Imagine waking up and not remembering who you are — but everything around you still smells of money. A man, a rooftop terrace, a wardrobe straight out of a Net-a-Porter dream, and a past that clings to you like a wet sheet. That’s the premise of Surface, Apple TV+’s silky psychological thriller with Gugu Mbatha-Raw at its center and San Francisco as its backdrop. But what does a woman do when even her own memories seem staged?
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
The perfect surface:
It’s no coincidence that the series is called Surface. Everything in this story is about surfaces: mirrors, glass facades, smooth declarations of love, and the perfection of a man who never wrinkles his shirt. Sophie — the protagonist — is trying to piece things together after a suicide attempt (or was it?), and we see it all through her fragmented memory. But it quickly becomes clear that Sophie isn’t the only one manipulating reality. The series is doing it too.
Form over depth:
Apple TV+ has mastered the aesthetic. The series is beautiful. Its soundscape is wrapped in atmospheric minimalist music, every scene looks like a visual perfume ad, and the camera caresses faces as if they might shatter from the truth. But underneath it all, the question keeps nagging: why should we actually care about Sophie? She is neither fully victim nor fully guilty. And perhaps that is exactly why she never quite becomes present.
There’s something about the series that feels more interested in mood than substance. As if Surface would rather look like a thriller — but not quite dare to be one.
Psychological, but not existential:
The themes are interesting enough. What happens when your past is gone, but your privileges remain? Is identity something you create yourself — or something others project onto you? The series flirts with the big questions, but often leaves them by the roadside in favor of yet another slow-motion shot of Sophie in a trench coat, staring toward the horizon.
Acting and supporting roles:
Gugu Mbatha-Raw does what she can. She’s magnetic, as she always is — but the script makes it hard for her to fully unfold the character. The supporting cast, especially Stephan James as her former lover and Ari Graynor as her friend, adds some much-needed edge to the story. But they remain satellites around Sophie’s hazy center.
So what?
Surface wants to say something about women’s identity, control, and trauma in a world where every mirror distorts. It partly succeeds. The series is neither bad nor irrelevant — but it lacks courage. Instead of diving into the deep end, it keeps swimming around in its own glittering pool.
You watch it to the end, but you don’t feel changed.
