Krystal Stubbs is a minimum-wage-earning water park employee in Greater Orlando who schemes her way up the ranks of Founders American Merchandise, a cultish, flag waving, multi-billion dollar multi-level marketing / pyramid scheme that drove her family to ruin.
On January 6, 2017, it was reported that AMC was developing the production. The series was created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky who also wrote the pilot episode and were set to executive produce for the series alongside Kirsten Dunst, Yorgos Lanthimos, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov. Lanthimos was also set to direct. Production companies involved with the series were expected to include Smokehouse Pictures, TriStar Television, and AMC Studios. On June 25, 2018, it was announced that the production had moved to YouTube Premium, which had given it a series order for a first season consisting of 10 episodes. It was further reported that Esta Spalding and Charlie McDowell had joined the series as executive producers. Spaulding is also set to serve as showrunner and McDowell is set to direct, replacing Lanthimos as executive producer and director. On June 17, 2019, it was announced that Showtime, which had acquired the series from TriStar, would air the series instead of YouTube and that it would premiere on August 25, 2019.
Casting
Alongside the initial development announcement, it was confirmed that Kirsten Dunst would star in the series. On August 28, 2018, it was announced that Théodore Pellerin had been cast in a lead role. On September 14, 2018, it was reported that Ted Levine, Mel Rodriguez, and Beth Ditto had joined the cast in series regular roles and that Usman Ally would appear on a recurring basis. On October 5, 2018, it was announced that Julie Benz had joined the cast in a recurring capacity. On November 28, 2018, it was reported that Melissa De Sousa would appear in a recurring role.
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 84% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 7.47/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it loses a bit of narrative steam, On Becoming a God in Central Florida proves a clever and absurd satire that will make you want to buy whatever Kirsten Dunst is selling." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
