‘Devs’: murder, mystery, technology

Do we worship technology? A murder mystery miniseries thriller set in the high-tech wonderland of Northern California, “Devs” begins streaming on Hulu today. It’s actually from FX. More on that later.

Created, written and directed by Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”), “Devs” projects an austere beauty. Sonoya Mizuno stars as Lily Chan, a computer engineer for Amaya, a quantum computing firm set on a glorious campus that more resembles a religious shrine than a corporate park. A giant statue of a young girl towers over the landscape, an image more haunting than inspiring.

Nick Offerman (“Parks & Recreation”) stars as Forest, the CEO and literal guru of Amaya. He’s given to grand pronouncements about the nature of life, time and reality. The series’ title is taken from the Devs project, the most secret and far-reaching of Amaya’s many ventures. Just what goes on behind the doors of its templelike headquarters appears beyond the understanding of mere mortals.

The action begins when Lily’s boyfriend, Sergei (Karl Glusman), is hired by the Devs division and vanishes after his first day on the job. It wouldn’t be right to reveal more, but on the surface, at least, there are few mysteries about the nature of Sergei’s disappearance. But the reasons behind it and the secrets of the project that he detected remain opaque.

Long on atmosphere, “Devs” will have you wondering not so much what just happened, but what the heck it all means.

“Devs” marks the first venture for FX/Hulu that will stream exclusively on Hulu. (And not appear on FX at all!) I told you it was a mystery.

Look for the first two episodes to stream today and new “Devs” to arrive every Thursday thereafter.

› Meanwhile, on regular old terrestrial FX, “Better Things” (10 p.m., TV-MA) returns, starring Pamela Adlon as a working mother of a certain age making her way in a Hollywood milieu.

› The short-form sketch comedy anthology series “Cake” (10 p.m., FXX, TV-MA) returns for a second season.

› What passes for funny in Finland? Sundance Now begins streaming “Idiomatic,” a comedy about a young couple (she’s Finnish; he’s Swedish) united by love (or at least lust), but divided by language. The 10-episode series is made more binge-able by the fact that each installment clocks in at 21 minutes. And isn’t it refreshing to see something from a Nordic country not involving murder?

Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin .tvguy@gmail.com.