Netflix has finally released its eagerly awaited new installment of “Black Mirror” titled “Bandersnatch.” Though Netflix has ventured into the interactive medium in the past with animated children's films such as “Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale,” “Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile” and “Minecraft: Story Mode,” "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" is different because it is billed as specifically for adults. Viewers are able to enjoy five main endings with multiple variants of each with just a click of the remote. Per Netflix, given those number of choices, there are over a trillion unique variations/permutations.
'Black Mirror' background
The original series began about six years ago in the United Kingdom and established a cult following. The third and fourth seasons were then produced by Netflix and suddenly the show became a topic at water coolers in the US. This modern day version of “The Twilight Zone” will also see its fifth season premiere in 2019. The series, which is aptly named after the black reflective surface of a digital screen, tries to extrapolate how we interact with technologies and examines its effect on human behavior.
Synopsis
Throughout "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" you will be offered different options at the bottom of the screen which you choose by tapping the remote. For instance, one of your first choices will be whether you want the lead character, Stefan (Fionn Whitehead, “Dunkirk”) to listen to either music by the Thompson Twins or Now That’s What I Call Music!
In doing so you have chosen his path which can give you more viewable hours than the hour and thirty minutes that are indicated because you are able to go back and forth. Once you make a selection you can watch it play out for better or worse or choose again.
"Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" is set in 1984 and teases that the viewer carves the journey of Stefan, a would-be game developer.
He has dreams of creating a text-based computer game that is based on a ‘choose our own adventure’ type novel that he received as a child. Interestingly, this pretty much makes it a story within a story.
The choices that befall Stefan are not easy and leads him to suffer the pain of unforgivable decisions. But for the viewer, there is an out because as you can always hit restart and make a new selection which then changes the course of Stefan.
In fact, Netflix encourages you to go back and make a new choice so that you can experience each new outcome.
Additional cast members and crew
Colin (Will Poulter, “Maze Runner: Death Cure”), Peter (Craig Parkinson ), Dr. Haynes (Alice Lowe), Tucker (Asim Chaudhry), David Slade, director (director, “American Gods” and “Hannibal”) and Charlie Brooker (writer).
"Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" is available as of December 28.
