An anthology series from a writer of the hit dystopian show explores the dark implications of a soulmate test in a show that favors ambition over intimacy
Soulmates, an AMC anthology series co-created by a Black Mirror writer and Stranger Things producer, orbits around an intriguing if not previously unexplored fictional breakthrough: in the near-ish future, a test can determine, based on genetics, one’s singular soulmate. This disruptive premise – the age-old question of compatibility distilled to scientific certainty, the gravitational allure of being truly and fully understood – is, in Soulmates’ rendering, believably sanded down through the cheery blandness of marketing. Soulmates is a business; the first scene is a faux-ad for Soul Connex, The Test’s company. Fifteen years or so in the future, a time Soulmates imagines looks basically the same as now except phones are transparent and computers are touch-screen holograms, The Test is advertised with the line “Matching your soulmate. Science fact.”
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