By skyforbes 
You see a modern office building. A guy wearing a hoodie enters the building. It is a large office, but something LOOKS and FEELS industrial about it, like it’s a factory.
You hear the voiceover of actor Adam Scott, “Hello. My name is Mark S….”
He passes by a portion of the building with the portrait of a large face. It looks like an older white man. It must be a tribute to the founder of this fictional company. Like if you have a portrait of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk in their buildings.
You see a metal tray. Mark S. puts on a watch. You also see a mobile phone, ID badges, and a lanyard in the tray.
“..and I have of my own free accord elected to undergo the procedure known as Severance.”
Severance is a metaphor for office life and how your workplace creates a PERSONA of you that is fully indoctrinated to the AGENDA of your organization. Mark S. removed his hoodie and street clothes and is now wearing a well-pressed blue suit and tie as a security guard scans all over his body.
He inserted the blue ID badge inside a notch. I think it’s like a key card. He enters the elevator. The elevator kinda shrank and became smaller. The elevator shook and buzzed for a bit. Mark’s eyes rolled. But then….
Ding!
You hear a soft ding sound. Mark opens his eyes, and he’s a completely new person.
He entered the office floor, but it’s unlike any office you’ve ever seen. There are no people in the office. There is a set of four green accent chairs and a square coffee table in the middle. There’s no front desk. In a real office, or in a fictional office like the one in Suits, there are a bunch of employees walking around. A delivery guy might rush in the background. But here, it’s just an empty office. He walked towards his cubicle, and it’s just a cubicle for two, and the other side is empty. Mark S. is alone. His voiceover continues, “I give consent to sever my memories between my work life and my personal life.”
In the office, Mark S. types something on his computer.
At home, he drinks beer and removes a dead bird from his attic.
You see actor Britt Lower. She is getting operated in a medical room. But Mark’s voiceover continued, “I acknowledge that once the procedure is complete, I will be unable to access my personal memories while on the severed floor…”
Four people are now walking on the severed floor. You then see Mark, Britt Lower, and two older guys posing for a group picture. The photographer aimed his photo and said, “Say.…GRATITUDE.”
The camera flashes, and you hear the SNAP of the camera.
“….nor will I retain work memories when I return home at the end of the day.”
On the street, Mark S. almost bumped into Britt Lower, who was crossing the street. Mark apologized. They did not recognize each other.
You see Mark inside an all-white interview room. “I made these statements freely.”
It cuts to Mark typing something on his work computer.
Irving (John Turturro) arrived at his desk, “Hi kids! What’s for dinner?” he jokingly asked.
“We warned you,” Dylan (Zach Cherry) said.
“About the greeting?” Irving asked. “You were kidding.”
“We hate it,” Dylan declared. He asked Mark a question, “How many reasons did we come up with?”
“Eight,” Mark said.
Knock! Knock!
A man knocked and walked into the room. It’s Milchick (Tramell Tillman). He feels like an authority figure, like a manager or someone from HR.
Irving stood up, “Hi, Mr. Milchick!”
“Mark, can I have a word,” Milchick said.
Mark and Milchik went into an office. You see Harmony (Patricia Arquette). She feels like an even bigger boss than Milchick. “Petey is no longer with this company,” Harmony told Mark.
You hear the voiceover of Petey (Yul Vasquez), “I’m sorry, Mark. You guys are one of my favorite office friendships.”
It cuts to Mark wiping a framed photo of Petey, Mark, Dylan, and Irving.
It cuts back to the boss’s office. “What happened?” Mark asked.
“We’d love to tell you,” Milchick said, “but unfortunately, non-disclosure policy forbids.”
“I confer upon you the advance role of Department Chief,” Harmony told Mark. “Congratulations.”
She traded his ID keycard for a similar ID keycard.
“A handshake is available upon request,” Harmony said.
“Thank you. May I have a handshake?” Mark asked.
Harmony stared at Mark for a second too long. She looked at him from head to toe. She smiled, but did not give a handshake.
Mark left the office and went into the elevator. The scene warped again, revealing that he is back to his human self and logged out of his office self.
It cuts to a diner at night. Petey suddenly sat in front of Mark. A puzzled Mark looked at Petey, “Do I know you?”
“My name is Petey. I’m from work.” he told Mark.
“So, were friends?” Mark asked.
“I’m your best friend,” Petey said.
It cuts to Helly (Britt Lower) lying down at the boardroom table. She woke up seemingly surprised.
“Nothing is what they say,” Petey said.
It cuts to Helly, Dylan, and Mark dancing in the office.
“I used to think it would take a monster to put someone in a place like that office, especially if the person was himself,” Petey said.
It cuts to papayas perfectly sliced/arranged into a floral design. Dylan picked the fruit using a toothpick.
You see the nefarious face of Burt (Christopher Walken).
It cuts to a room with 39 screens (I counted) with black-and-white smiling mouths of different people. What the f***? You also see Kier Eagan (Marc Geller), the founder of this fictional company, Lumon. He DOES NOT look like a human.
Petey continued, “You really know what’s going on down there? You’d find the beginning of a very long answer.”
I love this because I couldn’t guess the plot or the storyline. What is the catch? The big ‘thing’ of the story? What the f*** is happening here? You did get a tiny dash of clue. There was a 2-second scene (two seconds, folks) of Mark reading a newspaper clipping.
Headline: END SEVERANCE!
Severance robs the workers of moral self-governance. One may spend one’s day hacking children to bits…
Holy sh**. That’s horrible. But I think Severance is the fantasy of every company or organization. You have workers who work like slaves and robots. They don’t think critically or morally, regardless of what the organization does. They also don’t bring their emotional baggage from home. Severance HACKED your brain to create the perfect employee.
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