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Joel Edgerton as Jason Dessen in “Dark Matter.” Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV.
Apple TV sure has the touch when it comes to high-concept sci-fi thrillers that get into your head and won’t leave. Based on the book by Blake Crouch, Dark Matter is a near-perfect speculative thriller-mystery, packed with twists and turns and brought to life by an absolutely stacked cast.
This story of parallel universes and parallel selves who don’t always have their (or your—it’s confusing) best interests at heart is addictive. If the weekly release schedule is giving you the shakes and you’ve already burned through our list of the best streamalike series, then there’s one movie that’s a perfect match: 2014’s Coherence.
Coherence (2014) is a similarly mind-warping thriller
If you love the sense of paranoid danger that suffuses Dark Matter, you’ll love Coherence, which explores similar themes. And if you thought the idea of a parallel version of yourself trying to steal your life was cool, imagine multiple parallel versions of yourself sowing chaos over the course of a few hours, until you have to take extreme measures to protect yourself in a world where you suddenly can’t be sure if your friends are really your friends.
The story is set on the night of an “astronomical anomaly” in the form of a comet passing very close to Earth. Eight friends with complex histories gather for a dinner party. Just as their personal dramas start to derail the evening, the comet comes to its closest point, the power goes out, and things get weird. One house in the distance still has power, but when two of the group walk there, they discover it’s the same house they just left—except not. And when they return, carrying a strange box filled with personal items and photographs of everyone with a number written on the back, everyone knows they’re in for a long night.
It slowly becomes clear that there are multiple realities overlapping, and the dinner guests from other universes have also gone out exploring—and now they may all be mixed up. And not all the parallel people are to be trusted. The tension keeps rising as mysterious blackmail notes, violent attacks, and impersonations abound, leading to a shocking ending composed of nested twists. Whether you love the way Dark Matter handles Jason’s desperate attempts to hang onto his real family, the idea that you can’t trust what you see, or the twisty sci-fi stuff at the show’s core, you’ll love Coherence for all the same reasons. Stream Coherence on Kanopy, Tubi, Hoopla, or Plex, or rent it on Prime Video.
Coherence (2014)
$4.99 at Prime Video
More movies like Dark Matter
Anyone who loves a show about multiple realities wants multiple movie options. If you need a few more recommendations for movies with Dark Matter’s atmosphere of dread and wild twists, here you go.
Another Earth (2011)
If it’s the exploration of the concept behind parallel universes and doppelgangers that excites you, this film’s more thoughtful, quieter mood is perfect. The same day that an Earth-like planet is discovered, 17-year-old Rhoda (Brit Marling) accidentally kills a young boy and his pregnant mother. Her life falls to pieces, and when she leaves prison, she seeks out the woman’s husband, but can’t bring herself to confess her identity. She enters a contest to be one of the first civilians to visit Earth 2, which is revealed to be a mirror world where everyone has led roughly—but not always exactly—the same lives. The revelation leads to an emotionally powerful ending that will resonate with fans of the show. Rent Another Earth on Prime Video.
What do you think so far?
Another Earth (2011)
$3.99 at Prime Video
The Double (2013)
Is it the way Dark Matter’s Jasons work against each other that you find so compelling? Check out The Double, based on a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Jesse Eisenberg plays Simon James, a timid man who is ignored by almost everyone in his life. One day, a man named James Simon begins working in his office—a man who looks exactly like him, but who is confident, outgoing, and cruel. The twisting story of how James impacts Simon’s life is unexpected, thoroughly entertaining, and perfectly pitched for Dark Matter fans. Stream The Double on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, or Tubi, or rent it on Prime Video.
The Double (2013)
$3.99 at Prime Video
Parallel (2018)
The question of what you would do if you could access parallel dimensions is the engine that drives Dark Matter deep into your brain—and it’s the same one that powers Parallel. When a group of work friends discovers a mirror that gives them access a parallel world, each uses this resource for their own personal gain, until things take a deeply creepy and violent turn. It’s a fun thought experiment on the possibilities of a parallel world anchored by the same emotional gravitas as Dark Matter. Stream Parallel on The Roku Channel, Hoopla, or Tubi, or rent it on Prime Video.
Parallel (2018)
$3.99 at Prime Video
Predestination (2014)
Adapted from the classic sci-fi short story “ ’—All You Zombies—’” by Robert A. Heinlein, it’s impossible to summarize this film in a single paragraph. The plot pivots on time travel instead of parallel universes, but it will feel very similar to Dark Matter in terms of tone and the twisting way characters shift identity and reality remakes itself after each new revelation. Just know that you won’t be able to predict how it all ends. Stream Predestination on The Roku Channel or rent it on Prime Video.
Predestination (2014)
$3.99 at Prime Video
The One (2001)
The One is a gonzo movie, really—but as long as you don’t think about it too hard, it’s terrific fun in the parallel universe-slash-antagonistic-doppelganger mold. A man named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) works at a government agency that monitors the multiverse—or did, until he goes rogue, realizing that if he kills the other 124 versions of himself in existence, he can absorb their power and skills and become a god-like being. He’s already defeated 123 versions of himself, leaving just one to go—and that’s where the fun begins. Stream The One on Kanopy, Hoopla, or Tubi, or rent it on Prime Video.
The One (2001)
$3.99 at Prime Video
