Severance is not only another win for Apple TV+, but it continues to showcase Ben Stiller's range as a director. The series follows a program at the biotech giant Lumon, which allows employees to separate their non-work memories from their personal life. On the surface, this sounds like the perfect way to manage work-but in true science fiction fashion, there's a horrifying twist to the procedure. Stiller serves as the director and executive producer of Severance, directing six of the nine episodes that make up the first season. It's rather fitting because Severance shares a bit in common with his 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Based on the 1939 short story of the same name, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty also stars Stiller as the eponymous Mitty, who works at Life magazine. The magazine is slated to go digital, and for the final issue, legendary photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) has sent Mitty a photograph that he believes contains "the quintessence of Life", intending for it to be the cover photo. However, the photo never came in the mail, which finds Mitty embarking on a journey halfway around the world to find O'Connell and the missing photograph before incoming manager Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott) catches on to things.
Like Severance, Mitty features duality as part of its narrative. While Severance chooses to focus on the lives of its "outies" and "innies", Mitty explores the frequent daydreams that Mitty has concerning his job and his co-worker Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). In these daydreams, Mitty is a brave explorer with a thick French accent; he races through a burning building to save Cheryl's puppy; he engages in a fight with Hendricks that has all the gravity-defying action of a modern-day superhero blockbuster. But in the real world, he sticks to a safe but comfortable routine: he keeps track of his expenses via checkbook, he checks eHarmony to try and leave Cheryl a "wink" but fails to do so, and often stares out into space. As the film progresses, Mitty grows more adventurous - leaping feet first into the rough, choppy waves of the ocean to skateboarding through the steep roads of Iceland. Similarly, in Severance the "innies" start to seek more information about their "outies" and what Lumon's plans for the severance program are.
Both Mitty and Severance also explore the crushing effects of capitalism and how it can have a negative effect on people's lives. In Severance, even though the Lumon employees think they're getting a good deal with their severance package, the toll of a double life starts to wreak its toll on them. One employee, Helly (Britt Lower), attempts to resign but her "outie" turns down the request, which eventually leads to her attempting to commit suicide. Another employee, Irving (John Turturro), has a relationship with his co-worker Burt (Christopher Walken); this leads to a moment of pure anguish when Irving discovers that Burt's "outie" is already in another relationship. Mitty isn't quite as grim, but it makes it very clear that Life transitioning to a digital format will see numerous layoffs. Mitty, despite all of his efforts to find the photo, is fired when Hendricks finally learns he doesn't have it.
Perhaps the biggest connection between both projects is the presence of Scott, who plays Hendricks in Mitty and Mark Scout in Severance. While Hendricks is more of an arrogant "business bro" character, Mark shares a lot in common with Mitty. He is weighed down by the death of his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), seeking solace in the bottom of a bottle; Mitty took the death of his father extremely hard and had to abandon his passions, including skateboarding, to take care of his family. Lumon's severance package serves as an escape for Mark in the same way that Mitty's daydreams serve as a way for him to escape the ho-hum pull of life. But like Mitty, Mark's world is shaken up: after receiving a letter from former Lumon employee Petey (Yul Vasquez) he's drawn into a series of disturbing events that cause him to consider quitting Lumon - especially when he learns that Gemma is still alive - and working at Lumon as wellness counselor Ms. Casey.
Ultimately, the two diverge due to their endings: one is uplifting, while the other is Black Mirror levels of bleak. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ends with Mitty discovering the photograph in the last place he'd have thought to look - in a wallet that O'Connell gave to his mother (Shirley MacLaine). He also gains the courage that seemed to only exist in his daydreams, as he tells Hendricks off and finally talks to Cheryl. Severance also has Scout becoming more and more outspoken, leading to the penultimate episode of Season 1, "What's For Dinner?" when he tells his neighbor Mrs. Selvig (Patricia Arquette) that he plans to quit his job. Given that Mrs. Selvig is also his boss Harmony Cobel — and has grown disillusioned with Lumon herself — this only makes the season finale "The We We Are" hit that much harder when Mark is forcibly snapped back to his "outie" life. While Mitty was able to achieve some measure of freedom and control over his life, Mark hasn't.
Though The Secret Life of Walter Mitty received a mixed reception upon its release, its tale of a man breaking free from his self-imposed confines has led to the film gaining cult status. And those same themes are present in Severance, albeit with a darker spin. With Severance renewed for a second season by Apple TV+, it remains to be seen if Stiller will continue to follow the same path that Mitty did or if the show will grow into something else. But if you're looking for something similar to the show and/or need a pick-me-up after that crushing ending, you know where to look.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is available to stream on Hulu and HBO Max. Season 1 of Severance is available to stream on Apple TV+.