Dark Matter gets to the heart of the matter when it comes to science fiction dramas. In a way, the series explores family bonds and personal growth from various points of view. The Apple TV+ streaming series pulls the It’s a Wonderful Life trick of allowing characters to observe and experience a path not taken. The result is a series ripe with possibilities and endlessly rich storytelling.
Dark Matter almost has a “pick your own adventure” series feel. You would need a pair of leads to live up to the hype of playing different versions of themselves in the most subtle of shades. The Joel Egerton and Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly-led streamer could have fallen into late-night SyFy fodder. However, the stars never let the material drift off to what matters most regarding great motivations—the deep connections we hold dear.
The story follows Jason Dessen (Edgerton), a physicist at a small college in Chicago, who gives up his big dreams to start a family with his lovely wife, Daniela (Connelly, who is simply superb here). She also gives up her goal of becoming an artist to raise their son, Charlie (Pete’s Dragon’s Oakes Fegley), who is now sixteen. The parents will be empty nesters soon, in a couple of years. The Dessen live a quiet life, and some would call it the American dream.
Jason becomes restless, even more so when his best friend from college, Ryan (Zodiac’s Jimmi Simpson), announces that he has won a prestigious award and grant for physics. A party is thrown for him at a local bar called The Village Tavern, and Daniela makes him go. After a few drinks, hugs, and pats on the back, Jason leaves and is mugged by a stranger wearing a white mask. Jason is stripped of his clothes, drugged, and wakes up in a facility where everyone asks Jason where he has been for the last 14 months.
And since the trailer ruins the pilot’s big (and yet somewhat obvious twist), the man who abducted Jason is, well, Jason. That would be Jason Dessen 2.0, the man who chose not to start a family with Daniela in an alternate reality and became a world-renowned physicist who invented something called “The Box.” The invention allows someone to visit alternate worlds. Jason 2.0, however, uses it to steal the life he gave up for professional success. The original version now attempts to return to his family before time runs out.
Dark Matter is based on the novel by Blake Crouch of the same name. Crouch is also the creator of the series, which is unusual and allows for a more faithful adaptation. The series is a moody and ominous piece of entertainment in the first half of the series, setting a tone filled with tension and immediacy. The nature of the “box” storytelling device allows different levels of human interest and even science fiction genres. Imagine visiting Daniela 12.0 in a reality where she is dying of a terrible disease brought on by a worldwide pandemic, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Now, the series does have some issues that they try to cover up by creating a multiverse. For one, they explain that you cannot just rob a bank and bring it back to your home world. Yet, Edgerton’s Jason and Alice Braga’s Amanda keep jumping into worlds and buying food, hotel room stays, and clothes, which is inconsistent. And despite all the bells and whistles that come with the genre, when you break the story down, this is rather conventional. The plot is about a man trying to get his family back from an evil new boyfriend or husband.
Nevertheless, the pure emotion Dark Matter evokes, coming from a superb production value that allows the leads to explore existential crises and emotions during various dilemmas, is what ultimately pulls the viewer in. And while the series can be excessively long—an issue with Apple TV+ prestige series—the last three episodes offer a deeper appreciation or insight into a subject matter than one would expect. The series, as a whole, is satisfying, and the payoff is worth the investment.
No matter how self-indulgent Apple allows the creatives to be,.
You can now stream Dark Matter (2024) only on Apple TV+. The first two episodes stream on May 8th, 2024, and new episodes release weekly until the finale on June 19th, 2024.
Dark Matter is a series ripe with possibilities and endlessly rich storytelling.
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I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
