Kogonada, formerly known for his video essays and visual art, made his feature debut with 2017’s “Columbus,” a visually stunning two-hander that was met with widespread acclaim. His follow-up, “After Yang” — a Cannes-premiered sci-fi meditation — was also warmly received and further cemented his reputation as a filmmaker with a delicate, contemplative touch.
That momentum, however, came crashing down last year with “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” a $60M time-travel romance starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. The film was savaged by critics and fizzled at the box office.
Kogonada quickly regrouped, heading to Hong Kong to quietly shoot a much smaller project titled “Zi.” The film was intended as a low-budget palette cleanser after the debacle of “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.” The result? Admirable, but also baffling. It premiered at Sundance to mixed reviews.
All of this has now led Kogonada toward television. He’s been tapped to replace Ben Stiller as the primary director for season three of the acclaimed “Severance,” set to direct most, if not all of the episodes.
The Apple TV+ series follows Mark S. (Adam Scott), an employee of Lumon Industries who agrees to undergo a controversial “severance” procedure in which his work memories are surgically separated from his personal ones. What follows is a strange and unsettling exploration of identity, corporate control, and just how much of ourselves we’re willing to give to our jobs.
Back in 2022, Stiller struck gold with the show’s first season — a dystopian, “WTF-did-I-just-watch” office drama with immaculate minimalist world-building. I wasn’t quite as taken with the second season, though it still scored strong reviews.
With Stiller now returning to features, Kogonada stepping in actually makes a lot of sense. His minimalist, contemplative filmmaking style — built around precise visual composition and stillness — feels like a natural fit for the eerie, controlled world of “Severance.”
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.