The Lazarus Project: Deja Vu

When The Lazarus Project begins it is July 1, 2022, and George (Paapa Essiedu) has a pretty idyllic life.  He and his girlfriend, Sarah (Charly Clive) are deeply in love, his app business is on the rise and he’s about to become a father, but as the days tick by, all of humanity becomes threatened by a pandemic with no vaccine, and just as things seem to be at the brink of disaster and the extinction of the human race, George wakes up on July 1, 2022 again, and begins to relive those events.  But he knows what he just went through isn’t a dream.  He knows he actually lived those six months and nearly died.  His search for answers draws the attention of a mysterious woman who tracks him down and gives him instructions on what to do, if he should ever experience this same sensation again. His obsession with finding out what really happen causes his idyllic life to spiral into chaos and just as things seem their bleakest…again! He wakes up on July 1, 2022.  This time he knows what to do. What is happening to George, and why?  Watch and find out!

The show is a combination of “James Bond” meets “Groundhog Day”.  There is a lot of adventure, car chases, international intrigue, and romance.  The story is interesting, but a bit predictable and in some cases heartbreaking.  The performances are top notch.  Paapa Essiedu is great as the lead with subtle comic timing and great range in emotions, he is also quite good looking. You don’t get to know the rest of the cast very well in the first episode, but each of their back stories seem interesting and I am excited to see how each of their histories are disclosed and how that informs how they became the people they are today. The dialogue does come off as a little forced in the first episode while unfurling the exposition.  I feel they tried to fit too much explaining into a couple scenes, when a more natural approach over time with better scientific explanations could have worked better.

The Lazarus Project is a British television series on Sky Television and premiered in June of 2022 and has been renewed for a second season, and TNT just picked up the show and it will premier in the United States in 2023.  Overall, the series has gotten positive reviews from the critics and I did enjoy it as well.