Review: 3 Body Problem
This masterclass in thought-provoking science fiction remains disturbingly relevant
Imagine this: you turn on the news one day, and every channel is reporting the same story. A foreign civilization is heading toward Earth, and they’re not coming in peace. Their likely mission? To wipe us out. Fortunately, it will take them over 400 years to get here. How would you react? How would humanity respond?
Danger to humanity in a future we ourselves won’t see? A more relevant topic is hard to come by in our time.
This is the premise of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, based on the first book in the sci-fi trilogy The Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Chinese author Liu Cixin. The award-winning book series, praised by figures like George R.R. Martin, Mark Zuckerberg, and Barack Obama, has earned numerous accolades and put Chinese science fiction on the global map.
3 Body Problem opens in China during the Cultural Revolution, where Ye Wenjie (played by Zine Tseng) is sent to a labor camp after witnessing her father’s public humiliation and brutal murder during one of Mao’s rallies. Her chance for escape comes when she is recruited by the government to work at Red Coast Base, a top-secret radio station tasked with sending and receiving signals from space in the search for extraterrestrial civilizations. Ye Wenjie, a talented scientist, accepts the job, fully aware that she can never leave the base again.
Late one night, years into her work, she receives a chilling signal:
“Do not reply! Do not reply! Do not reply! I am a pacifist from this civilization. Do not reply! Do not reply! Do not reply! If you answer, we will find you. We will come. And we will conquer you. Do not reply! Do not reply! Do not reply!”
Bitter and traumatized, Ye Wenjie responds:
“Come. We cannot save ourselves.”
Decades later, the fallout from Ye’s response begins to surface, shaking scientific communities worldwide. A string of unexplained suicides leaves behind cryptic notes, mysterious countdowns, and unsettling signs. In England, a woman jumps to her death after posing a cryptic question about faith in God. Another scientist drowns in her bathtub. Others meet even more horrifying ends. Many of the deceased are linked by a strange countdown, often written in their own blood.
When Auggie Salazar (played by Eiza González), a young nanotechnology researcher, begins seeing a countdown projected directly into her vision, she is pulled into an ongoing investigation alongside unorthodox detective Da Shi (played by Benedict Wong). They are joined by scientists Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) and Jack Rooney (John Bradley), who uncover connections to a mysterious virtual reality game, Three Body — a game linked to many of the deceased scientists. Along with researchers Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) and Will Downing (Alex Sharp), they form “The Oxford Five,” a group of friends and scientists drawn into a global phenomenon that began with a single radio signal sent from a secret listening station in China half a century ago.
3 Body Problem is an unconventional take on the alien invasion genre. Where many stories focus on desperate, last-minute battles against merciless extraterrestrial invaders — as in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds or Independence Day — this series flips the concept on its head. The impending invasion lies hundreds of years in the future, making the story even more unsettling as it explores humanity’s long-term response to an existential threat. Central to the narrative is the question of how people act when decisions made today will affect not them, but future generations.
The series is written and produced by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, alongside Alexander Woo. Fans of Game of Thrones will also recognize familiar faces, such as John Bradley, who plays Oxford Five scientist Jack Rooney, and Liam Cunningham, who portrays the cold, pragmatic intelligence officer Wade (check out my 3 Body Problem interview with Liam here.)
Benioff and Weiss, who faced heavy criticism for the divisive final season of Game of Thrones, manage to pull off an impressive feat here. Adapting a complex novel like The Three-Body Problem, along with elements from its sequels, The Dark Forest and Death’s End, into an eight-episode Netflix series that is both accessible and engaging — especially for viewers without a background in nanotechnology or astrophysics — is no small achievement.
At its core, 3 Body Problem is also a deeply human story. The characters are complex and vividly drawn, brought to life by a stellar cast whose chemistry is palpable. While the series is set primarily in England, at Liu Cixin’s own suggestion, it maintains full respect for its Chinese origins and invites global audiences into its world without holding their hands.
It’s worth noting that another, much longer adaptation of The Three-Body Problem was released in 2023. Though I haven’t seen it, reading the book and watching Netflix’s series has made me curious to explore it.
Like the novels it is based on, 3 Body Problem is thought-provoking, unsettling, and utterly brilliant — and most likely the best science fiction series of 2024.