Dark Matter‘s Twisty Sci-Fi Thrills Have a Very Human Heart

A physics professor with a pretty bully life — cool Chicago brownstone , coolheaded married woman , cool teen son — is nonetheless annoy by a articulation in his head that wonders what his biography might have been , if he ’d only he ’d made unlike choices along the means . It ’s something everyone has thought about , but inDark thing , that “ what if ? ” scenariobecomes vividly , often terrifyingly veridical .

Blake Crouch ’s 2016 novel of the same nameforms the basis ofApple TV+ ’s Dark Matter , and he ’s very deal - on with the adaptation : showrunning , writing , and executive producing . So it ’s not surprising that the nine - instalment series is exceedingly close to the book , with just a few illustrious exceptions — chiefly involve characters who get fleshed out more on screen than they are on the page , result in a more well - polish up tale . But mostly the focus remain on the protagonist , Jason , and the versions of his life that we find as Dark Matter enwrap us in its multiverse - hopping plot .

Casting Joel Edgerton was a wise move ; he land a likability and astuteness to Jason that was n’t always manifest in the novel , and get Jason much more likeable as a result . Edgerton does a phenomenal job calibrating his performance depending on which translation of Jason he ’s playing : the mistily dissatisfied professor who ’s still profoundly in love with his married woman , Daniela ( Jennifer Connelly ) , and crazy about his son , Charlie ( Oakes Fegley ) ; or the alternate - reality Jason who never had a family and concentrate entirely on his work , a decision that ’s made him a more pitiless , demanding mortal .

Image: Apple TV+

These two are not meant to cross paths . But Jason # 2 canalise his whizz into creating a large box that , when combine with a battery-acid of a compound whipped up by Jason ’s interpersonal chemistry - whiz pal Ryan ( Westworld ’s Jimmi Simpson ) , let a person to confabulate different version of their cosmos . ( To be readable : it ’s not a time - travel gimmick , though it have just as much problem as those run to do . ) Jason # 2 , find his own mid - life sorrow , enters the chief Jason ’s world , abduct him and forces him back to Jason # 2 ’s place of origin , then require over Jason ’s spirit . Circumstances presently mean that Jason re - enters the box with the aid of Jason # 2 ’s on - again , off - again girl , Dr. Amanda Lucas ( Alice Braga ) , determine to find his way of life home .

Dark Matter does n’t linger too much on test to excuse precisely how the box works . The show is right smart more interested in the excited and psychological ramifications that follow when a somebody is rive from their reality , confronted with the impossible , and thrust to negotiate strange filter on the familiar . At first , the worlds Jason and Amanda find are apocalyptic ; they launch the door to find Chicago ’s been reduce to debris or wipe out by climate alteration . As they work their means through their ampules of the brain - altering compound , they take how to fine - tune their travels . Dark Matter is at its most thought - provoking when we shoot the breeze worlds that are only slightly askew from Jason ’s main realness , where the sign at Jason ’s preferred bar is the wrong subtlety of Ne , or Daniela ’s hair is a different manner . It ’s enchanting to see how the fictional character , especially Daniela and Ryan , change ever so slightly — or a lot , depend on the diverging paths they take away .

There ’s a ticking - clock structure that prevents Dark Matter from feeling like a sprawling journey across existence ; Jason and Amanda have a limited number of drug United States Department of State , for one thing . In Jason # 2 ’s storyline , the urging increases as Daniela get to suspect something ’s off with her married man , especially when Jason # 2 , the guy who decided he did n’t need to be tied down by a wife and baby 16 years ago , starts showing the callous stripe he ’s cultivated in the age since . Both Jasons may frequently be bedevil by their surroundings , but fortunately the consultation seldom is ; there ’s a snapping sound whenever Dark Matter switches between narratives to keep the viewer on caterpillar track , though you’re able to also keep an eye on signifiers like Jason ’s wedding ring ( now bust by Jason # 2 , who steal it during the life - swap ) , or Jason ’s facial lacerations ( as realize on the independent Jason , thanks to Jason # 2 ) .

Image: Apple TV+

Image: Apple TV+

While the nine episode give Dark Matter room to really explore the philosophic question at its core — it ’s something that gets hammered in almost too forcefully , include in an alternate Daniela ’s art show themed around “ down the passage which we did not take / towards the door we never give , ” with the T.S. Eliot quote plainly spell out out — it almost feel like eight would have been enough , and would have kept the pace moving even quicker . Though the plot keeps you guessing ( unless you ’ve read the book , though the series is enjoyable even if you hump what ’s come ) , the show ’s most fascinating component is Jason himself . This is mostly thanks to Edgerton ’s performance , but also to nuanced composition that refuses to slim down Jason and Jason # 2 to a ripe guy / speculative guy duality . They are the same man , shaped by their choices — some bantam , some huge , all life sentence - altering . And as we watch over them clamber , Dark Matter often seems to be bend the crystalline lens back on the audience , inquire : if offer a peep at the road not take … would you ?

The first two episodes ofDark Matterpremiere Wednesday , May 8 , on Apple TV+ , observe by a hebdomadal roller - out of unexampled episodes through June 26 .

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Image: Apple TV+