Murderbot Is a Funny, Violent Exploration of What It Means to Be Human

On a distant planet in a future where space travel through wormholes is routine—and corny soap operas are considered “premium entertainment”—surveyors make a discovery that would surely be deadly, if not for the Security Unit they’ve reluctantly brought with them. That’s Murderbot, Apple TV+’s latest sci-fi venture, which layers that premise with many nuances, delights, shocks, and multidimensional characters, including the robot.

Especially the robot. Alexander Skarsgård, who also executive produces, stars as the sentient construct made partially of metal, partially of cloned organic materials. The humans on the survey team are initially unaware it’s secretly named itself “Murderbot,” so they call it “SecUnit.” They’re also initially unaware that SecUnit is curious enough to have hacked its own “governor module,” the part of its programming that makes it have to obey all human commands, and is therefore completely rogue.

However, Murderbot still takes direction, albeit while grumbling in sarcastic voice-overs about how very weird humans are. It would much rather spend its time binging the thousands of hours of media it’s downloaded—the viewer is treated to frequent glimpses of its favorite show, the hilariously lurid Star Trek riff The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon—than doing its actual job. But it has realized, much to its surprise, that these particular humans are actually… not terrible.

As Murderbot shows us in a way that gently pokes fun (but is never mean-spirited), hippies find a way to persist even in an era where much of existence is beholden to the cold, greedy laws of “the Company.” Somehow, they’re a beacon of feel-good vibes in a system that gets by on cynicism and cruelty. Though the group hails from Preservation Alliance, a rare independent planet, they still must comply with the all-powerful corporation that won’t permit their survey mission unless they rent the required equipment. Since they’re on a budget, they go for the most cost-efficient choices, including a recently refurbished older-model SecUnit.

To Murderbot’s surprise, these “idiots” consider it to be a person, an actual member of the team. That belief is further justified once they see its rather human-looking face, and realize there’s something resembling a personality lurking beneath all that awkwardness and disdain. As SecUnit gets to know them, and steps up to protect them again and again, Murderbot finds a way into exploring larger questions about the differences between humans and machines, and the idea that self-awareness can have quite the learning curve no matter what material you’re made from.

Murderbot‘s casting is impeccable, so all praise to creators, writers, directors, and executive producers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz and their team for assembling this group; along with Skarsgård, it’s headed up by Noma Dumezweni as even-tempered (but prone to panic attacks) team leader Dr. Mensah and David Dastmalchian as augmented human Dr. Gurathin, who’s distrustful of Murderbot from the start. The rest of the crew includes Sabrina Wu, Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones, and Tamara Podemski, whose characters have palpably close relationships even before the mission begins.

Murderbot is based on Martha Wells’ Hugo- and Nebula-winning Murderbot Diaries book series, but it specifically hews to the plot of All Systems Red, the 2017 novella that introduced Murderbot to the world. The adaptation is quite faithful though there are some understandable changes. The show obviously leans on voice-over to let the audience in on Murderbot’s ongoing internal dialogue (his disgusted reactions help propel the series’ wry sense of humor). A few characters are missing. And a few plot points are altered in ways that make the show’s central mystery more visually dynamic.

Oh yeah, that’s right: Murderbot is also a mystery. Very soon after they arrive, the team realizes all is not what it seems on that distant planet. The pieces come together in a suspenseful yet fast-paced way—most episodes hover around 25 minutes and end on cliffhangers—as Murderbot and the humans become determined to outwit a murky yet obviously powerful threat.

No plot spoilers here, but it’s entirely worth pointing out that while the sci-fi thrills are a lot of fun, Murderbot‘s true pleasures come from its characters. Dumezweni is wonderful as the kind-hearted boss who treats everyone like family, but can and will step up to kick ass when needed; Dastmalchian has his best role since Late Night With the Devil, this time as a man who’s overcome hell to find a safe place on Mensah’s team, and isn’t about to let a heavily armed and probably untrustworthy robot jeopardize that.

Best of all, though, is Skarsgård. He makes Murderbot both physically imposing and completely nerdy, balancing thoughtful internal monologues with deadpan reactions and swift, violent action. Murderbot’s Sanctuary Moon addiction may be a source of comedy, but the show and the performer also tap into it very cleverly, showing how absorbing trashy TV has actually taught it a great deal of emotional maturity—not to mention providing crack solutions to real-world problems.

Murderbot‘s first two episodes arrive May 16 on Apple TV+, followed by a weekly rollout.

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