Ivan Radford | On 08, May 2024

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Those are the words that kick Apple TV+’s Dark Matter into gear, as the sci-fi series spirals into a web of doppelgängers and decisions. The words are said by Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), a physics genius as he returns home to his family. The only problem? It’s not Jason. Or, to be exact, it is Jason, just not their Jason.

Based on Blake Crouch’s 2016 novel of the same name, the drama may well remind you another TV gem from a few years ago: Counterpart, in which JK Simmons swaps places with JK Simmons and spy hijinks ensue. While Dark Matter doesn’t necessarily hit the dark political heights of that ambitious thriller, with Counterpart cancelled and no longer available to watch in the UK, Apple’s latest addition to its growing library of impressive sci-fi is an intriguing, gripping counterpart in its own right.

Adapted by Crouch himself, there’s just enough exposition woven through events from the off that you can keep up with an increasingly twisting plot. We begin with Jason A (Edgerton) working as an overlooked professor to disinterested students and a valued family man to the devoted Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and Charlie (Oakes Fegley). But it’s not long until an old friend, Ryan (Jimmi Simpson), pops up to invite him to celebrate Ryan’s win of a prestigious science award – with work that, we quickly surmise, Jason A was instrumental in conceiving.

Quicker than you can say “regretting a major life choice”, Jason A’s kidnapped and whisked away by a masked assailant – only for that masked assailant to turn out to be himself. Because Jason B (Edgerton) comes from a parallel universe where he’s the one with the scientific acclaim, but without any of the loving family set-up – and Jason B, we quickly surmise, regrets choosing work over loved ones many years ago.

And so the stage is set for a Parents Trap-esque scenario, in which Jason A is trying to work out what’s happened while Jason B is trying to stay undetected. It’s here that Dark Matter finds its strength. Crouch’s script doesn’t always get its pacing right – there are nine episodes in total – but its intimate scale is spot-on, allowing each situation to develop and complicate naturally. Charlie’s soon being given terrible advice from his fake dad, while Daniela’s gradually curious as to why he’s changed suddenly. Ryan, meanwhile, is slow to believe Jason A isn’t crazy, while Amanda (Alice Braga), Jason B’s partner, proves a helpful and patient ally.

It’s Joel Edgerton, of course, who holds these strands all together, and he does so with aplomb, able to tap into the nuances of each version of the same man with a subtlety that goes beyond one of them having a bit more stubble. It’s his layered performance and everyman charisma that gives Dark Matter its fuel, and leaves you wanting him to piece the puzzle together and learn to make the right choices and live with the consequences. The only question is which Jason you’re rooting for.

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