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Murderbot (2025)

2025 · Action,Comedy,Drama · sci-fi-speculative

Murderbot poster

Murderbot is an Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy-drama built around a single magnetic performance: Alexander Skarsgård as a rogue security construct who would rather binge soap operas than protect humans. Adapted from Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries novellas, the show blends deadpan humor, ethical questions about autonomy and personhood, and action-adventure in a corporate-dominated future. It skews character-driven and comedic rather than hard sci-fi, with a tone reviewers describe as unexpectedly funny and emotionally resonant. The principal audience complaint is structural — episodes run 22–25 minutes, leaving viewers hungry — rather than qualitative. The foundation is praised as strong with significant potential for future seasons.

From the reviewers

Skarsgård was perfect for this role. Murderbot builds a very unique and interesting world that you will have fun watching.
This series does a good job raising ethical questions that apply to us today.
Each episode though clocks in at around 20 minutes of actual content, stretched to about 25 minutes with previews, credits, and ads. It feels like just as you're starting to sink into the story, it's already over. The result is a stop-start experience that doesn't quite let the emotional or narrative weight land.
I do wish the pacing were sharper and that the show leaned more into what makes Murderbot, well, Murderbot: that sarcastic, deadpan, and deeply relatable internal monologue. It's one of the highlights of the books, and dialing that up in future seasons could take the show from great to unforgettable.
It also managed to keep the dry humor of the books - Murderbot being an unreliable narrator and a flat-out liar - that I loved so much.

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