Britt Lower

In Severance (2022), Britt Lower makes Helly R.'s rebellion felt in the way she moves. Her physical intensity makes the office feel oppressive, even before we have finished thinking through the divided-memory premise. We were unsettled by her resistance, because she makes that arrangement feel like something being done to a person. There is comic agility in the performance too, which stops the anger from becoming monotonous. She is a strong reason to watch.

The route to that performance runs through television comedy as well as drama. A recurring part as Tanya Sitkowsky in Unforgettable (2011–2014) preceded Liz Greenberg in Man Seeking Woman (2015–2017), where she gained notice in a main role. The latter's surreal situations gave her comic timing a useful setting: she could make behaviour believable even when the circumstances were not. That ability matters in Severance, which also needs its actors to take an unnatural situation seriously. She also wrote, directed and starred in the short Circus Person (2020), drawing on her interest in circus performance.

The lead role in Severance asks more of that combination of comic judgement and physical control. Working with director Ben Stiller and creator-writer Dan Erickson, Lower keeps Helly's rebelliousness clear without making every response the same. Alongside Adam Scott, whose performance makes the premise frightening, she gives the office a more physically restless occupant. The first season still takes too long to gather pace. Her energy cannot shorten it, though it gives us a reason to remain patient.

Our view still rests heavily on this one programme, and that deserves acknowledging. Man Seeking Woman supplies evidence that the comic judgement was there before Helly, but we would welcome another substantial lead that asks something different of her. Another comedy would be particularly welcome. Start with Severance, provided a slow first season is not an automatic disqualification.