Multiverse narratives are all the rage these days, especially within the comic book movie genre, where there’s always a convenient excuse for nostalgia grabs and time-folding mash-ups where three different actors who have played the superhero can turn up in the same universe together side by side for the first time. But what about a consideration of the multiverse for adults and a deeper, darker contemplation about regrets, choices made that irrevocably shaped our lives, and the haunting aspects of the roads not taken? Clearly not created as simply a mature antidote to the superhero craze, the mind-bending Apple TV+ thriller “Dark Matter” nonetheless feels like a corrective, using the same fantastical parallel universe concepts but putting them to far more substantial and dramatic use.
Based on the speculative science-fiction book by Blake Crouch, who also created the show and serves as its primary writer, “Dark Matter,” takes the essential “Are you happy with your life?” inquiry and gives it a dark, existentialist interrogative spin, unlocking the pandora’s box of crises by letting someone muck about with the “what ifs?” of their own lives. It’s a little like “Sliding Doors,” or the many films about fate by Krzysztof Kieślowski life “Blind Chance,” if both took grimmer and heavier turns and then were kaleidoscopically blown apart by the prismatic effects of the multiverse.
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And please note, “Dark Matter” is basically impossible to discuss without some *basic preliminary spoilers from the first episode in order to give the series its proper context.
“Dark Matter” centers on the middle-aged Jason Dessen (an excellently modulated Joel Edgerton), a former experimental physicist on the verge of great groundbreaking innovations, turned average professor of physics and family man, happily married to his wife Daniela Dessen (Jennifer Connelly, terrific as usual) in a casual Chicago neighborhood. They have a teenage son, Charlie (Oakes Fegley), one half of a set of twin brothers who didn’t make it shortly after childbirth, a tragedy that echoes through the family all these years later. The series starts to take shape when Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson), an old scientist colleague of Jason’s and a superstar in his field, calls to tell him he’s won the Pavia prize, a significant physics award, and wants to go out to celebrate. “It should be you [winning this award], you know this, I know this,” Ryan says, alluding to the achievements Jason missed out on in favor of comfortable domesticity in his segue to an invitation to drinks.
Later in the day, Jason teaches in his class, outlining one of his old paradoxical theories about superimpositions and a box that can open doors to alternate universes through the vagaries of quantum mechanics and human consciousness. But later that evening, it’s clear Jason—who has had something eating at him all day since he received his friend’s good news—doesn’t want to celebrate. Ryan is something of a rival and a frenemy, and their comradeship is complicated.
Ryan is cocky, arrogant, and somewhat there to gloat. Still, ultimately, he has a proposition: a new neurotech company wants to invest billions into Ryan’s groundbreaking project, and he wants Jason to quit teaching and join him. It’s a lifetime opportunity for the college professor who missed the boat the first time. The catch, however, is it’s in San Francisco, and Jason, who’s largely avoided taking too many risks in life, isn’t about to upend his family life.
Regardless, they get shitfaced and enjoy a few laughs while Jason is left to consider a lucrative, life-changing offer he probably won’t take. On the way home from the bar in the pouring rain, however, Jason is jumped and mugged, and everything goes sideways.
This assault, however, isn’t a robbery; it’s a kidnapping perpetrated by Jason himself. And yep, this is where it gets weird, and the record groove slips into a kind of slow-motion wtf? “Inception.” The abductor is the version of Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton again) from another timeline in the multiverse—the one who didn’t give up on his experimental physicist dreams. In fact, it’s pretty much Jason Prime’s mirror self. This version of Jason successfully created his box that opened doors to alternate universes, but at a great cost: the love of his life, Daniela. So, it’s a covetous tale of thinking you had everything you wanted and realizing something more meaningful was lost in the process. Jason 2 abducts Jason Prime, tosses him back into his universe, and essentially switches places, posing as the loving father, husband, and professor in order to live out his wish-fulfillment fantasy with Daniela.
As this nightmare unfolds, Jason Prime is desperate to get back to his reality, and through the help of Jason 2’s girlfriend Amanda (Alice Braga), also wondering where the hell he went, he traverses the mind-bendy labyrinth of many refracting realities to try and return home to his life, family and hopefully ousting his doppelganger in the process. Of course, it’s all easier said than done and borders on what seem like infinite impossibilities.
And if “Dark Matter” sounds ridiculous, well, it’s not (at least not at first); it’s grounded and shaped in a manner that’s as realistic as possible, given the unbelievable circumstances. In fact, the series is a rather engrossing look at multiversal probabilities and spiraling problems, with elements of paranoid suspense and even, at times, dread-inducing existential horror about the grief of our existence.
At its best, “Dark Matter” scratches at the existential identity questions in all of us, and if you have any personal regrets, a few bleak episodes in the middle might even push you towards uncomfortable introspection. But just as the series crescendos to what feels like a dazzling finish, it overplays its hand a little bit, perhaps a little too far into the multiverse of Marvel madness realm of it all, losing sight of its richer multiverse-but-for-adults theme and poignant reflection on remorse.
It’s an unfortunate trend, especially in recent Apple TV+ series akin to a hat on a hat, i.e., a big genre twist on top of an already genre-heavy show that needs no extra pizzazz. Apple TV+’s detective noir series “Sugar” with Colin Farrell also suffered a similar fate, with an unnecessary, excessive, and shark-jumping genre twist that did it no favors.
“Dark Matter” superfluity isn’t as egregious, but its late episode big swing certainly does test the suspension of disbelief from a series that was otherwise sharply compelling. Regardless, “Dark Matter” is a hybrid heady mix of thoughtful adult drama and sci-fi thriller that’s mature, poignant, and reflective—with just enough genre toppings to not overdo it. Well, until the end, at least. Still, there’s a solid cast here, with Edgerton essentially showing his range by playing at least two different versions of the same men with a lot of nuance. “Dark Matter” may falter here and there, but its cerebral and emotional texture—about regret, how the subconscious marches to its own beat, why we make the wrong choices, and the fear of learning what we’re truly capable of, et al.—is some meaty, memorable stuff, worth the mind-altering trip. [B]