Dark Matter review – Joel Edgerton abducts himself in fun multiverse thriller

It’s a fascinating premise – a physics genius creates a way to go to a parallel universe and switch places with his less successful self. If only this series weren’t about five universes too long

I feel as if I’ve been living in a parallel universe since about 2016. Everything intangible we depend on – democracy, the rule of law, policing by trust, yadda yadda yadda – is going terrifyingly wrong. Reality has become disorientating enough without the world of entertainment spinning me out into multiple universes too. But the multiverse is having a moment (or technically many moments), what with the Marvel Cinematic Universe providing such fertile and lucrative ground for its heroes and the Oscar-winning likes of Everything Everywhere All At Once or Constellation. I’ll throw Netflix’s 3 Body Problem in too, because a fictional past, present and future Earth in the same storyline feels close enough.

Now we have Blake Crouch’s nine-part adaptation of his own book of the same name, Dark Matter. Physics professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) – hereafter known as Jason 1 – is leading a quiet life teaching then coming home each night to his loving wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), and engaging teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). If there is a flicker behind his eyes when his friend and college contemporary Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) wins a prestigious physics prize, well, we’ve all had moments of wondering about the road not taken, have we not.