After three episodes of Dark Matter, a brain-twisting new series starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, I am totally hooked. This is a challenging and entertaining show, and it grabbed me within its first 15 minutes.
Edgerton stars as Jason, a humble science professor enjoying an easy life with wife Daniela (Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) when he is abducted by a mysterious stranger. It turns out that a scientific creation of his enables a person to travel into other versions of their own lives—a dark and disturbing take on the multiverse.
Jason finds himself in a race against time, and many other things, to get control of his creation—and to get his life in order. There are forces that don’t want him to succeed. That’s about as much as I want to give away; watch the show before people spoil the surprises, and don’t watch the damn trailer.
Edgerton, a great actor, gets a truly deserving vehicle to strut his stuff, as does Connelly. They both get many opportunities to put forth multifaceted work, and they are more than up to the challenge. The supporting cast includes Jimmi Simpson, Alice Braga and Dayo Okeniyi, and they are all excellent.
Remember when we all thought having Apple TV+ was kind of bullshit—something you cancelled after the free trial you got with your phone, because you could care less about that stupid Jennifer Aniston show? Well, with shows like this, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Severance, Apple TV+ has become a streamer of true promise and substance. Yeah, I’m doing a bit of an unpaid commercial here, but, hey, the platform is good.
I’m looking forward to seeing how much weirder this show gets. It’s pretty damn strange so far, and I have a feeling it’s not going to disappoint. It’s a promising start, and the premise can easily fuel seasons to hopefully come.
Dark Matter is now streaming on Apple TV+.