Julio is a Senior Author for Collider. He studied History and International Relations at university, but found his calling in cultural journalism. When he isn’t writing, Julio also teaches English at a nearby school. He has lived in São Paulo most of his life, where he covers CCXP and other big events. Having loved movies, music, and TV from an early age, he prides himself in knowing every minute detail about the things he loves. When he is older, he dreams of owning a movie theater in a small countryside town.
Nowadays, finding something to binge can prove difficult; when you finally find a new series, there’s always the chance that it has multiple seasons to get through. If you like science fiction, it’s a little simpler, as Apple TV has proven time and again to be the home for the best series in the genre, but even there, most are actually quite long and require more time to finish. Just last year, however, the streamer released Murderbot, a unique sci-fi series that will take you less than a weekend to binge. With 10 episodes consisting of around 28 minutes each, it’s more than a good show — it’s premium-quality content.
‘Murderbot’ Follows a Self-Aware Cyborg Who Is Addicted to Television
Alexander Skarsgård plays Murderbot‘s title character, a cyborg who hacks its own control systems and becomes self-aware. It isn’t that murderous, really, but if the company that rents it out as a Security Unit finds out, it will surely be decommissioned, so instead of action, Murderbot really prefers to be left alone to binge its favorite shows to pass the time and quell the depression of a lonely existence.
Unfortunately, Murderbot ends up rented by a team of hippie scientists on a research mission to a faraway world. It should be simple enough, but, as the titular character likes to say, “humans are idiots,” which makes everything both unnecessarily dangerous and annoying. Murderbot believes humans in general are far too emotional and illogical, so it couldn’t have been picked by a worse group of clients. It gets worse when one member of the team, an augmented human named Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), starts noticing that Murderbot isn’t behaving like a normal SecUnit.
Much of what makes Murderbot so irresistible is Skarsgård’s performance. He plays the character with a subtle and restricted panic at its situation while maintaining a hilarious blasé inner monologue, perfectly setting up Murderbot’s arc in Season 1. Is this SecUnit really only a piece of bored, television-addicted machinery, or is there something more beneath?
‘Murderbot’ Puts a Refreshingly Funny Twist on Classic Sci-Fi
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Image via Apple TV+</figure>
Skarsgård’s portrayal of Murderbot fits perfectly with Martha Wells‘ original novels The Murderbot Diaries, which are told through the character’s perspective. Apple TV’s series nails its adaptation, leaning heavily on the dark, absurdist humor that makes Murderbot such a likable character and the books such a great read.
Even though it isn’t a proper satire, Murderbot is also incredibly self-aware, taking jabs at the sci-fi genre itself — particularly through the lead character’s favorite show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. It also pokes fun at some unfortunately typical tropes, like the use of overly complicated terms and abbreviations (SecUnit, PresAux, GrayCris, etc.), which unironically works incredibly well within the story’s ultra-capitalistic setting. Weird names are another source of jokes here — looking at you now, Leebeebee (Anna Konkle).
- The Wachowskis’ 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film
Editing. - Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the
actors. - Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot,
recovering from neck surgery the whole time. - It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the
world in front of you.
- Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
- George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a
script. - The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and
real stunt performers. - Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.
- Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth
nomination. - The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott’s 1982 original.
- Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever
he could. - Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the
two movies.
- Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and
Original Score. - Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan’s Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
- Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher
Walken. - David Lynch’s 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unmade one are both their
own legends by now.
- The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
- John Williams’ score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the
best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever. - Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both
seasons. - The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.
‘Murderbot’ Is One of the Best Binge-Watches on Streaming Right Now
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV+
Image via Apple TVFor all its substance, Murderbot still manages to be a very lighthearted and quick watch, making it one of the best streaming experiences you can have in less than six hours, even for people who aren’t the biggest fans of science fiction. It’s a refreshing change of pace, really, considering how most sci-fi series usually rely on high stakes and complex worldbuilding to keep people hooked.
There is also no better time to start watching. Murderbot was renewed for Season 2 just ahead of the Season 1 finale back in 2025 thanks to how well it did with critics and audiences, and the series is expected to return in 2027 with some acting heavyweights joining the cast, including Steve Buscemi, Wanda Sykes, and Tramell Tillman.
For anyone looking for a sci-fi series that feels different from the usual dystopian thrillers and sprawling space operas, there’s no better choice than Murderbot. Skarsgård’s performance is the main attraction, but the show’s clever writing, accessible runtime, and unconventional perspective make it a unique series in any catalog, especially one as rich as Apple TV’s.
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