Severance

Overview

Employees at the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries, assigned to highly classified projects, must undergo “severance”—a medical procedure that implants a device in their brain ensuring they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and no recollection of their job once they leave. This results in two distinct personalities for each employee: the “innie,” who exists solely within Lumon, and the “outie,” who lives their personal life outside of work.

Severed employee Mark leads his coworkers Dylan and Irving at Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement department. Mark must balance the challenges of managing his department, including the onboarding of a rebellious new innie, Helly, and his increasing disquiet at the cult-like Lumon. Mark’s outie must deal with the personal tragedies that led to his decision to become severed, and the sudden overlap of his separate lives when mysteries from Lumon begin to intrude into his outie life.