Dark Matter

Events take a strange turn in Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter (a nine-part series adapted from his book of the same name) when Jason, a physics teacher played by Joel Edgerton, walks home late one night after meeting his friend at a bar. He’s assailed by a masked man and forced to drive to a secluded location. The next thing he knows, he’s waking up in an alternate reality in which he traded the happy family life he would have had with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) to become a prize-winning physicist. Even stranger, his kidnapper is the Jason from the other reality, who begins to infiltrate his life.

Edgerton plays the dual role wonderfully. While scratches on the first Jason’s face allow viewers to easily distinguish between each version of the character, Edgerton portrays each drastically differently. While the imposter is cold and calculating, the other is on the verge of a mental breakdown upon finding their family home totally changed and a stranger’s voice on the other end of the phone when he calls his wife’s number. Connelly is also excellent as Daniella. Both versions of the character share an intimate chemistry with Edgerton onscreen, forming a solid emotional foundation to get invested in their relationship and the ensuing drama.

However, it takes some time for the series to get properly underway, with a large part of the first two episodes focusing on exposition. Viewers can expect to spend a sizeable chunk of the opening learning about the theory behind Schrodinger’s cat and Jason and Daniella’s relationship. It’s only towards the end of the second episode that a shocking turn of events kickstarts the thrills into a higher gear.

Carried by a strong turn from Edgerton in a double role, Dark Matter is on track to becoming another gripping thriller in Apple TV+’s catalogue of TV heavyweights if it can carry the momentum throughout the remaining episodes.

Andrew Murray

Dark Matter is released on Apple TV+ on 8^th May 2024.

Watch the trailer for Dark Matter here: