Imagine a world where your significant other knows your every thought, even the ones you’d rather keep to yourself.
In the dark comedy series Made For Love, tech billionaire Byron (Billy Magnussen) implants a chip – the very first of its kind – inside his wife’s brain to monitor and collect “emotional data”.
The objective? Well, true love, of course.
Byron believes when lovers have access to each other’s minds, they’ll understand each other more and ultimately, love each other better.
As Byron puts it: “Technology has improved the way we live, why not improve the way we love?”
Made For Love is among a recent spate of shows discussing the use of technology in cracking the code on true love.
British series The One promises to matchmake people with their soulmate through a simple DNA test while K-drama Love Alarm, now in its second season, sees a world where people will be alerted if someone in their vicinity likes them via an app.
Cristin Milioti, who plays Byron’s wife Hazel, reflects on this fixation with finding true love (at least, on the small screen) during a recent phone interview with a group of Asian journalists.
“It feels like it’s been that way for hundreds of years, like even dating back to Shakespeare.
“Companionship, love and connection is a huge part of being alive ... I guess it’s because life is challenging and you want someone to go through it with, ” shares the former How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) actress.
“But at the same time, there’s a lot of pressure put on people to find ‘the one’ by a certain age, which I don’t think is helpful. I think that everyone should be on their own path.”
Milioti’s character Hazel is cracking under the pressure alright.
On top of implanting a chip in her head without her knowledge, her tech whiz husband has kept her trapped in their off-the-radar home, The Hub, throughout their marriage.
After gritting her teeth and tolerating her suffocating husband (for 10 years!), Hazel wants out.
She unexpectedly discovers an escape hatch which leads her to the middle of a desert.
“I think that autonomy and independence and an inner private life is very important, ” Milioti reflects on the predicament her character finds herself in.
“When it comes to being a human being, I think a respect for that is key. I think it’s a complete nightmare to not let a partner have any privacy.”
Traumatic moments
To inhabit the role, Milioti not only read the book by Alissa Nutting, which inspired the series, she also noted: “I watched a lot of interviews with public figures who, without naming names, I always suspected were in situations that they couldn’t get out of or that they thought were going to be like ‘the dream’.”
However, there were some things Milioti couldn’t prepare for.
The series relies heavily on computer-generated imagery (CGI), which the actress had little experience in.
“It’s really exciting because it’s the same stuff that I would do as a little kid that got me here to where I am today... You are completely using your imagination in a way that you just feel like a little kid, ” she shares about working with CGI.
Now out of The Hub, Hazel isn’t even close to being out of the woods yet, as the chip continues to feed Byron her whereabouts. He tracks down her every move and does everything he can to lure her back to him.
While no such technology exists in the real world (thankfully!), Milioti believes viewers can still relate to the show, equating the chip to the traumatic moments from our past that enter our minds, uninvited, and torment us.
“When I first started working on this show, someone told me, ‘Oh the chip could be a metaphor for trauma.’
“Trauma in the vast spectrum of what trauma could be. For example, you can use it in terms of an ex who’s always there (in your mind), you’re always hearing their voices. There’s just so many different layers to it.”
Milioti also looks back on her recent projects like Black Mirror, Palm Springs and Made For Love, which all feature stories with a dark twist, as opposed to her earlier work in light-hearted sitcoms HIMYM and A To Z.
The actress comments her involvement with these darker themes were purely coincidental.
However, she adds that perhaps there is a common thread running through all her projects: “I feel like maybe all of them have to do with a universal theme – connection.”
Made For Love is available on HBO Go and Astro Go.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
