Excellent series with an extraordinary Kristen Dunst, I love this actress of a magnificent talent who raises the whole series, an excellent screenplay and a nice sarcastic vision of money. A black sarcastic comedy, where we laugh in certain situations and we see the underlying plot on the dramatic side, the whole is very coherent and with this main actress who shines there, she alone ignites the whole series.
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thor20293 December 2020
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SnoopyStyle16 October 2020It's 1992 Orlando-Adjacent. Krystal Stubbs (Kirsten Dunst) is struggling working minimum wage at a water park. Her husband Travis (Alexander Skarsgård) is also struggling selling insurance. He joins Founders American Merchandise which turns out to be a cult-like pyramid scheme run by Obie (Ted Levine). She tries to stock the water park with FAM products but the manager Stan Van Grundegaard refuses. On his FAM superior Cody (Théodore Pellerin)'s urging, Travis stops his life insurance to pay for the system tapes and quits his job. He drives into the swamp and gets eaten by an alligator. With mounting debts, no life insurance, and a repo woman at her door, Krystal is forced to work for Cody within the system. Ernie (Mel Rodriguez) is a nice co-worker at the water park.
It takes a couple of episodes to get into the flow and it does hit a bump or two along the way. Nevertheless, this is a compelling perversion of the American dream. It's a terrific satire. Kirsten Dunst is hitting whole new levels of performances recently. She has left the young ingénue character behind and has landed on a much more interesting mature character type. Two other standout performers are Mel Rodriguez and Théodore Pellerin. It's disappointing to lose this show after one season due to the pandemic. It deserves better. -
yellowgirly14 September 2019I haven't seen a show like this in a while and it is such a refreshing treat. Reminds me of True Blood minus the monsters and the bayou. Kirsten Dunst and everyone in this show totally nail their roles. My only complaint is the accents... I grew up in Florida and as much as Hollywood tries to get it right... Florida is not "the south" so not a whole lot of "twang" going on except for mayyyybbee Jacksonville or along the panhandle since it's so close to the FL/GA line. Other than that? The whole idea of this show is brilliant. Great story, great direction, great acting. Loving it so far.
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ryan-jc-chan17 October 2019SPOILERS
Story: The first episodes had compelling characters and a main character we could understand and relate. Due to some unforeseen writing reasons, she takes the same road her husband drove, literally and figuratively, and finds herself in a predicament seen miles and miles away. This makes the character appear senile and beyond desperate - stupid and reckless. There is a point in the story where she contemplates faking orders to keep her status, days/weeks, especially after finding out her husband did the same thing. Why? Bad writing.
Characters: What was the point to Marti? She had potential but you gave her a drug problem and threw the character under the rug. Either they had big plans to bring down FAM in one season, but it was renewed so they completely threw the story off course.
Acting: Not terrible but good. I love Ernie and Cody.
6/10 for me. Maybe I am spoiled with high caliber shows like breaking bad but this one wasn't for me. Watched 8 episodes so far. -
thasaint-11 September 2019I love Kirsten Dunst. She is perfect for this role and everyone stop body shaming her. Who cares really, I have lived in Florida and 85 percent of the women in the Cent Florida area look like her. No biggie and I think she is sexy!!! Small role by Skaarsgard but the little bit he is in it is terrific. Great music to that early 90's era. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. You have my attention OBAGICF!! Now keep it going.
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matt_sole-372-20820312 June 2021The premise is wonderful, taking down a Pyramid Scheme from the inside.
The cast is stellar and east and every one of hem does a superb job, especially Kirsten Dunst.
The story just gets overly complex and ridiculous too soon. Although I enjoyed the show, I'm glad there's no season 2 as I can't see where they could take the story for another 10 episodes. The writers seemed to have thrown everything at this season that they could possibly think of.
Worth a watch, but you likely will stop caring before the end. -
So many conversations in this show brought back memories of being involved with a multi-level marketing company. It rang so true with the ridiculous motivational recordings and the up-line sponsor pushing you to quit your job and spend more money with the MLM even though you are already massively in debt because of it. And of course the spline sponsor only being concerned with the royalties they will lose if you quit while pretending to be concerned about you.
Brings back memories of all the people I knew who looked, and acted, successful on stage talking about the MLM business opportunity, yet in their real lives they were dead broke and about to lose their homes and marriages.
The MLM motto of, "Fake it, till you make it!" was definitely shown in this show. -
ok-patrick20 August 2019Half way through e01 and I find it hilarious in its sarcasm. There's one more ep out there for which I'm pressing play shortly.
Kirsten Dunst is just shy of 40, far older when we first met her in Interview with a Vampire, and admittedly, I've never been a fan of her acting, however, I'm surprisingly liking her here. Alexander Skarsgård, Ted Levine & Julie Benz are also thrown in the mix.
Worth a shot in my opinion, not sure though as of yet if it can hold any water for a second season though. -
lyninbyron23 January 2020Congratulations to all involved in this show. A great story! I sold Mary Kay cosmetics in 1978. I did two home shows and then realized I would never make enough money for all the effort I put in. I got to keep all the crap I purchased cheaply but it was used at each show, so it got binned and I learnt a VERY valuable lesson. I also hated the sing songs and happy clapping at a Mary Kay convention I had to attend and also hated the pink car we HAD to aspire to own. Weird people! Becoming a God , for me, also had shades of Scientology everywhere. Especially with the cassettes and brain washing. Run people run, save yourselves!
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Milind044 September 2019Its one of the best shows of 2019 period. Dunst nails the lead which has an undertone of Fargo but pretty original in its writing.The supporting cast is great special mention to Théodore Pellerin.The story revolves around a widows chase of an american dream in the forefront of phony capitalism. give it a try if you like quality stuff.
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jellyrhubarb23 August 2019Really enjoyed the first two episodes. Dunst is great and it was so much fun to see Skarsgard acting the fool. Loved the scene in the pool on the floating devices.
The pyramid scheme may be old news but the fun is in the execution. Dunst is fearless. Can't wait for more. -
tkeliher-7801126 September 2020Costumes are great, storyline drags on. Could have been condensed into a 90 minute movie. Kirsten is great in this.
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qui_j18 February 2021This series has a strong start but loses its way very quickly midway during the production. Too much extraneous stuff and subplots get in the way as distractions, and the main story is quickly sidetracked by all of them. By episode 5, one no longer cares about the story but keeps watching in the hope that the series will get back on track. It doesn't! If there's a second season, the writers will have to do a better job than they have done with S1.
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jdkepler29 August 2019The writing, acting, and overall message of this show are incredible...I've watched a lot of shows and this is hands down the best one I've seen in years.
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PennyReviews27 October 2019The series had a slow start, but towards the ending the action picked up. The characters were interesting and the world built up was smoothly done. The performances were pretty good too.
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aceshop326 August 2019Ostensibly about a multilevel marketing scheme (MLM) called FAM, what this show is really about is the American dream, capitalism, and the lies we tell to maintain an air of immense success right around the corner when nothing could be further from the truth. In one of the few series about working-class people, Krystal Stubbs (another iconic character from the truly underrated Kirsten Dunst who should have a million Oscar nominations by now) is a water park employee whose life is tragically upended because of her husband (Alexander Skarsgard, darkly hilarious) snarls, hisses, manipulates, and deceives up the ranks of the same pyramid scheme she despises.
Dunst is spectacular. There is really no other word for it. In her hands, Krystal isn't really an "anti-hero" but someone you actually really root for and empathize with-everything, after all, is for her baby daughter, Destinee! And her relationship with her "superior" (called "upline") Cody (Theodore Pellerin, destined for big things I'm sure) is twisted and delicious.
There's this crazy tone to the series. I've genuinely never seen anything like it. Sure, it's faithful to Florida weirdness but the surreal, weird, dark, and really, really funny is balanced with a tremendous amount of empathy for the working-class characters populating this show. At the end of the day, it's Dunst's show. And like her, the show doesn't give a crap about looking too ugly or being too weird or vicious or surreal or really, really funny. And it definitely doesn't give two hoots about its brutally satirical takedown of the peculiarly American brand of capitalism. -
soelir14 January 2022...but the fact it's been cancelled, when it really deserves another season, means I can't bring myself to give it more.
Kirsten Dunst is, as always, brilliant. But the rest of the cast are great too.
If we have to wait a few years for someone to bring it back, so be it. As long as someone does! Please! -
TechnicJunglist16 September 2019A great start to the series about an early 90's mother determined to thrive despite her late husband's ties to a pyramid scam. Kirsten Dunst and cast are dynamic and the script & setting is so far a winner. In my personal opinion Dunst is a fantastic actress and I'll watch just about anything she's in. Despite being passed over for her phenomenal performance in Fargo here she is again nailing yet another role. I'm hoping this show continues to deliver because I am hooked to see what unfolds next for her character. And yes I will be very suprised if she is not nominated and given her long awaited & well deserved Emmy win. Watch the show. You will not be disappointed.
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loueysmith8 July 2021She really is, her acting is so good in this, a part of me really doesn't like her character!
But I'm not a fan of people who con others, and she does this constantly and shows little remorse while doing it. She plays quite a cold and manipulative character.
On the one hand I really admire her go getter attitude, but on the other, I don't like that she kinda tramples on people who care about her to get what she wants.
This show is listed as a comedy, and it has to be said, I've not laughed once to this and I'm like 7 episodes in!!
I find it more depressing than funny, I found myself feeling sorry for half the cast, it's very intriguing and it's definitely made me wanna keep watching, but it's not funny!
It's also kinda lost my interest at certain moments too, mostly when the big guy comes into it, I find him very irritating and as another character described, a bit of a clown and an obnoxious one at that. But I guess that's the character he's meant to play!
I'd say watch it, but don't expect to laugh! -
Great, satirical look at how many (all?) MLM companies take advantage of hard-working-but uneducated-upwardly-mobile-striving Americans without other resources. I thought the writing and acting was superb. Dunst is fantastic as a single mom widow determined to get out of the deep financial hole her husband dug for her. I loved the portrayal of the DS FLR (dominance-submissoin female led relationship) with the baby-faced Cody character in the second hand of the first season. To whomever found this unbelievable, she tells us why. She doesn't love him, but she needs him, and that she had been faking it to accomplish her goals. She has a kid and needs help! I totally get this ... remember this is 1992. There's no Match.com for her to easily find another life partner willing to help her raise Destinee. He adores her, which is easy to see why. She's cunning, creative, sexy, determined and fun. I think a lot of women settle for an imperfect relationship so that have help raising children when they find themselves unexpectedly alone.
The title ... well I felt that it finally made sense to me in the final five minutes of the first season. Then think back to how the audience at a rally cheers for the upline top of the pyramid at FAM. After I watched this season I watched a YouTube video of an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver that detailed MLM companies and why they are so bad. It's a fantastic watch and I recommend everyone watch it ... in fact if I recommend five people watch it and they each get five people to watch it then it will only take 14 cycles before the whole world has seen it! (And that's why pyramid schemes don't work ... there aren't enough people to put underneath you to pay back everyone who gets onboard when the bottom line is compensation by signing people up and not by selling product.)
I expect the second season to be a hoot and can't wait for it to be released! -
southdavid11 September 2021To add to the unusual nature of the number of networks this show went though, over in the UK our first chance to see it was this year, when it appeared on Netflix. I thought it was decent stuff, with some really good performances but if I'm honest, I'm OK that the show didn't come back for a second season.
Despite both being employed, the Stubbs family of Orlando are struggling financially. This is primarily because Travis (Alexander Skarsgard) is investing his time and money in FAM, a direct sales organisation, essentially a pyramid scheme, led by Obie Garbeau II (Ted Levine). When Travis dies his wife Krystal (Kirsten Dunst) inherits the business and the debt. She tries to leave but is convinced to stay by Travis' line manager Cody and, using her wits and questionable morals, tries to turn the situation to her advantage.
Performances all round are good, none more so than the two principle leads, Kirsten Dunst - who has been doing more good TV work in the last few years and Theodore Pellerin, who I don't remember having seen much of before, though I did watch "The OA". He in particular gives a very vulnerable and open performance, with what might have just been a standard "geek" character in the hands of a different actor.
The story is enjoyable, if perhaps a little unfocused. Aside from our central arc, there's another story involving the Stubbs neighbours, Ernie and Bets Gomes, played by Mel Rodriguez and Beth Ditto, with the first acting role I've seen her in. You also have a rival FAM manager played by David Paymer, a disgruntled for FAM employee trying to warn Krystal of the path she's on and a down on her luck journalist, played by Melissa De Sousa. Some of these stories are only partially resolved, or abandoned completely, though the plan may have been to revisit them in subsequent seasons.
I think some of the other reviewers are a little harsh with declaring how bad the second half of the season is, it's never less than OK, but the first few episodes are really the high point of the show and, to be honest, I'm OK that the second season is not going to be forthcoming. -
torndownunit-507-42948724 September 2019From reading previous ratings, I think some people (a) might not enjoy dark comedy and (b) also don't understand how dark and twisted the world of MLM's can actually be. The people who say the story is outlandish must not really know much about point 'b'. A story about that world SHOULD be dark. and should be full of unlikable characters. I can also assume a lot of really low reviews might be from people involved in MLM's because the rating for the show on here currently is really right about where it should be (a 7-8 is fair I think). I don't see any way this show warrants a one star review.
The acting and story are both solid. It's a dark show with comedic elements, based on what is a really dark topic. Read up on how MLM's ruin some people's lives, and you will likely appreciate the story more, and why it's being told the way it is. I think it delivers on what it's trying to deliver on.
One thing I agree with other reviewers whether they have left good or bad reviews is that I am not sure if this show could hold up for too many seasons. But I have enjoyed this one. -
grapsta13 March 2020Totally watchable ....could do with a bit more coherent through line....and not sure I'll watch S2. ...but it's decent
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alexander196710 September 2019Started out okay but after couple episodes it just went down the drain, slowed down, story got repetitive.
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julieshotmail21 October 2022Episode 1 of "On Becoming God in Central Florida" is exciting with an original premise and quite a cliffhanger. We have two very likable actors playing the leads, Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard, giving us their dark comedic chops. The series offers a satire on ridiculous pyramid schemes, people that get suckered into them, and the disastrous consequences and shattered dreams for those participating. The plot line has a lot of promise, making you think it will go one way but it goes in a completely different direction. Actually it goes into many directions, abruptly meandering into subplots that leave you scratching your head. Mid-season around episode 6, I am actually losing interest. But I plug along and feel relieved that I get to witness the uptick in the last two episodes, which redeem the show a bit. Nevertheless, the ending is still unsatisfying and then you realize that you don't really like any of the characters.