Murderbot review: Alexander Skarsgård fronts killer adaptation of beloved sci-fi novella
A fun sci-fi comedy outing for Apple TV+.
It’s easy to argue that the sci-fi genre is as crowded as ever, but Chris and Paul Weitz have set out to make a case for there still being room for another entry with Murderbot.
An action comedy show based on the first of Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries book series — All Systems Red — Murderbot follows the adventures of a security cyborg who tries to hide its new sentience from its human clients, at the risk of disposal by its corporate owners if caught.
While this isn’t Apple TV+’s first foray into space, action or comedy, this is the first time the platform has gone into a story that blends all three together.
With that unique combination, along with the novella’s signature premise, the execution of bringing Wells's Murderbot to life has resulted in something rather special.
Murderbot starts in the same manner as its novella inspiration did. The titular SecUnit, played by Alexander Skarsgård, is able to gain freedom by hacking its controlling governor module and is able to gain free thought.
However, it isn’t exactly able to simply freely explore its capitalist megacorporation-dominated society. While deciding what to do next, it blends in and goes along with a human survey science team on a mission to a dangerous planet — doing its best to keep its now-rogue personality from being discovered.
While Murderbot paints a picture of Wells’s vast and interesting universe interconnected by wormhole technology, the majority of season 1 is a close-knit, intimate story set on a singular world.
Thankfully, just like the source material, that’s what makes it all work so well — courtesy of the personal dynamic between its characters and the talented cast who play them.
That dynamic is one of contrast between the different personalities of Skarsgård’s SecUnit vs the PreservationAux survey team - the latter being a group of ‘space hippies’, led by Noma Dumezweni’s Dr Mensah.
The funniest moments of Murderbot lie in the protagonist’s disdain for the mostly outgoing and reckless behaviours of its clients and other humans.
After all, instead of getting to enjoy privately streaming its favourite shows, SecUnit still has to go out and protect its new comrades from giant space worms, a steadily evolving conspiracy, and perhaps the most daunting of all: regular social interaction.
As a result of watching what's like the new group introvert just wanting to stay home binge-watching TV away from all the drama, you get an added amusing layer of humorous relatability to the character throughout the background of the show — even though some characters of the survey team from the book have been melded together.
Murderbot wouldn’t be anywhere near as enticing without the performance of Skarsgård as SecUnit himself. The Northman and True Blood actor is not only able to skilfully portray a robotic character who’s trying to hide their emotions, but also conveys the looks of anxiety and unease that have come with their newfound human-like free will when being worried that it'll be found out.
When added with more of SecUnit’s personality that we hear through the self-narration kept from the books, the achieved complexity adds up to Murderbot being the home of Skarsgård’s best performance to date.
The rest of the cast clearly had a lot of fun bringing their survey scientists to life as well — each having energetic highs and dramatic lows throughout their respective arcs.
The highlight performance after Skarsgård is Dumezweni’s Mensah, who captivates with thoughtful leadership and genuine vulnerability, connecting with SecUnit’s evolving empathy and humanity along with the audience's perspective.
Other cast members like David Dastmalchian as Gurathin or Tamara Podemski as Bharadwaj are also a highlight, but clips from The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon — SecUnit’s favourite show over 19 seasons long — act as the cherry on top.
That said, the core narrative of Murderbot is still chuckle-rendering enough in its own right as its 10 20-to-30-minute episodes take the crew across various areas of the mission’s planet.
Utilising a fair balance of on-set shooting and seemingly some green screen, the overall design of the show adds to the charm of its tone with a future-retro aesthetic, almost reminiscent of a grounded '60s Star Trek-like grunge.
Despite being a show’s debut season for a brand-new IP, money seems to have also been well-spent in the CGI department for the alien monsters and creatures that inhabit the world. Some look almost as gorgeous as the stunning claymation-style opening sequence.
Even between the supposedly expensive computer-generated scenes, the action still has plenty of implemented skilful combat choreography and sci-fi visual effects to play into Murderbot’s robotic SecUnit skillset, keeping action scenes exciting yet easy to follow.
There is some gore and scattered body parts on the side, too, but never in a way that’s gratuitous — only having guts or heads fly when the situation calls for it, keeping a nuanced lighter tone that makes those slightly darker moments feel earned.
The only drawback throughout its season 1 run is that Murderbot can feel a tad predictable at times. Still, even when plot lines can go as expected, the evolving absurd comedic elements are more than enough to keep you going.
Over time, SecUnit’s unique values don’t necessarily blend well with his comrades’ self-righteousness over reality, often in shockingly entertaining ways — like the right way to dispose of an enemy combatant being one of the best moments of the whole season.
As the story goes, though, the explored themes of self-identity, enslavement, freedom, and prejudice pair well with the clash of robotic scepticism and realism against human hope, naivety, and optimism.
As Alexander Skarsgård’s SecUnit would say, Murderbot is a true "premium quality" show that will surprise you in the best way possible. It may not be the most epic show to ever grace the small screen, but thanks to Chris and Paul Weitz’s working with original author Martha Wells to create a faithful adaptation, this is one of the most fun series to ever land on Apple TV+.
With a unique premise, interesting world, and clever humour, the dedicated performances by all of its cast members are endearing enough to make you want to see more adaptations of Wells’s universe being brought to life.
Murderbot will premiere on 16th May 2025 on Apple TV+.
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