Dark Matter
Dark Matter
Now Showing

Dark Matter

"One life. Infinite possibilities."

7.8
Yr 2024
Status Returning Series
Your Verdict

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Series Brief

Overview

Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his life. To get back to his true family, he embarks on a harrowing journey to save them from the most terrifying foe imaginable: himself.

Status

Latest

  • Dark Matter Season 2 premiere details announced July 26, 2026
Critical Reception

What critics are saying

Score 73 /100

Dark Matter was generally received as a compelling and visually impressive addition to Apple TV+'s sci-fi slate. Critics praised the series for its intriguing central premise, strong lead performances from Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, and high production value. Many reviewers found the show's blend of high-concept multiversal physics and intimate family drama to be emotionally grounded, delivering genuine tension and thought-provoking existential questions.

However, the show faced noticeable criticism regarding its length and pacing. Several critics felt the narrative suffered from prestige TV bloat, arguing that the story was stretched thin across its season-long runtime. Some noted that early episodes meandered and that late-season storylines became overly convoluted, with certain reviewers feeling that the plot spent too much time stuck in repetitive momentum.

Ultimately, while it struggles at times to distinguish itself from other parallel-universe stories, critics concluded that Dark Matter remains a pulpily entertaining and mind-bending thriller that will easily satisfy fans of foreboding sci-fi.

“Dark Matter's intriguing ideas are spread a tad thin over its season-long runtime, but fans of foreboding sci-fi will find its residue addictively sticky”

“meandering first few episodes almost derail an otherwise strong show that takes a particularly emotional look at the multiverse”

“intellectually grand but dramatically personal”

“Episodes run a full hour and feel twice as long”

Transmission Paths

Where to Watch

Apple TV
CA • UK • US
Apple TV Amazon Channel
CA • US • UK
Why fans love it

This 2024 drama turns a suburban Chicago life upside down through the lens of quantum physics. When a college professor is pulled into an alternate reality, the series forces a confrontation between the man he became and the person he might have been had he made different professional and personal choices. It treats the theoretical concept of multiple paths as a literal, high-stakes trap rather than a dry academic exercise.

Joel Edgerton carries the weight of a man navigating a world where his own history and family have been rewritten. The tension stems from the constant friction between the identity he holds onto and the versions of his life he encounters along the way. By grounding speculative sci-fi in the specific emotional geography of a father trying to return to his teenage son, the show moves away from distant cosmic exploration to focus on the terrifying implications of meeting a doppelgänger who shares your deepest desires and every past mistake.

Featured Players

Cast

Credited 61
Regulars 9
Longest run 6 eps
Show 53 more
Tiff Abreu as Mindy 3 episodes Matthew Amador as Slightly Older Man 1 episode Rolando Boyce as Dr. Joseph Hart 2 episodes Sam Cass as Young Man 1 episode Suzy Dias as Chloe 3 episodes William Smillie as Matt 4 episodes Joe Dioletto as Jason Dessen Acting Double 1 episode Snag Flynn as Young Woman 1 episode Charlie Holcomb as Male Student #1 3 episodes Arti Ishak as Mara McHenry 2 episodes John Lister as Angry Cabbie 1 episode Elvis Garcia as Cabbie #2 1 episode Jenne Kang as Dr. Julianne Springer 2 episodes Peter Sipla as Dr. Randolph 1 episode Kathryn Acosta as Nurse 1 episode Monica Patankar as Faculty Woman 1 episode Madelyn DePorter as Receptionist 1 episode Brenann Stacker as Female Greeter 1 episode Bassam Abdelfattah as Anthony 3 episodes Beacon Bowman as Door Woman 1 episode Tara Mallen as Alesia Cheney 1 episode Kate Eastman as Detective Jamie Mason 2 episodes Kyle Connors as Executive Assistant 1 episode Meghan Maureen McDonough as Barbara Underell 1 episode Jason Huysman as Mike Underell 1 episode Brandon Dahlquist as Marcus Sakey 1 episode Callie Johnson as GG Sakey 1 episode Omar Villagomez as Hazmat Man 1 episode Jackie Dallas as Hazmat Woman 1 episode Lance Baker as Alan 1 episode Austin Nelson Jr. as Whiny Student 1 episode Yuchi Chiu as Naked Man 1 episode Jimmy Styx as Gunter (Nightwatchman) 2 episodes Patricia Mario as Silvia 1 episode Bamidele Ali as Danny (National Guard Soldier) 1 episode Sean James William Parris as Dr. Jay Quayle 1 episode Dani Deetté as Annie 1 episode Cara Reid as Ms. Bumgarner 1 episode Vinny Multhaupt as Toby 1 episode Camryn Ray Cavaliero as Adeline 1 episode Angie Shriner as Sid (Bartender) 1 episode Greg Foster as Chad 1 episode Michael A. Dean as Rob 1 episode Richard Cotovsky as Jay 1 episode Reilly Oh as Male Student #2 (In The Back) 3 episodes Missy Fierro as Female T.A. (Violet) 3 episodes Maeve Mollaghan as Server 1 episode Jennifer Joan Taylor as Cat Hair Jacket Woman 1 episode Paul Tavianini as Manager 1 episode Gabrielle Anne Garza as Angie 1 episode Sammy A. Publes as Security Guard 1 episode Peter DeFaria as Campus Police Officer 1 episode Elena Victoria Feliz as Aliyah 1 episode
Signal Match

Similarity

Where Dark Matter overlaps with other shows, and exactly what they have in common.

Keyword Cloud

Keywords

chicago, illinois based on novel or book fish out of water scientist doppelgänger alternative reality physics professor teenage son college professor quantum physics
Technical Sheet

Details

First Aired
May 07, 2024
Status
Returning Series
Origin
US
TMDB Votes
717