a specific mental illness in the series. As Steve Greene from IndieWrie wrote, “You get the idea that this guy is fueled by lust and escapism and not a whole lot else.”

It’s too soon to tell whether the newer, star-studded version of “Maniac” will be a good, bad or neutral influence on how society sees psychiatric hospitals and the patients inside of them. Deadline reported the characters in the new series are actually living through a pharmaceutical trial gone awry, a plot which seems to stray from the original. The photos also indicate the setting might be futuristic, while the original series took place in a more traditional psychiatric hospital setting.