TV viewing can get a bit of sluggish in the summertime, particularly for drama lovers — many networks and streamers don’t launch their massive, prestigious reveals till fall.
That makes August the right time to atone for sequence you’ll have missed — like Station Eleven, a implausible drama that a few of us on the Watch With Us workforce skipped when it debuted in 2021. (The present is a few pandemic, and on the time, it hit a bit of too shut to dwelling.)
However we extremely advocate watching this restricted sequence on HBO Max in August 2025 — right here’s why.
It Depicts a Put up-Apocalyptic World That Feels Actual
Himesh Patel and Matilda Lawler in Station Eleven HBO
Station Eleven takes place in two timelines — on the very starting of a flu-like pandemic and 20 years later. The virus is comparable to COVID-19, inflicting chilly and flu-like signs and spreading quickly — however in contrast to what all of us skilled, there are not any delicate strains. By the point the narrative picks up 20 years later, the one individuals alive are these with pure immunity.
The present, based mostly on the 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel, eerily appears to predict components of COVID-19. Although real-world losses have been devastating, Station Eleven imagines how a lot worse it may have been — with out resorting to zombie-virus dramatics like The Final of Us. It’s lifelike, not sci-fi — and that’s what makes it so scary. Watching it’d make you mirror otherwise on how society got here via the pandemic.
It’s a Story In regards to the Significance of Storytelling
Mackenzie Davis in ‘Station Eleven’ HBO
The primary character, Kirsten Raymonde (Mackenzie Davis), was a baby actress showing in a manufacturing of King Lear on the primary day of the pandemic alongside well-known actor Arthur Leander (Gael García Bernal). Leander dies of a coronary heart assault onstage — sarcastically unrelated to the virus spreading uncontrolled that very night time. The mixture of those two occasions modifications Kirsten’s life perpetually. (The younger model of Kirsten is performed by Matilda Lawler.) Twenty years later, she’s a part of a theater troupe known as the Touring Symphony, performing Shakespeare in cities throughout the Nice Lakes area. How survivors — and people born after the pandemic — reply to these performances reveals how very important tales are.
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There’s additionally one other story binding the characters: a graphic novel known as Station Eleven, given to Kirsten by Arthur earlier than he died. Her data of it and its creators turns into key to her survival.
‘Station Eleven’ Is One of many Greatest ‘Twin Timelines’ Exhibits Ever
Station Eleven handles flashbacks and time jumps seamlessly, transferring between the pandemic’s onset, the twenty-years-later timeline, and glimpses of life earlier than the outbreak. This further context makes the tales extra impactful — particularly for Jeevan (Himesh Patel, who was nominated for an Emmy for his efficiency), an viewers member at King Lear who finally ends up caring for younger Kirsten when the world falls aside.
For many of its existence, HBO has been the house to among the greatest dramas round. From The Sopranos to The Pitt, the cable channel has persistently delivered sequence which have received a number of awards and numerous followers. As a result of HBO Max has loads of high-quality drama sequence to watch in June, Watch With Us has […]
The flashbacks additionally deepen the arcs of Miranda Carroll (Danielle Deadwyler, one in every of our favourite underappreciated actresses), Arthur’s first spouse, and Elizabeth (Caitlin FitzGerald), his second. These relationships may simply get misplaced within the time jumps, however sturdy performances and sharp manufacturing design preserve the story crystal clear. With its equally sturdy storylines spanning a long time, Station Eleven reveals how previous, current and future are linked — and the way our personal tales can change the world.
Watch Station Eleven on HBO Max.
