It’s easy to see how films like “The Matrix” and “Office Space” might have influenced “Severance,” if for no other reason than they both start out in an office setting. “The Matrix” quickly peels back the layers of the “office” where Thomas Anderson, a.k.a. Neo (Keanu Reeves), works to reveal that the true nature of reality is very different from the false environment he’s trapped inside.

The “Innie” world of “Severance” is as much a prison for Mark Scout’s work self as the Matrix was for Neo. In “The Truman Show,” meanwhile, Jim Carrey’s character is stuck inside a different kind of hell: a reality show. 

While Erickson was working his own office jobs in L.A., he started wishing he could skip ahead eight hours to the end of the workday and even thought that he would willingly give up that time in his life if he could. This provided the genesis for the concept of “Severance,” whereby characters have their work memories separated from their outside life.

Though Erickson pointed to a number of ’90s film influences for “Severance,” Stiller said he’s “a ’70s person” and was steered more by media from that time period, which may mean that he and Hindle were on the same page when it came to “Alien.” Finding the location for Lumon Industries was key; Stiller said that when the production team discovered the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex in New Jersey, it determined the show’s aesthetic. Everything — including the use of color — was built around that.

Season 1 of “Severance” is now streaming on Apple TV+.