“On Becoming a God in Central Florida” is every bit as quirky as its title in mostly good ways, foremost by providing a darkly comic vehicle for Kirsten Dunst, who sinks her teeth into this jaundiced look at the pursuit of the American Dream.
Counting George Clooney among its producers, the series takes place in Florida (duh) in 1992, where Dunst’s Krystal Stubbs is a minimum-wage employee who — after being dealt an enormous, shocking setback — begins trying to take control of her own destiny.
“I won’t be poor again. I won’t,” she says fiercely, sounding a bit like a latter-day Scarlett O’Hara, while serving notice that there will be some collateral damage along the way.
Krystal’s ticket to prosperity, potentially, comes in the form of Founders American Merchandise, or FAM, which amounts to a cultish get-rich-quick scheme that requires a steady supply of fresh rubes to fleece.
On top of that pyramid sits Obie Garbeau II (Ted Levine), who speaks about wealth with televangelist-type zeal, while Krystal finds an awkward ally in Cody (Theodore Pellerin), a devoted acolyte of the program whose budding loyalty to Krystal starts straining those allegiances.
Surrounded by a good cast that includes supporting or cameo roles by Alexander Skarsgard, Mel Rodriguez, Julie Benz, Mary Steenburgen and Sharon Lawrence, the series takes a while to find its groove, and some of the subplots feel as if they’re killing time.
Krystal’s story, however, becomes increasingly absorbing as the narrative progresses and the situations become more absurd. Following her prior TV turn in “Fargo,” Dunst’s performance reveals genuine fierceness, exploring a side of the economic underclass seldom seen on TV, which takes on an added dimension given the time frame and a locale, with Krystal working at a water park that’s a stone’s throw from Disney World.
It’s worth noting that “On Becoming a God” makes its debut alongside the fifth and final season of “The Affair,” a once-promising series that has long since moved past what should have been its expiration date. Even an unorthodox twist in the perspective-shifting drama can’t fix that in the three episodes previewed, although it at least spurs additional curiosity as to whether it will pay off.
Sustaining this concept into future seasons, similarly, won’t be easy. But for now, anyway, “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” is distinctive enough to stand out from the premium-TV pack, if not quite rise to the top of the pyramid.
“On Becoming a God in Central Florida” premieres Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.
