Dark Matter (2023) - Season 1

Score: 9 / 10
Category: Series
Platform: Apple TV+

One-line verdict

A mind-bending, emotionally charged sci-fi that uses the multiverse not for spectacle, but to explore the haunting weight of the choices we didn't make.

Why I watched this

I started watching Dark Matter in the third week of June and completed it in the first week of July 2026. I watched it on Apple TV+ mainly because it kept appearing on my homepage and, more importantly, because I saw Jennifer Connelly was in it. She has always been one of my favorite actresses—she’s incredibly beautiful, yes, but her performances are always something I genuinely enjoy. I went in completely blind, with no idea what the story was about, and that made the experience even better.

Story & Structure

The series follows Jason Dessen, a physics professor whose life is suddenly turned upside down. It introduces heavy concepts like Schrödinger's cat and quantum superposition before expanding into a story about alternate realities and the different lives that could exist because of the choices we make. As a layman, I’ll admit some of the science can be difficult to follow if you don't have a basic grasp of superposition and branching realities, but the core idea behind the series absolutely blew my mind.The show centers around "The Box"—a gateway that allows travel between these realities. The brilliance of the structure is that the destinations aren't random; they are influenced by the traveler's mental state, intentions, and subconscious fears. It’s a brilliant narrative device that turns a sci-fi concept into a psychological mirror.

What worked

What worked best for me was the sheer creativity of the story. We’ve seen plenty of multiverse stories lately, but Dark Matter feels different. This isn't about superheroes meeting different versions of themselves to save the world; it’s about choices, regrets, and the lives we could have lived. Being someone who thinks deeply and often wonders about different possibilities in life, I connected with this immediately. I kept thinking: if I were in that Box, would I be able to control my thoughts well enough to find my way home? Or would my own overthinking keep sending me somewhere else?Joel Edgerton was excellent as Jason Dessen. Playing different versions of the same person is a massive challenge—you have to believe they share an identity while recognizing how different experiences have changed them. He handled that perfectly. I could often tell which version I was watching just by his behavior and performance. Jennifer Connelly was also superb as Daniela. Her role becomes vital as the story shifts to whether the people closest to us can sense when something fundamental has changed, even if they can't explain it.And then there’s that ending. Throughout the series, we’re told that decisions create branches. I understood that intellectually, but I never considered the full consequence until the finale. When Jason finally makes it home, he realizes he isn't the only one. Every decision he made during his journey created another Jason, and dozens of them have all arrived back at the same time, all trying to reclaim the same life. It turns a happy ending into a total nightmare. It was brilliant.

What didn’t

My main criticism is the lack of immediate closure for some of the supporting characters. Leighton Vance’s journey through the Box is left unresolved, and Ryan Holder’s fate is only briefly revisited near the end. I understand now that these were intentionally left open for future exploration, but while watching, it was frustrating to see characters who were so important just disappear for long stretches.I also had a slight issue with the finale regarding the casual way the different Jasons were killed off. Considering they all have the same face and DNA, I kept wondering how the "real" world would deal with the discovery of multiple identical bodies. The series moves past those logistical consequences a bit too easily for my liking.

What others think

Critics have largely praised Dark Matter for its high-concept storytelling and the performances of Edgerton and Connelly. It’s being hailed as one of the best sci-fi adaptations in recent years, staying very true to the spirit of Blake Crouch’s novel. Some viewers find the middle episodes a bit repetitive as Jason travels through various "wrong" worlds, but most agree that the final two episodes deliver a payoff that is rare for the genre. The "Many Jasons" twist in the finale has been a massive talking point, with fans debating which Jason actually had the "most" right to be there.

Final thoughts

The biggest theme I took away from Dark Matter is regret. It’s about the danger of constantly looking backward and asking what our lives could have been. There have been times in my own life where I’ve wondered what would have happened if I’d made a different decision. Dark Matter takes those questions and turns them into a nightmare.The message for me is that every choice closes some doors and opens others, but chasing the life we didn't choose can make us blind to the one we actually have. Maybe the point isn't to find the "perfect" version of your life, but to value the one you chose and the people in it.I’m giving Dark Matter Season 1 a 9/10. It’s highly recommended, especially if you like sci-fi that leaves you thinking about your own life long after the credits roll.