Some of the best series on Apple TV have earned great reviews, yet none of them get talked about nearly as much as they deserve. That’s why I have included three different genres in this weekend’s binge list, which is based on a bestselling sci-fi novel, a beloved wine manga, and a true-crime memoir. The best part is that each one of these shows manages to outdo its source material’s reputation on the screen.

We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.

Dark Matter (2024-present)

Genre: Sci-fi, Drama, Thriller
IMDB rating: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%

Physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) is walking home one night in Chicago when he’s abducted and wakes up in an entirely different version of his own life, one where he made a very different choice at a critical fork in the road years earlier. Desperate to get back to his real wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and son Charlie (Oakes Fegley), Jason has to navigate a disorienting maze of alternate realities, all while facing off against the most dangerous version of himself imaginable.

Based on Blake Crouch’s bestselling novel, the show blends a mind-bending sci-fi premise with emotions at its core. Edgerton carries the weight of playing multiple versions of the same man without ever losing the thread of who Jason really is. Season two premieres August 28, so this is the perfect weekend to catch up before it returns.

Stream Dark Matter on Apple TV.

Drops of God (2023-2026)

Genre: Drama, Mystery
IMDB rating: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

When legendary wine critic Alexandre Leger dies, his estranged daughter Camille (Fleur Geffrier) learns she stands to inherit his extraordinary collection, but only if she can outduel his star protege Issei (Tomohisa Yamashita) in a brutal series of blind wine-tasting tests. The catch is that Camille has spent years physically unable to drink alcohol due to a traumatic childhood memory she’s never fully confronted.

Spanning France and Japan, the show turns the notoriously stuffy world of wine expertise into something genuinely tense and cinematic. It earned high score on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB for its first season, and season two pushes both leads into an even bigger mystery, tracking down the origin of the greatest wine ever made. It’s a hidden gem that rewards patience with real emotional payoff.

Stream Drops of God on Apple TV.

Black Bird (2022)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Biography
IMDB rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%

Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is a former high school football star turned convicted drug dealer facing a full decade behind bars, until the FBI offers him an impossible deal. Transfer to a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane, befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), and get him to confess to the murders of as many as eighteen young women before his appeal goes through.

Written by novelist Dennis Lehane, this six-episode limited series turns a real-life story into a slow-building psychological standoff between two very different kinds of dangerous men. Hauser’s performance as Hall is surreal, and the late Ray Liotta delivers one of his final on-screen performances as Jimmy’s ailing father. It’s tense, true, and easy to finish in a single weekend.

Stream Black Bird on Apple TV.