Dark Matter review: Joel Edgerton wrestles with the infinite beyond (and himself)

Dark Matter, Apple TV+’s sleek sci-fi thriller that premieres May 8, wastes no time in getting to the good stuff. Within the first 20 minutes of episode one, physics professor and Chicago family man Jason (Joel Edgerton) is kidnapped, drugged, stripped, and somehow booted to an alternate reality.

It’s a hot start, and even though most of the reveals in the series’ first hour (the assailant being a Jason from another reality, for example) are obvious from the jump, Dark Matter has a tremendous cast and high-concept intrigue which cover for some of the early episodes’ bigger flaws. Leading the charge and setting the tone is Edgerton as the Jasons, who, even surrounded by a murderers’ row of talent, could collapse the entire series if miscast. This is not the case. Rounding out Jason One’s world are his wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), son, Charlie (Oakes Fegley), and best friend-turned-millionaire, Ryan (Jimmi Simpson). Look, the show starts a little slow, but we’ve seen enough Westworld, Black Mirror, and Always Sunny to know that if Jimmi Simpson is playing your oldest friend and/or creative partner, things are about to get nuts.

The series is the third Blake Crouch work to be adapted for TV. His “Wayward Pines” trilogy was turned into a Twin Peaks-esque Fox mystery box thriller which actually had some great tricks until the show’s very limited broadcast TV budget had to compete with the more outlandish twists and turns in the books. This is the first time Crouch also serves as showrunner for something based on his work, though, and sometimes the inexperience shines through. Dramatic irony is a useful tool in genre, but the first two or three episodes have Jason One constantly playing catch-up on things we already know or could reasonably have gleaned from context. It’s a constant weakness in Crouch’s screenwriting on this show that characters rarely ever figure things out, instead languishing until another character shows up to explain things to them. By the time Jason Two’s cohorts realize the guy who ended up in their reality isn’t their Jason, it’s a little late for there to be any real impact. We know. We saw it hours ago.

A few false starts and some unoriginal sci-fi jargon later, though, and the motor gets up and running. Jason One discovers he’s being held in a facility where Jason Two built the Box, a, well, big box that allows for inter-dimensional travel. Finding out how the box works is one of the show’s neatest tricks, and one of the most simple and satisfying explanations of quantum physics we’ve seen on TV. There are plenty of heady metaphysical concepts running up the spine of Dark Matter that are expertly designed so that even the most stoned nerd will be able to follow along.

Once Jason Two’s partner Amanda (Alice Braga, who is excellent) gets on board with Jason One’s quest, even accompanying him on a trial-and-error hunt for his reality among the infinite, Dark Matter settles into a solid tempo as Jason One and Amanda navigate the perils of an unknown universe, and Jason Two struggles with remembering names of his “wife”’s friends.

Unlike Wayward Pines, Dark Matter has money to burn when it comes to the wilder aspects of a show that can go literally anywhere. Highlights include an icy wasteland with the crumbling Chicago skyline in the distance, and a slickly-rendered utopia of urban greenery, silent glass elevators, and a really nice restaurant.

“Science be damned, I’m finding a way back to my family” is an age-old sci-fi concept, and with eight long episodes pulled from a fairly short book, Dark Matter does end up repeating itself quite a lot. That is, until a crescendo in the final two hours suddenly accelerates the pace to “breakneck” and Crouch pulls a neat trick he’s been building to right in front of us the whole time. It’s the kind of reveal that makes you feel stupid for not anticipating and adds some really effective mayhem and pathos to the finale.

If we’re being brutally honest, Dark Matter should probably be better than it is, but its basic storytelling shortcomings aren’t fully heinous. And it’s a price worth paying for some TV that absolutely flies when it’s on a roll and sticks a tricky landing in the end with the finesse of an Eastern European Olympic gymnast. Much like its author-turned-showrunner, this is definitely one to watch.

Dark Matter premieres May 8 on Apple TV+