![]() The concept is plausible on its own, but the indelibly frightening images make it an even scarier experience. ![]() The bulk of the episode is set in the creepiest Victorian manor you could ever imagine, where Russell’s character encounters virtual reality obstacles so realistic and increasingly familiar that he loses grip on what is virtual and what is reality. Yet, in typical Black Mirror fashion, it succeeds in being more. A horror movie is essentially what “Playtest” – about a cash-strapped American tourist getting more than he bargained for as a VR game guinea pig – aims to be. Trauma is also a major theme in the second episode of the fan-favorite third season, helmed by 10 Cloverfied Lane and Prey director Dan Trachtenberg and led by Wyatt Russell, whose father, Kurt, knows a few things about horror movies, having starred in some of John Carpenter’s best. Admirers of the show’s shockingly dark perspective on human nature may find “Crocodile” satisfyingly bold, if they can withstand the trauma. Complicating things is an insurance agent (Kiran Sonia Sawar) investigating a traffic accident she happened to witness, leaving her no choice but to participate in a thought examination procedure that only adds to her bloody trail. In a role preceding her futuristic assassin character in Possessor – which also saw a lot of bloodshed by the end – Academy Award nominee Andrea Riseborough is a tour de force as a successful businesswoman with a family who goes to devastating means to preserve her reputation and suppress her guilt when sins of the past catch up with her. In fact, I distinctly remember how the episode left me distraught, disillusioned, and desperate to take a pause from my binge, but earned my utmost respect in the process. “Crocodile” (from John Hillcoat, Australian director of Lawless and The Road) is one of the exceptions. Season 4 – arguably the best Black Mirror season so far – notably has its fair share of happy endings. The following is a list of our personal favorite Black Mirror episodes, ranked by how ambitious, insightful, and even rarely uplifting they prove to be – starting with a few honorable mentions. With a different story to tell in each of its 27 episodes so far, nearly everyone with a Netflix subscription has a favorite. It offers a deeply unsettling reflection of how human nature tends to clash with technological progress by, usually, being set in a plausible future that seems not too far away, yet way too close for comfort.Īfter six seasons, a Christmas special, and an interactive movie called Bandersnatch under its belt, the series has become one of the most popular original Netflix TV shows (and thank God, because it just could save our lives). Yet, it often feels wrong to categorize the Netflix exclusive – originally created for UK television in 2011 by Charlie Brooker – as sci-fi. Rarely has another great anthology TV series (particularly under the sci-fi category) been able to hold a candle to the thought-provoking power and imagination of the best episodes of the original Twilight Zone quite like Black Mirror.
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