--- title: "The Lazarus Project" year: 2022 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-lazarus-project" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-09-17T16:36:54.701007+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T16:36:55.381857+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Lazarus Project (2022) Created by Joe Barton · MPA TV-MA · Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Action & Adventure **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 78 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Paapa Essiedu makes saving the world look like a job with inadequate compassionate leave > *The Lazarus Project* is a good science-fiction thriller with an unusually persuasive lead in Paapa Essiedu. Its complicated plotting and familiar espionage business can be wearing, but the decisions behind its time resets give it something worth arguing about. ## Synopsis George Addo (Paapa Essiedu) is drawn into a secret organisation that resets time to prevent global catastrophes. Its work means saving the world repeatedly, with consequences for the people whose lives are changed along the way. Archie (Anjli Mohindra) and Shiv Reddy (Rudi Dharmalingam) are part of the same struggle over when to intervene and what a reset can justify. George must reckon with the distance between protecting everyone and protecting the life that matters to him. As espionage and disaster prevention take over, decisions about ordinary lives become inseparable from decisions about the world’s survival. ## Review The first series of *The Lazarus Project*, created by Joe Barton, is a good science-fiction thriller whose complicated plotting earns most of the attention it demands. A secret organisation resets time to prevent global catastrophes, giving the programme a way to ask which lives matter when everyone needs saving. It is a promising basis for an action series, and the scale of the danger supplies urgency. The reason to stay is Paapa Essiedu’s George Addo, who makes the personal consequences difficult to shrug off. Paapa Essiedu never lets George become merely the person who needs the next rule explained. His confusion has weight, and his likeability leaves room for feelings that are harder to approve of. We cared about him more than we expected to, because his distress makes it difficult to treat the resets as clever plot devices. Even when keeping track of events takes effort, his reactions remain easy to understand. The writing, by Joe Barton and Howard Overman, is good at making an objection sound reasonable even when its consequences might be terrible. The organisation’s purpose sounds hard to argue with, but preventing catastrophe does not settle what its methods ask of individuals. The programme lets us understand a selfish wish without insisting that we endorse it. A story about changing events would soon become tedious if knowing the rules also told us what everyone ought to do. Anjli Mohindra’s Archie and Rudi Dharmalingam’s Shiv Reddy help give the ensemble enough weight to stand alongside its lead. Caroline Quentin, as Elizabeth ‘Wes’ Wesley, contributes to a cast that can make the stranger material sound manageable. The performers give the story enough conviction to get through some familiar espionage business without losing our interest altogether. The reservation is that George remains considerably more involving than the organisation around him, particularly when the programme settles into being an action thriller. Johannes Hubrich’s editing has to accommodate action as well as a plot that keeps asking us to reconsider events. The series generally moves briskly enough, though its busyness sometimes makes an already demanding story harder to follow. There are stretches when keeping up takes more effort than the immediate drama rewards, and explanations compete with the tension. With eight episodes in the first series, some patience for the plotting is part of the bargain. Time-travel stories can become exhausting when every question needs another explanation before anyone can act. This one usually remembers that we need to care what happens to someone before we care how it is possible. Give it a try for Paapa Essiedu, with some patience for the plotting and the familiar business of saving the world. *Fi1m score 78, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to The Lazarus Project, with praise clustering around Paapa Essiedu’s lead performance and the personal costs of resetting time. The reviews find that its questions about whose lives can be saved give the science-fiction premise emotional weight, while the action and espionage keep it moving. Essiedu is the clearest point of agreement, though the ensemble also earns praise. Several critics welcome a story that develops beyond its apparent procedural beginnings into something more morally complicated. The reservations concern familiarity and how much effort the plotting demands. Most find enough human interest to carry them through the complications, but The Telegraph considers the thriller clichéd despite its strong opening and excellent lead. Den of Geek is the most enthusiastic, praising the way large ideas are grounded in ordinary lives. The spread runs from qualified approval to considerable enthusiasm, with only one mixed assessment and no outright rejection. ### Reviews we read (7) - **Empire**, Jordan King (85/100, inferred): The review highlights the series' blend of high-stakes action, espionage, and deep exploration of time-travel's personal and ethical costs, calling it a gripping and original sci-fi thriller. It singles out the intelligent writing on morality, character arcs, and strong ensemble performances (especially Paapa Essiedu) as standout elements. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-lazarus-project/) - **Radio Times**, Huw Fullerton (4/5): The critic finds the series subverts initial expectations of a standard procedural by delving into the emotional and moral consequences of time resets, creating a slick, surprising serialised story. They single out Paapa Essiedu's raw yet likable performance and the inventive visuals and storytelling for particular praise. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/the-lazarus-project-review-sky/) - **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the series gripping, fun and stylish in its time-bending premise about a secret organisation resetting global catastrophes. Strong performances and moral dilemmas keep it compelling despite complex plotting. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/jun/16/the-lazarus-project-review-paapa-essiedu-thrills-in-fun-stylish-brain-scrambler) - **Evening Standard**, Jochan Embley (75/100, inferred): The time-loop thriller resembles a more accessible Tenet and explores murky morality around saving the world repeatedly. The human core and Paapa Essiedu’s performance stand out as most compelling. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-lazarus-project-review-trailer-sky-b1006637.html) - **The Times**, Carol Midgley (★★★☆☆): The series packs in multiple genres and moral questions about resetting time to avert disasters, with an excellent lead performance. Time-travel stories can be hard to follow but this one has timely resonance. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-lazarus-project-review-time-to-save-the-world-then-again-and-again-325cs2rb5) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (3/5): The opening is strong and Paapa Essiedu excellent, but the time-travel thriller feels clichéd and familiar overall. It is watchable but best not overthought. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/lazarus-project-review-time-travelling-sci-fi-thriller-should/) - **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (5/5): The critic praises the series as an ambitious, robust sci-fi thriller that grounds big ideas in ordinary lives and delivers meaty action. Paapa Essiedu’s lead performance and the strong ensemble cast are singled out as highlights. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-lazarus-project-review-sky-sci-fi-thriller/) ## Details - **Created by:** Joe Barton - **Creator:** Joe Barton - **Director:** Carl Tibbetts, Marco Kreuzpaintner, Sean Spencer, Akaash Meeda, Laura Scrivano, Pier Wilkie - **Writer:** Joe Barton, Howard Overman - **Editor:** Johannes Hubrich - **Producer:** Adam Knopf - **Cast:** Paapa Essiedu as George Addo; Rudi Dharmalingam as Shiv Reddy; Tom Burke as Dennis Rebrov; Anjli Mohindra as Archie; Caroline Quentin as Elizabeth 'Wes' Wesley; Charly Clive as Sarah Leigh; Brian Gleeson as Ross Keane; Alec Utgoff as Rudy - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 16 June 2022 - **Genres:** Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Action & Adventure - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz6ThnoEnGw ## Where to watch in the US - Apple TV: buy, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, ES, FR, HK, HR, HU, ID, JP, MX, MY, NL, NO, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Counterpart* (2017): More secretive institutions, with espionage complicated by the lives of their employees. - *La Jetée* (1962): Time travel reduced to memory, longing and a few indelible images. - *Run Lola Run* (1998), Fi1m 82: Repeated chances turn small decisions into a brisk, anxious physical experience. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/run-lola-run.md) - *Source Code* (2011): Another repeated emergency, with a lead who makes the personal stakes matter. - *Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes* (2020): A lighter time puzzle that gets considerable mileage from modest surroundings. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-lazarus-project