--- title: "Mr. Robot" year: 2015 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/mr-robot" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-09-17T03:09:39.310493+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T03:09:39.647642+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mr. Robot (2015) Created by Sam Esmail · MPA TV-MA · Crime, Drama **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 81 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* Nobody in it is ever in the middle of the frame, and nobody in it is ever all right > Sam Esmail’s hacker drama looks like nothing else on television and, for the most part, earns it. Rami Malek carries four series on a stare and a voiceover. The second series loses its way for a while; the rest is as good as its admirers say. ## Synopsis Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) is a hacker. He breaks into the lives of strangers at night and punishes the ones he finds wanting, and he tells us about it: we are the imaginary friend he talks to because he cannot talk to anyone else, not his childhood friend Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday), not Shayla Nico (Frankie Shaw). Then a man in a battered jacket calling himself Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) turns up and asks for his help bringing down a corporation, and Elliot has to decide whether he is a revolutionary, a lunatic or a trap. Darlene (Carly Chaikin) is already part of the group. Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström) is watching from the corporation’s side. ## Review Sam Esmail’s series began on 24 June 2015 and ran for four series and 45 episodes. It was made for USA Network, a channel not then known for anything this odd, and it is as good as most of its admirers say. It is about a young hacker recruited to bring down a corporation, and it is really about a man who cannot trust his own head. The series is at its best when it keeps those two things in the same frame. Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) is a hacker who breaks into other people’s lives at night. He tells us about it. The voiceover is addressed to “friend”, meaning us, and Esmail makes clear from the first minutes that we are something Elliot has invented because there is nobody else. That got at us more than we expected. Malek plays him with wide, unblinking eyes and a body that wants to fold in on itself, and the first time he said hello we felt spoken to by someone who had not been listened to in years. Tod Campbell and Tim Ives shot it, and they are the reason it looks like nothing else on television. Faces are pushed into the bottom corner of the frame with a great deal of empty room above them. Two people talking are placed at opposite edges, as if a third person between them had stepped out. By the third episode it is simply how this world is. Mac Quayle’s score is cold synthesiser, pulses and low drones. Matthew Munn, Stephen Beatrice and Anastasia White give Elliot a flat with a mattress and a computer and nothing on the walls. Kim Wilcox, Mairi Chisholm and Catherine Marie Thomas dress him so plainly that you know who he is from the back. Christian Slater plays Mr. Robot, the man in the battered jacket who recruits him, as a preacher of the old anarchist school, and he is loud in a way the series needs. Carly Chaikin’s Darlene is the one who feels like someone you might have met, brittle and funny. Martin Wallström’s Tyrell Wellick, climbing the ladder at the corporation, has learnt charm from a manual, and Stephanie Corneliussen, as his wife Joanna, is the more frightening of the two. Portia Doubleday has the thankless part of Angela, the childhood friend who works for the enemy, and makes it hold. Later, Grace Gummer arrives as an FBI agent, Dominique DiPierro, BD Wong as a figure called Whiterose, and Bobby Cannavale as a fixer named Irving, and each lifts it when it needs lifting. It does need lifting. The second series, twelve episodes from July 2016, is where Esmail took over directing every episode himself, and it is the stretch where the style runs ahead of the story. Elliot spends a long time doing almost nothing in a controlled way, and there is a piece of information the show withholds for weeks that most viewers will have worked out in minutes. We were bored, and then irritated at being bored by something this well made. The voiceover, so exact in the first series, starts telling us what the frame has already shown. Niels Arden Oplev directed the pilot with a plainness that Esmail, left alone with it, does not always keep. The debts are open. [*Fight Club*](https://film.one/film/fight-club) and [*Taxi Driver*](https://film.one/film/taxi-driver) are quoted so directly that the show is asking you to notice, and in the first series that is a weakness. What gets it clear of them is that Esmail is more interested in Elliot getting better than in Elliot being right. The third and fourth series are about the cost of what happened in the first two, and the last of them, thirteen episodes in 2019, is the best thing here, for reasons we will not go into. The editors, Franklin Peterson and Rosanne Tan among many, do their sharpest work there, moving between places and states of mind without once losing us. Watch it in the dark, one episode at a time, and resist the next one. It was built in hours and it wants the gap between them. The 15 certificate is fair: there is violence, and one scene in the first series we still cannot watch without looking at the wall. *Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (10) - **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Mr Robot a modern classic and one of the most original shows in years, praising its mesmerising tale of hacktivism, conspiracies and corporate evil along with standout performances from Rami Malek and Christian Slater. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/dec/11/best-tv-of-2015-no-7-mr-robot) - **The Times** (90/100, inferred): The review presents Mr Robot as a timely, must-see thriller about computer hackers, highlighting its strong reception, high critical scores and the compelling performance of star Rami Malek. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/with-their-heads-in-the-cloud-8023fjj9jjj) - **Variety**, Brian Lowry (80/100, inferred): The critic highlights Rami Malek's breakout performance as the tortured hacker protagonist and notes the series' intriguing, paranoid thriller vibe that feels like a daring risk for the USA Network. It praises the jittery British thriller feel and absurdist elements reminiscent of Brazil. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/tv/reviews/mr-robot-review-usa-network-1201523347/) - **Vulture**, Matt Zoller Seitz (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the second season a deeper, more ambitious dive into Elliot's psyche and the show's themes of identity and society, expanding its scope while retaining its distinctive style and energy despite some narrative risks. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2016/07/mr-robot-season-two-review.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Keith Uhlich (75/100, inferred): The critic calls the series fun and enthralling in execution thanks to Malek's natural charisma and Esmail's writing against the powerful and moneyed. It singles out the stylish pilot direction and the grabber scenes that make the ridiculous premise work. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/mr-robot-tv-review-803461/) - **The AV Club**, Dennis Perkins (B-): The pilot is entertainingly derivative of other thrillers but benefits from a compelling lead performance by Rami Malek as the socially awkward hacker Elliot. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/mr-robot-functions-best-when-it-s-most-human-1798184167) - **The Ringer**, Miles Surrey (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the series finale for revealing the show's true focus on humanity, trauma, and personal growth rather than just hacking, calling it a near-perfect ending to a near-perfect series that evolved into something deeply empathetic and moving. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2019/12/24/tv/mr-robot-finale-review) - **Paste**, Brogan Morris (85/100, inferred): The critic views Mr. Robot's first season as an improved, more compassionate version of Fight Club, praising its inclusivity, handling of mental illness, and earnest social critique over the original's cynicism and misogyny. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/mr-robot/how-mr-robot-took-fight-club-and-perfected-it-for) - **Den of Geek**, Frances Roberts (80/100, inferred): The pilot establishes a promising, stylish cyber-thriller with strong thematic ambitions. The critic singles out its willingness to tackle weighty ideas about disaffection, capitalism and anarchy as its main strength. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/mr-robot-episode-1-review-eps10hellofriendmov/) - **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (75/100, inferred): The review praises the first season's strong cast, especially Rami Malek and Christian Slater, its engaging premise, and cinematic qualities, calling it a surprise hit with potential despite some derivative elements. [Read](https://collider.com/mr-robot-season-1-blu-ray-review/) ## Details - **Created by:** Sam Esmail - **Creator:** Sam Esmail - **Director:** Sam Esmail, Jim McKay, Niels Arden Oplev, Tricia Brock, Nisha Ganatra, Deborah Chow, Christoph Schrewe - **Writer:** Sam Esmail, Kyle Bradstreet, Adam Penn, Randolph Leon, Courtney Looney, Kor Adana, Amelia Gray, Robbie Pickering, David Iserson, Kate Erickson, Lucy Teitler - **Cinematography:** Tod Campbell, Tim Ives - **Editor:** Franklin Peterson, Justin Krohn, John Petaja, Rosanne Tan, Philip Harrison, Joel T. Pashby, Chris Guiral, Melissa Lawson Cheung, Sam Seig, Sharidan Williams Sotelo, Andrew 'Drew' Thompson, Joe Bini, Joe Leonard - **Music:** Mac Quayle, Matthew Robert Cooper - **Production design:** Anastasia White, Stephen Beatrice, Matthew Munn - **Costume design:** Catherine Marie Thomas, Kim Wilcox, Mairi Chisholm - **Producer:** Christian Slater, Rami Malek, Gregg Tilson - **Cast:** Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson; Christian Slater as Mr. Robot; Carly Chaikin as Darlene Alderson; Martin Wallström as Tyrell Wellick; Stephanie Corneliussen as Joanna Wellick; Grace Gummer as Dominique DiPierro; BD Wong as Whiterose; Bobby Cannavale as Irving - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 24 June 2015 - **Genres:** Crime, Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6HGuJC--rk ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: buy $16.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Golden Globes 2016: Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (won); Best Television Series – Drama (won) - Primetime Emmy Awards 2016: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (won); Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) (won) - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film 2016: Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (won) - Writers Guild of America Award for Television: New Series 2016: Writers Guild of America Award for Television: New Series (won) ## If you liked this - *Utopia* (2013): British conspiracy thriller with bright yellow frames and a far crueller streak - *The Conversation* (1974), Fi1m 92: Gene Hackman listens to strangers for a living and it costs him his sleep — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-conversation.md) - *Fight Club* (1999), Fi1m 81: The film Esmail quotes most openly; angrier, funnier, less kind to its narrator — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fight-club.md) - *Halt and Catch Fire* (2014), Fi1m 84: Four people build computers in Texas and slowly learn to like each other — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/halt-and-catch-fire.md) - *Persona* (1966): Bergman’s two women in one house, and the question of who is speaking --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/mr-robot