SOULMATES – Season One Review

Soulmates (2020)

Written by: Brett Goldstein, William Bridges
Starring: Betsy Brandt, Bill Skarsgård, Charlie Heaton, David Costabile, Georgina Campbell, JJ Feild, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Laia Costa, Malin Akerman, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Sarah Snook, Shamier Anderson, Sonya Cassidy, Tom Goodman-Hill

SOULMATES (2020)
Season One
Written by Brett Goldstein and William Bridges
Available on DVD

What if you could find your one true love? Your soulmate. Would you? In 2023, a new cell was discovered in the eye that provided the key to discovering one’s genetic soulmate. By logging the details on the computer system of anyone who’s undergone the test, the company Soul Connex can help you to find your match as long as they too have undergone the test. Would you put your faith in science to find your genetic soulmate or would you leave it to the old fashioned way of finding love – by choice?

These are the questions posed in SOULMATES, an anthology series of six episodes, each a standalone story dealing with different characters who, in some shape or form, have taken the Soulmate test. Having been borne from the mind of the co-writer of Black Mirror, William Bridges, along with Ted Lasso co-writer, Brett Goldstein, you can expect this series to explore the idea of leaving love to science in a dark, warped way. We see episodes where relationships are tested as the Soulmate test comes between them and how they deal with the outcome of that. Is the grass greener on the other side or is the relationship you’ve happily been in for years your perfect match, despite what science dictates? Each episode has a particular take on the idea and in itself dips its toe in a particular genre, whether it’s thriller, horror or comedy. The series even riffs on the idea of a Jonestown-type cult in one of its more out-there episodes but shows how much one’s yearning for the one true love can cloud one’s judgement. The fear and curiosity of the unknown is what seems to drive these people. Whether or not it’s the right decision is the gamble. The episodes explore the highs and lows, the joy and conflict that a soulmate can bring… sometimes even just the idea that someone has gone for the test, whilst in a seemingly content relationship, is enough to rock the boat, with cracks beginning to fracture the once-happy couples.

SOULMATES has attracted a seriously incredible cast including Sarah Snook, Malin Akerman, Charlie Heaton, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Bill Skarsgard, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Breaking Bad‘s Betsy Brandt and David Costabile, just to name a few. Each actor puts in a fabulous performance as their respective character, whether it’s a wife or girlfriend pondering who her soulmate may be, a grief-stricken man who’s lost his soulmate or an individual who’s faced with the soulmate they didn’t want to meet. There’s tears, fear, anxiety, turmoil, excitement and laughter along the way with a fine balance of ‘for’ and ‘against’ the idea of searching for your soulmate. The pressure is really on in the instances where a soulmate’s arrival could jeopardise their life and you can cut the tension with a knife. However, there’s one episode involving Bill Skarsgard and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett that is a completely different animal to the rest and is just a hoot as it turns into a romantic caper with the soulmate angle taking a backseat. It feels a little out of place when lined up with the rest but is still enjoyable to watch.

Whilst there may be more stories to tell from the idea of the Soul Connex’s technology, Season One seems to have covered a wide range of bases and is enough to keep you watching. I’m not sure another series focused on the same theme of a genetic match soulmate would have any potency in it, but these six episodes are plenty enough to give you various angles and perceptions, some of which you may never have realised until they’re formed on the screen.

Thought-provoking and complex at times, SOULMATES delivers a diverse outlook on a fresh, controversial concept that will have you questioning what you’d do in each of the character’s shoes.

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