Ben Stiller's Severance thriller series offers a new solution to work-life balance in teaser trailer

Director Ben Stiller’s new Apple TV+ drama is bringing a new meaning to work/life balance. The streamer has shared a teaser trailer for Severance, which is described as a “workplace thriller” and centers around people who choose to not think about work while at home—like, at all.

While the series poster makes a play on the popular comedy The Office, based on the clip, Severance feels more akin to The Stepford Wives or The Truman Show, existing in a dystopian world slightly removed from our own. Adam Scott’s character Mark Scout leads a team at the mysterious Lumon Industries. The company’s employees have undergone an irreversible “severance” procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives.

While on the clock and working on the sterile floor of the Lumon Corporation (which they emphasize is a good one), they sit in barren offices, roll a red ball in a circle to one another, and shake maracas under multicolored lights. When they’re at home, they share dinners with friends and loved ones, and carry out daily chores, unable to recall any of the things they’ve done during their 9-5.