Kier Giveth, Kier Taketh Away: Freedom and Identity vs. Corporate and Worship Cult/ure through the Lens of AppleTV’s *Severance*

AppleTV’s Severance is on the surface a sci-fi flavoured workplace drama, but alongside this presentational veneer lies a more dynamic, multifaceted interrogation of what it means to believe in leaders (corporate, faith, and governmental alike), where the line is drawn between healthy faith and cult-like devotion, what freedom looks like and how (and when) it needs to be fought for, and how one defines identity (not least of all: their own). From these launch points, as illustrated by characters individually and collectively as well as through the overarching plot, Severance provides an exceptionally fruitful source material for examination, reflection and potential instruction across numerous critical and consequential contexts: our personal communities, the Academy as a whole, and the larger global sociopolital context of modern times.