Calissa Jones
There’s a new medium of entertainment on the rise, this time transforming the movie industry into an interactive experience for all ages. In this case, the change is led by Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch, a psychological masterpiece that puts the viewers in charge of the story’s direction.
The main storyline itself is deceivingly simple. Set in 1984, it follows a young programmer named Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) who is designing a new video game called Bandersnatch, which is based off of a book of the same name. Meanwhile, he struggles with his relationship with his father, as well as the mounting pressure of developing the game under a time limit.
However, despite the ordinary setting, this is no run-of-the-mill movie, nor is it even set up in a normal fashion for that matter. In this film, the audience is given either-or choices that dictate Stefan’s actions. These choices can be as simple as what cereal Stefan has for breakfast, or as complex as deciding which characters live or die. And each choice must be made in a few quick seconds.
This exciting feature is what makes Bandersnatch so addictive. Unlike a normal movie, which can only be experienced one way, Bandersnatch allows each viewer to experience their own unique story, with over a trillion possible combinations in all. Plus, if the ending isn’t as great as you imagine, you can quickly go back to a previous choice and change your mind (sorry to disappoint, but none of the endings are “happy”; it is Black Mirror after all). Each change, however, takes its toll on Stefan, revealing the ultimate message of the film; how much control do we really have over our lives?
This dark theme is the signature mark of any Black Mirror production, bearing warning to the unintended consequences of technology. By utilizing a new entertainment platform to criticize technological advances, Charlie Brooker creates a satire of sorts in this mind-bending film of bad-and-worse choices. Put together, this ambitious adult interactive film pioneers a new genre, criticizes it, and intertwines dark humor to ultimately create a movie masterpiece.
Bandersnatch was not the experience fans were looking for; it went above and beyond those expectations with ease, culminating the humor, horror, and paranoia of the previous four seasons of Black Mirror into one delightful film. Between the interactivity, the twisting plot, and the relatable characters, Black Mirror has once again left watchers in awe and contemplation of the world around them.