Each episode has own story, one episode is better than the other. The overall concept is interesting.
I cannot shake the feeling if this would have been an English production it would have been so much better.
It's like the "soul" is missing in the production. Which is an irony, really.
94 Reviews
A mixed bag
jwkc225 April 2021
Episodes 1, 2 and 6 are worth watching.
One of the other reviews asked why so many of the actors are British? Simple - British actors are really talented. The acting in general is of a high standard - really watchable.
Other reviews have also complained about shaky camerawork - I'm the first to be nauseous from shaky camerawork and it didn't bother me but YMMV.
The main weakness of the series as a whole is that it doesn't really delve into what defines a soulmate. Except for episode 6, the concept of a soulmate is often entirely tangential.
One of the other reviews asked why so many of the actors are British? Simple - British actors are really talented. The acting in general is of a high standard - really watchable.
Other reviews have also complained about shaky camerawork - I'm the first to be nauseous from shaky camerawork and it didn't bother me but YMMV.
The main weakness of the series as a whole is that it doesn't really delve into what defines a soulmate. Except for episode 6, the concept of a soulmate is often entirely tangential.
Motion Sickness!!
IndianaGuy7 October 2020
I watched the first episode, and wished I had taken Dramamine beforehand. The camera isn't what I would call "shaky" exactly, it pans and swings back and forth, up and down, much more slowly and deliberately. It's more like the cameraperson is standing on an exercise ball, and trying badly to balance, while filming people on solid ground. Or maybe the entire cast, crew, cinematographer et al are filming the show on a boat on the ocean during a storm. Who can say. It was nearly a deal breaker but I did survive without vomiting until the end of the show, because it was mildly interesting. I really can't say whether I will watch the 2nd episode.
Let's see where this goes...
mattmusko8 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
At this time Episode 2 of Season 1 was just made available today. The "perfect match using technology" trope is nothing new. When I was a teen before the Internet I remember listening to pervy jocks talk about if there was a "perfect" girl out there for each man that would induce an instant orgasm by just seeing them for the first time. Kind of like Cartman's (from South Park) assertion that there is a "perfect" musical note/tone/chord/key that will cause anyone to immediately crap their pants when they hear it. To that point, I hope this series doesn't soil its own sheets as it progresses.
I'm mostly watching because I like seeing "Wags" from Billions and "Shiv" from Succession on the same show. Because this topic has been explored so much before it would be interesting if scenarios were presented that totally mind forked test participants. Maybe two straight men or two straight women were paired with someone of the same gender. Or a more controversial scenario where an underage person lied about their age and took the test and was paired with a much older adult...or an ancient/old dying participant was paired with someone well more than half the older member's age. A very provocative scenario would be for family members to match with each other. It's taboo now but monarchy and dynasty hierarchies couldn't have existed without incest. All kinds of limits could be tested with this concept and the final season could expose a giant fraud where it was all just one big random social studies project funded by a consortium of the biggest social media companies on Earth.
At this point the subject matter deals mostly with people who are already married/committed who decide to take the test to see if a better match exists. They may or may not let their partner know about these thoughts/plans...so...meh. This show could really push some envelopes if it wanted to and I hope it does eventually so long as it doesn't turn into one big cringe festival.
6 stars because sitting on the fence is 5 stars but I plan to stay with it for a bit but I am far from willing to sit on pins and needles waiting for the next episode at this point like I do for Succession and Billions.
I'm mostly watching because I like seeing "Wags" from Billions and "Shiv" from Succession on the same show. Because this topic has been explored so much before it would be interesting if scenarios were presented that totally mind forked test participants. Maybe two straight men or two straight women were paired with someone of the same gender. Or a more controversial scenario where an underage person lied about their age and took the test and was paired with a much older adult...or an ancient/old dying participant was paired with someone well more than half the older member's age. A very provocative scenario would be for family members to match with each other. It's taboo now but monarchy and dynasty hierarchies couldn't have existed without incest. All kinds of limits could be tested with this concept and the final season could expose a giant fraud where it was all just one big random social studies project funded by a consortium of the biggest social media companies on Earth.
At this point the subject matter deals mostly with people who are already married/committed who decide to take the test to see if a better match exists. They may or may not let their partner know about these thoughts/plans...so...meh. This show could really push some envelopes if it wanted to and I hope it does eventually so long as it doesn't turn into one big cringe festival.
6 stars because sitting on the fence is 5 stars but I plan to stay with it for a bit but I am far from willing to sit on pins and needles waiting for the next episode at this point like I do for Succession and Billions.
Some episodes are better than others!
midnitepantera20 December 2020
I passed this one by when it 1st aired and then was drawn back to it from other's reviews. It was an interesting idea, in theory, even though it would Not work in practice! And my point was proven in episode 6.
All episodes are a new story, so you can watch them out of order.
I found that episode 6 was the best. Then episode 2, 3, 1, 5, then 4. Some really good actors you will recognize from other popular shows and movies, so it's a good guilty pleasure worth a 1 time watch.
Not so bad
ess_meriem10 October 2020
I watched the first episode and I liked the concept, the future not so different from what we know now, but letting the machine decide about our life, we also do that often... But about love too? It made me ask myself some questions. It seems like an episode I saw from black mirror, but still not so bad. I want to watch the second episode so I can really judge. I did not tho dislike this episode.
This show tries, and fails
tommymoses-821103 November 2020
I'm writing this with one episode left in the series still to air, but I have 0 faith the last one will be much better than the previous ones. This show is pretty to look at sometimes, and the actors are surprisingly of high caliber ( in my opinion ). This show is lacking any actual interesting story. The premise is interesting enough, but the execution is just so poor. Only 1 or 2 of them have been interesting enough and the rest have just dragged on. I'm particularly sad because I was very excited for this show when the trailer first came out.
Surprisingly good
madmaywebdesign14 January 2021
After the first episode and reading reviews, i didn't think I would like it. I thought each episode was going to be some version of the first, about regret and "the grass isn't greener" type plots, but they are not. Each episode has a different plot with one common theme but very different stories. A lot of comments about the camera being shaky... I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't read those reviews first and it didn't affect my watching experience. I recommend watching.
Could get better
i-have-foreseen9418 October 2020
The problem with this show is in the storytelling. So far as I have seen (episode 2) the acting is okay, the sets are white, the camera is...shaky but where it really fails is the scripts because (at least to me) the characters' actions are extremely illogical and unlike anything an actual human with a semi-operative brain would do!
Married? Maybe don't sign up for essentially a cheater's dating app?!
Soulmates? Then how come you have as many problems as other couples do?!
Someone hacked your account? REPORT THEM???? It's clearly a stalker???!!!
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far this story is not provocative, it doesn't push the viewer to question anything. It's just frustrating because right out the gate, the show takes the soulconnex or whatever system as word of god so it doesn't even attempt to question the most questionable fact of the show! It's just bizarre. It focuses on the human factor and attempts to explore how humans deal with the situation but I find this absolute trust in some company that claims to find soulmates so stupid. It sounds like something that would become a trend on twitter for 2 weeks and then 3 years later you hear about it again and the owner has been arrested for fraud!
The story is not committed to being science-fiction. They could just make a show about relationships without the science stuff and it would be the exact same thing with slightly different terminology.
Now I am still on episode two so the show might get better later but so far, I'm mildly amused/frustrated as I watch the characters deliberately not ask the right questions.
I also specifically hate the background music. It's very generic and creepy and it doesn't indicate emotional cues for the story very well.
Woozy
hovikzakian-2946913 October 2020
Black Mirror meets The Dating Game
seamaxwell7 October 2020
Vibes like American Horror and Black Mirror
michelleoverton22 August 2021
This show was not at all like I thought it would be. Based on the title of Soul Mates, I thought it would be more about match-making and finding the right person to love. Oh my, it's that but gets twisted sister down the road. Not sure if I'd watch it again but it was suspenseful.
Be gorgeous and rich, or you'll die alone??
lea-polites24 October 2020
I'm on the 3rd ep and it's just ridiculous.
He's a schoolteacher and she's a commercial artist/graphic designer.
Everyone has a great career and lives in a million dollar modern house.
So I guess the takeaway is you only deserve your soulmate if you're under 50, make a 6 figure salary and are model good looking.
It was a fantastic premise, but the execution is horrible.
I really liked at least 3 Episodes so far
truetronics13 November 2020
Out of 6. I guess other people will have the same experience, the Sci-Fi Tag drew me in, as it so often does, but more than transparent phones I didn't notice.
Give it a second try if the first or even second Episode wasn't for you, maybe there's something in the following.
Give it a second try if the first or even second Episode wasn't for you, maybe there's something in the following.
Not quite 'The One'
markrtid6 October 2020
Soul Asylum
southdavid16 June 2023
Having finished Netflix's "The One", we decided to try Amazon Prime's "Soulmates" hoping that this would take a similar conceit into a place I was more interested in. To be fair to it, it does - and explores the worlds reaction to soul matching technology, rather than just becoming another police procedural.
Soulmates contains six anthology style stories, that take place in an approximate near future. Technology has been developed that allowed people to be matched with their soul mate. The episodes explore what happens when people already in relationships take the test, the lengths people will go to meet their mate, what happens to people whose perfect partners have died before they've met and even worse, people who prospective partners have a dark secret.
Performances are pretty solid across the run, with each episode having at least one recognisable face. It's often quite a transatlantic series. British faces, like Dolly Wells, Darren Boyd, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Charlie Heaton mix with David Costabile, Bill Skarsgard, Malin Akerman and Betsy Brandt.
I do like the fact that the stories explore the various facets of a life effected by this new technology, but as with most anthology style shows, your enjoyment of the particular stories may vary wildly. Particularly as a couple of episodes of this are relationship dramas, whereas the other four explore much more extreme ideas. Probably the most memorable is the layover episode, which sees Bill Skarsgard have a one-night stand in Mexico and then go to great lengths to retrieve his stolen passport so he can continue on to meet his soulmate. This story escalates to frankly ridiculous extremes, but it's fun to see him and Stewart-Jarrett take the journey.
If I'm honest, I'm not sure any of these episodes are truly good enough to elevate the show from a distraction to something I'd actively recommend, but I got enough out of them that I think I'd have come back for the second season.
Soulmates contains six anthology style stories, that take place in an approximate near future. Technology has been developed that allowed people to be matched with their soul mate. The episodes explore what happens when people already in relationships take the test, the lengths people will go to meet their mate, what happens to people whose perfect partners have died before they've met and even worse, people who prospective partners have a dark secret.
Performances are pretty solid across the run, with each episode having at least one recognisable face. It's often quite a transatlantic series. British faces, like Dolly Wells, Darren Boyd, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Charlie Heaton mix with David Costabile, Bill Skarsgard, Malin Akerman and Betsy Brandt.
I do like the fact that the stories explore the various facets of a life effected by this new technology, but as with most anthology style shows, your enjoyment of the particular stories may vary wildly. Particularly as a couple of episodes of this are relationship dramas, whereas the other four explore much more extreme ideas. Probably the most memorable is the layover episode, which sees Bill Skarsgard have a one-night stand in Mexico and then go to great lengths to retrieve his stolen passport so he can continue on to meet his soulmate. This story escalates to frankly ridiculous extremes, but it's fun to see him and Stewart-Jarrett take the journey.
If I'm honest, I'm not sure any of these episodes are truly good enough to elevate the show from a distraction to something I'd actively recommend, but I got enough out of them that I think I'd have come back for the second season.
Unwatchable
marymcfarland-018666 October 2020
The writing is elementary. There is barely any character introduction, much less character development. The filming style...(shaky camera, bizarre color mix) makes it feel as if you're watching an annoying commercial made by a very bad film student. This program has absolutely no redeeming qualities.
New Favorite Show!!!
collin_nuke12 November 2020
This is a great concept. Each episode actually gets better and better. I tend to enjoy the darker episodes VS the lighter episodes. Extremely happy this is already cleared for a second season, I can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves. Don't question it, just give it a chance!!
Stop comparing and think
chiaraa12 February 2021
Clearly you see Black Mirror. That series traced a new parh in distopic tech-related future so every new narrative including technology and visionary or eery stories leads to think of a sort of copycat.
I don't think so.
Most importantly, every episode has a different mood and appeal, so I thought, I laughed and even cried a little.
Plus: great cast.
I really hope the average rating will change.
Prosaic
feelreallove-921-84597111 February 2021
I really enjoy this show!
blueeyesdenise14 October 2020
This show is great! I love how there are different episodes with different characters and plot line. I seriously can't wait to see the next episode. Don't let other peoples opinions deter you from not seeing it. I hate when I see a movie or show with low ratings and it turns out to be a great movie or show that I could have missed if I listened to others. I mean if it's a 2, then I will obviously take that into account. Remember we all have different likes and it's a good thing, so you'll know what you missed.
I have hope for future dating
yahaira-729-6947017 April 2023
This scify hits it on the head. How can we find the perfect soulmate in this techy world. So far the first episode is so good. The cast has some of my favorite actors like the nepot Shiv from Succession, it's good to see her act as a different character and the second in comand wags from Billions. What was that film were all the college friends get together and share how miserable they are being married starring the big chill. Kevin Kline, Glen Close and some other notable actors. If in the future without karma to unite souls on a shared destiny path but a genetic marking might be the next best thing. Also to use it as a test for picking the right people for the right jobs maybe it can clear the gene pool for the creation of better people. Anyways look forward to watching this show.
Episodic series instead of an ongoing drama, hopefully it gets better
Xavier_Stone10 October 2020
The first episode is rather lame and has lots of problems, shakey camera the worst of them. I watched the 2nd ep and was hoping for something different and was pleasantly surprised. A whole new set of characters with the same background concept and I love Wags from Billions.
Although the 2nd ep is a new take and adds to the intrigue it still falls a little flat. I was feeling that they might push the boundaries a bit more, but it was very generic and almost straight forward to a likely outcome. I'll continue watching as it's a Black Mirror wannabe. Perhaps they might get a good set if they get enough attempts, but so far only 4's and 6's.
3rd episode was a bit over the top and unrealistic, maybe a 6.
4th episode is annoying, aggravating and overall made me tap out. Poor acting by all characters, poor story, the shaky camera returns and I have to tap out. 1/10.
Although the 2nd ep is a new take and adds to the intrigue it still falls a little flat. I was feeling that they might push the boundaries a bit more, but it was very generic and almost straight forward to a likely outcome. I'll continue watching as it's a Black Mirror wannabe. Perhaps they might get a good set if they get enough attempts, but so far only 4's and 6's.
3rd episode was a bit over the top and unrealistic, maybe a 6.
4th episode is annoying, aggravating and overall made me tap out. Poor acting by all characters, poor story, the shaky camera returns and I have to tap out. 1/10.
Terrible
JapanMovies26 August 2022
Terrible
The second episode was worse then the first. There is no validity to their approach to what their trying to explain. Who are their aiming for audience? House wives? Singled lonely people? Terrible! You have people interfering in others life just because you have a match wit that person? So you have to cause problems for them so they be with your match? This is tacky and daytime drama garbage! They produce any thing these days AMC . It lacks understanding where the plot is. It throws the timeline some where in the future? Or worse paradox current time line? I enjoy good version of this theme. But this show is just bad in its explain nothing at all. People here Instead of telling spoilers like many have here, why not explain why? As for technology theme LOL its so inconsistent or what they trying explain it is bad. There is no good hoping this show will improve, if they cant get the plot straight from 1st. There just going to be more or the same misdirect of the theme. Sad, it looks good but the writers and directors are not on the same line.
The second episode was worse then the first. There is no validity to their approach to what their trying to explain. Who are their aiming for audience? House wives? Singled lonely people? Terrible! You have people interfering in others life just because you have a match wit that person? So you have to cause problems for them so they be with your match? This is tacky and daytime drama garbage! They produce any thing these days AMC . It lacks understanding where the plot is. It throws the timeline some where in the future? Or worse paradox current time line? I enjoy good version of this theme. But this show is just bad in its explain nothing at all. People here Instead of telling spoilers like many have here, why not explain why? As for technology theme LOL its so inconsistent or what they trying explain it is bad. There is no good hoping this show will improve, if they cant get the plot straight from 1st. There just going to be more or the same misdirect of the theme. Sad, it looks good but the writers and directors are not on the same line.
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