(CNN) Having already established a niche in cerebral science fiction with "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation," writer-director Alex Garland brings that brand to streaming TV with "DEVS," a mind-blowing concept that doesn't entirely come together at the close, but which remains unsettling and provocative throughout.

Premiering on Hulu under the label of the FX network (a bit of corporate synergy that shouldn't much concern viewers), the show focuses on a secretive unit within a high-tech Silicon Valley company, whose founder Forest (Nick Offerman) has the wild-eyed look of a man on a mission.

"No one knows what the DEVS team does except the DEVS team," exults Sergei (Karl Glusman) to his girlfriend Lily (Sonoya Mizuno), who also works for the company, after landing an offer to join the group.

Soon, however, Sergei disappears, and Lily rapidly begins to suspect that she's not being told the truth about what happened. The answers seemingly reside within that shadowy facility -- which resembles the plastic prison in which Magneto was held in the "X-Men" movies -- where the oddball assortment of employees have the dazed demeanor of people who have stared deeply into the abyss.

A co-star in "Ex Machina" likely better known for "Crazy Rich Asians," Mizuno makes the most of her elevation to lead status here, investing Lily with considerable grit in the face of the doors that are closed to her, and the threats that arise.

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