Apple TV series Dark Matter has quickly become a favourite among fans for its intricate storyline involving alternate realities, solidifying its place in the sci-fi genre. Following its premiere on 8 May 2024, the eight-episode series dominated the Most Popular category on the streaming platform during its release week.
Based on Blake Crouch’s novel of the same name, the plot revolves around Jason Dessen, a community college professor who lands up in a parallel universe where his wife and son are missing. In this alternate reality, he realises that he made different choices in life, opting not to marry his wife and instead focusing on his career as a physicist.
Mistaken for his alternate self, Jason is captured and interrogated by researchers, revealing that his captor, Jason2, orchestrated this situation to allow him to experience the life he left behind. Determined to return to his original world and reunite with his family, Jason teams up with Amanda, a therapist from the alternate universe, to explore different worlds in search of his home universe.
The first day of summer can change your whole world. pic.twitter.com/EK1DjRihGk
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) June 20, 2024
So will fans get to enjoy a second season of the show? While you’ll have to wait for the answer to that, here are some other mind-bending shows like Dark Matter that you might enjoy.
10 best shows like Apple TV’s ‘Dark Matter’ that sci-fi fans must add to their watchlist
1. Dark
Release date: 2017
Cast: Louis Hofmann, Karoline Eichhorn, Lisa Vicari
No. of seasons: 3
IMDb rating: 8.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Netflix‘s Dark, the German sci-fi thriller, is one of the best series featuring the concept of parallel universes and is known for its mysterious aura. Dark Matter series fans are definitely going to love this one!
In Winden, two children mysteriously disappear and the search leads to uncovering dark secrets and hidden sins of four families, intertwining their past and present. The three-season series starts in 2019 but also goes back into the 1986 and 1953 years through time travel. The main characters discover a wormhole beneath the local nuclear power plant, they are drawn into a conspiracy involving the missing children and the town’s past. The lives of the Kahnwald, Nielsen, Doppler and Tiedemann families unravel some of their unusual connections and deepest secrets.
2. Fringe
Release date: 2008
Cast: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble
No. of seasons: 5
IMDb rating: 8.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Fringe chronicles the investigations carried out by the Fringe Division, a specialised task force jointly operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The team consists of Agent Olivia Dunham, Dr Walter Bishop (known for his unconventional methods) and Peter Bishop, Walter’s son. Assisting them are Phillip Broyles, the director of the division and Agent Astrid Farnsworth, who aids Walter in his scientific endeavours.
Together, they look into cases involving fringe science, such as experimental mishaps in transhumanism, the looming threat of a technological singularity and the potential convergence of parallel universes.
3. Tunnel
Release date: 2017
Cast: Choi Jin-hyuk, Kang Suk-Won, Yoon Hyun-min
No. of seasons: 1
IMDb rating: 8.3/10
Tunnel, a South Korean drama series, revolves around the concept of time travel and draws inspiration from the Hwaseong serial murders. The show garnered immense popularity, leading to its remakes in Thailand and Indonesia.
In 1986, Park Gwang-ho excelled as a detective with a successful career but his life took a turn when he became involved in a serial homicide case and unexpectedly time travelled 30 years into the future (2016) while pursuing the suspect through a tunnel. In this new era, he teams up with a new partner, Kim Seon-jae, a brilliant elite detective known for his exceptional investigative skills. As the serial killer resurfaces with the same ‘modus operandi’ from 30 years ago, the detective duo collaborates with criminal psychologist Professor Shin Jae-yi, to unravel the unsolved murders and apprehend the culprit.
4. 11.22.63
Release date: 2016
Cast: James Franco, Sarah Gadon, George MacKay
No. of seasons: 1
IMDb rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
The sci-fi series 11.22.63, inspired by Stephen King’s novel 11/22/63, depicts the story of a time traveller who travels back in time to alter the course of history by preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Jake Epping, an English teacher who recently went through a divorce in Lisbon, Maine, is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by his long-time friend Al Templeton to travel back in time to the year 1960. Al convinces Jake to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963. However, as Jake settles into his new life in the past, he becomes deeply attached to it, which poses a threat to the success of his mission.
To avoid arousing suspicion, Jake must find a way to discreetly gather information about individuals and events leading up to the assassination, all while building and maintaining his new identity.
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5. Travelers
Release date: 2016
Cast: Eric McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Nesta Cooper
No. of seasons: 3
IMDb rating: 8/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Travelers tells the tale of highly skilled operatives who have been assigned the crucial task of averting the collapse of society. These operatives, referred to as travellers, send their consciousness back in time and implant them into the bodies of individuals in the present day who are on the verge of dying. The successful transfer relies on the precise knowledge of the target’s location, which is made feasible by smartphones and GPS technology of the 21st century.
These travellers use social media and public records to gather information about their hosts and continue the lives of their hosts, using them as a cover for the remainder of their existence. Operating in teams of five, they execute missions assigned by the Director, an advanced artificial intelligence quantum computer program that monitors the timeline from the future. The primary objective of these missions is to safeguard the planet from a series of catastrophic events.
6. The Man in the High Castle
Release date: 2015
Cast: Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank, Rufus Sewell
No. of seasons: 4
IMDb rating: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
The Man in the High Castle is a dystopian sci-fi mystery series that explores an alternate history based on a novel written by the renowned author Philip K. Dick in 1962.
This Prime Video series is set in a parallel universe in 1962, depicting a world where the Axis powers emerged victorious in World War II. Following the Axis powers’ triumph, the United States is divided into three distinct regions: one under Nazi control, another under Japanese rule and a third serving as a buffer zone between the two superpowers.
7. The OA
Release date: 2016
Cast: Brit Marling, Jason Isaacs, Scott Wilson
No. of seasons: 2
IMDb rating: 7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
The OA is another sci-fi mystery-thriller series that follows the story of Prairie Johnson, a young woman who was adopted and reappears after a seven-year disappearance. Prairie, now calling herself ‘The OA’ (short for ‘original angel’), bears scars on her back and miraculously regains her eyesight despite being blind when she vanished. Refusing to disclose her whereabouts and how she regained her vision to the FBI and her adoptive parents, she gathers a group of five locals to whom she divulges this information along with her life narrative.
Ultimately, she seeks their assistance in rescuing other missing individuals by supposedly opening a gateway to an alternate dimension.
8. If I Hadn’t Met You
Release date: 2018
Cast: Pablo Derqui, Andrea Ros, Javier Beltrán
No. of seasons: 1
IMDb rating: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 75%
If I Hadn’t Met You is a 10-episode series that follows the story of Eduard, who tragically loses his wife Elisa and their children in an accident. Subsequently, Dr Everest guides Eduard on how to journey to different dimensions, prompting him to search for a reality where his loved ones can be rescued.
9. Bodies
Release date: 2023
Cast: Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller, Shira Haas
No. of seasons: 1
IMDb rating: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
Netflix series Bodies is a science fiction crime drama adapted from the 2015 DC Vertigo comic book series written by Si Spencer. It follows the story of four detectives in various periods in London as they work together to solve a murder case.
In present-day London, Detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan comes across a suspicious teenager during a demonstration. Upon discovering that he is armed, she pursues him through the city’s narrow streets until she is brought to a halt: there’s a lifeless body lying beside him. When the teenager escapes, Shahara realises she did not hear the gunshot. As she investigates this demise, her quest for the truth mirrors three other investigations spanning various periods — each featuring distinct detectives but a common victim.
As the quartet of investigators strive to crack the case, they uncover a phenomenon that could jeopardise the lives of hundreds of thousands.
10. Parallels
Release date: 2022
Cast: Thomas Chomel, Omar Mebrouk, Naidra Ayadi
No. of seasons: 1
IMDb rating: 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
Parallels follow the story of four adolescent companions whose lives take a drastic turn due to a physics experiment gone wrong, causing a rupture in space and time. As they gear up to enter high school, Bilal, Romane and siblings Sam and Victor are unexpectedly thrust into parallel dimensions following an incident involving an experimental particle collider.
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(Hero and feature image credit: IMDb/Dark Matter)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Dark, Travelers, Parallels, Bodies and Fringe are some of the best shows like Apple TV's Dark Matter.
Bodies, Dark and The OA are some of the best shows like Dark Matter available to stream on Netflix.
