Among Us season 1 review: "Flashes of creative brilliance, but not as addictive as the game it's based on"

Running through dirty, sterile corridors, lost in the void of space. You don't know who to trust. Anyone could be the killer at this point. It's only a matter of time before the monster onboard finds you and kills you in the most grotesque way imaginable. Yep, it looks like your days as a short, round, jelly bean-like figure are numbered…

Wait, what? Among Us sounds like a deranged spin on John Carpenter's classic horror The Thing because that's exactly what it is, but you probably know that already. Well, you do if you happen to be one of a billion players who have downloaded the original online game since Innersloth released it back in 2018.

The mega party hit asks players to vote for who among the crewmates, each distinguished by a different colour, is secretly an alien imposter out to kill the rest. As video games go, Among Us wasn't exactly screaming out for a TV adaptation in the same way that more cinematic counterparts like The Witcher or The Last of Us have. Still, that didn't stop Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis from taking a crack at it, bringing his unique vision to this space-set murder mystery.

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Unfortunately, Dennis doesn't seem to have much luck when it comes to streamers. Back in 2022, he openly criticised Warner Bros. Discovery for removing Infinity Train and plenty of their other animated shows from streaming platforms. Two years later, his next project, Among Us, was completed, yet little has been heard of the show since, despite being slated for release on Paramount Plus. Fast forward another two years and Among Us has finally arrived on that very same streamer out of nowhere, much like the identity of the killer when you load up a new game sesh.

Prime SUS-pect

But how similar is this show to the game? While there's plenty of fun to be had with a murder mystery format, it's not like there's a ton of depth to the original lore. Even the characters are simply named after their designated colour, defined by the role that they play on the ship. These parts differ a bit between the game and show, though. There is some crossover with Lime, the engineer, for example, but the likes of Tracker and Guardian Angel have been replaced by new roles such as Kimiko Glenn's Gemologist and a rich contest winner voiced by Patton Oswalt.

With only different colours to distinguish these characters and no actual faces to speak of, the voice cast are forced to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to making us care about these little jellybeans. Thankfully, this is where Among Us excels most. There's no weak link here as each cast member is quick to establish their character's drive and all their eccentricities, even if the motivation of some remains rather surface-level.

Yvette Nicole Brown is an instant highlight as Orange, the head of human resources, who drily says at the start that she's pleased Elijah Wood's unpaid intern has joined the crew. "We’re so happy to have you amongst us. Or among us? I always forget which one is grammatically correct," she says, playfully poking fun at the show's name. That playfulness can be felt throughout in a show that never takes itself too seriously, even when crewmates are decapitated or have their faces chewed off by an unknown entity.

You really will believe it when everyone starts swooning over Dan Stevens' Doctor, for example, and it's purely down to the sexiness of his voice. Because let's face it, there's nothing particularly sexy or even memorable about each character design, each of whom remain faithful to the original game. Wood's enthusiasm as the intern who will do anything for pizza and Randall Park's captain who will do anything for approval stand out too, doing the utmost with somewhat slight characterisation.

Color coordinated

Where Among Us innovates more is in the humor, which helps keep the pace up in these brisk 13-15 minute episodes. Dennis and his team squeeze in way more jokes than you might expect from a space glob murder mystery, thereby helping to justify the existence of this adaptation in the first place.

Let's be honest, it's not like anyone was crying out for a narrative spun out of these video game skirmishes, and by switching mediums in this fashion, there was always a risk of losing the fast-paced momentum that one billion+ players have become used to. Even with these short episode runtimes, there are occasions where the story does lag, but then the characters will pull you back in various outlandish ways.

One bizarre kumbaya session stands out in particular, where the gang all trip at a party, which ends up playing around with a video game perspective, too. Here Dennis really flexes his creative muscles in ways I won't spoil, except to say these scenes are almost as trippy as the otherworldly carriages he and his team once designed for Infinity Train. Fans of that incredible show will also spot other glimmers of that same potential from Dennis here, although Among Us never rockets to those same heights.

There's only so much you can do with such a thin premise, after all. To be fair, it feels like Dennis and his team really have done just about everything they can with this property, which is far more entertaining than it has any right to be. But still, when you boil it down, the Among Us show is about as throwaway as a quick round of the original game. Fun to dip into, but it won't stick with you for long, much like the various crewmates who are quickly bumped off as the story progresses.

Among Us is streaming now on Paramount Plus. For more, check out our list of the biggest upcoming videogame movies, or see if you agree with our countdown of the 10 best videogame movies.