Film Review: Black Mirror Series One
4th
July 2022, 12:23
This film review is long overdue. I've been meaning to review the Black Mirror series for a while now, but things kept getting in the way. Black Mirror is a series of short stories in each Series, each one packed with sly social commentary on tech and its effects on the world.
It's a whole lot of dark comedy and thought-provoking drama. For this review of Black Mirror Series One, there are three different stories and I will be reviewing these stories separately.
Anna Wilson-Jones as Jane Callow. Wide-eyed, teary and dramatic. The actress does a fine job considering the sheer silliness of the entire premise. She is supposed to be a victim of the entire thing as well, though somehow doesn't come off as very sympathetic.
Lindsay Duncan plays Alex Cairns, Press Secretary with a potent combination of political savvy, starchiness and shrewdness.
Tom Goodman-Hill as Tom Bilce, who appears to be some kind of liaison to the Press. He doesn't do much with his lines near the beginning, but as the show runs along, we see him becoming increasingly frazzled.
Donald Sumpter as Julian Hereford, Minister of Defence. Grave and solemn. Guy's face doesn't change much.
Alex Macqueen plays Special Agent Callett, with stony-faced gravitas. Seriously, this guy wouldn't be out of place in a Hitman movie.
Lydia Wilson as Princess Susannah. She puts up a great and convincing, if perhaps a little stiff, portrayal of a young woman scared to death of her kidnappers.
Jay Simpson as stand-in performer Rod Senseless. Cocky but enthusiastic dude, and fun to watch. Wish he had more screen-time.
Alastair Mackenzie as Martin, Editor-in-Chief of the Press. Not that much is seen of him, though he alternates between exasperation and eagerness as the biggest story of the century breaks and he's torn between wanting to do his job and needing to adhere to the laws of the land.
Chetna Pandya as Malaika, the pretty journalist who keeps being shown taking naked selfies of herself. Why is she even in this?!
Patrick Kennedy as sleepy-eyed, almost sheepish Section Chief Walker. Mostly there as furniture.
I especially love how various segments of the public is shown discussing it, including that scene in the press and how they wrestle with whether or not they should work on that story. The medical team discusses whether or not the PM will actually fuck a pig on live TV. Bonus points for the entirely cavalier way that guy is holding those crutches!
OMG the hashtags are to die for.
There's a deliciously cruel twist near the end, and a bold statement about the attention of the public today.
The ending was a real downer. The PM's marriage is utterly ruined and it wasn't like he deserved it. Still, it's a realistic ending and for that, I give it props.
In fact, the entire running gag of her taking sexually explicit selfies and sending them to her contact for information, just feels like a gigantic waste of time.
Let us now examine the next episode in this series, Fifteen Million Merits!
These merits are earned via peddling exercise bikes to generate power. The public is entertained by all kinds of programmes (ranging from simulations, porn and game shows) while performing this service, and every individual harbors dreams of making it big one day, and being able to get off their bikes.
Julia Davis as Judge Charity. Serves as the Paula Abdul archetype in the talent judges' panel.
Paul Popplewell plays Dustin with crassness, lewdness and sheer obnoxiousness.
Isabella Laughland is Swift, the girl who displays an interest in Bing. We don't see much of her, which is a shame, because I enjoyed their brief interactions.
Colin Carmichael as Kai, who seems to be a bit of a dim-wit, representing the kind who treat their online avatar too obsessively.
Kerrie Hayes has a grand time hamming it up as Glee. We only see her in a scene or two, but she is a hoot!
Popup messages like these add to the sinister vibe. Not only are ads intrusive, they are mandatory. And if the viewer closes his eyes, the system refuses to continue until otherwise! Brrr! These ads are ubiquitous - at one point they even appear on the walls of urinals!
The concept of the Lemons - obese members of society who cannot contribute directly to producing power and thus are reduced to menial labor. They are made the butt of cruel jokes such as in games like Fattax and Gut Brothers, and the first-person shooter game that Bing plays even has him shooting them!
Call me a sap, but the interactions between Bing and Abi are pretty cute.
The bored, constipated looks of the staff of Hot Shot are practically a uniform. It's amusing.
Bing's expletive-laden speech to the judges of Hot Shot near the end. Daniel Kulaaya really nails this one with his raw anguish.
The plot point where Abi takes the drug-laced drink Cuppliance and gets persuaded into doing porn. This just feels unrealistic and lazy.
I feel like the episode could have just ended right there, with Bing being tortured by scenes of Abi's porn. Because the rest of it is just shaky. It hinges too much on the concept of Cuppliance, which wasn't all that compelling to begin with.
Time to take a look at the final episode, The Entire History of You.
Society runs on these - we see customs officers request them to ascertain that the owners have not been in contact with any known persons of interest, and policemen request them for visual evidence when reports are made.
Jodie Whittaker, who six years later took over the mantle of Doctor Who, is his wife, Ffion Foxwell. I had no idea the name was spelled with two "f"s. I'm quite taken with her display, here. Sure, she gets a little dramatic, but maybe that's called for.
Tom Cullen as Jonas. Not a big fan of his performance. I feel like he isn't really believable as the guy who somehow keeps being able to get into the pants of women.
Phoebe Fox as Hallam. She cuts a suitably tragic figure as the victim of a "Gouging", and later on becomes the one-night stand of Jonas, which actually serves as an interesting plot point.
Rhashan Stone as Jeff, the black guy who works in Recruitment and obsesses over details. Entertainingly whiny.
Rebekah Staton as Colleen. Works in Grain Development. Not extremely interesting.
Mona Goodwin as Gina the babysitter. Doesn't have much to do except look uncomfortable, which she does acceptably well, I guess.
Amy Beth Hayes as Lucy the hostess. Pleasant but superficial, with very little to do with the plot.
Jimi Mistry as her husband Paul. Serves as a dialogue point and a prop, nothing more.
And this at the end, when Liam Gouges himself. Grim!
The scene where Liam watches the Redo of his wife having an affair with Jonas. It is heartbreaking and the entire leadup to that was masterfully executed. What's even better is that only audio is heard and we, the audience, doesn't actually see anything.
The special effect of the eyes changing color to a luminous grey every time a person is doing a Redo, didn't strike me as all that special at first. Until this scene, where Liam and Ffion are having sex and reliving other memories at the same time.
This was powerful... especially when it's implied that Ffion is focusing on some other memory of someone else while she's having sex with her husband. Because we see what Liam's watching, but we don't see the same for Ffion.
The moral of the story seems to be that it's better to live in the present than keep reliving the past. From Jonas's account of how he spends his time masturbating to replays of his previous sexual conquests instead of having sex with the current women in his life, to Liam's obsessiveness with details from the past rather than enjoying what he has, the episode makes it easy to see why Nature causes memories to fade, and what would happen if this were not the case.
The scope of this tale is extremely relatable as well. Cheating spouses and infidelity is a naturally hard-hitting subject simply because it's such an everyday concern.
This entire concept of The Grain is brilliant, but it has so many other implications. What about memories of people having sex? Can that be voluntarily peddled for porn, instead? What are the legalities here?
Sure, it could have been a lot more, but maybe it's just as well that the scope was trimmed down for this one story. Less is more, after all.
Tags
See also
It's a whole lot of dark comedy and thought-provoking drama. For this review of Black Mirror Series One, there are three different stories and I will be reviewing these stories separately.
Warning
Black Mirror is not only creepy little skits about tech, it's also full of very dark humor. Sometimes way dark. Violence and foul language are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.The Premise
For The National Anthem, it all kicks off with a panicked call to Prime Minister Michael Callow in the middle of the night. Princess Susannah has been kidnapped and will be executed unless Prime Minister Michael Callow has sex with a pig on live TV. What follows is the reactions of the British government, the Press, and the public.The Characters
Rory Kinnear as Prime Minster Michael Callow. Kinnear doesn't look like much, but here he delivers a pretty powerful performance - befuddlement anxiety, followed by moments of rage. It's gripping stuff.Anna Wilson-Jones as Jane Callow. Wide-eyed, teary and dramatic. The actress does a fine job considering the sheer silliness of the entire premise. She is supposed to be a victim of the entire thing as well, though somehow doesn't come off as very sympathetic.
Lindsay Duncan plays Alex Cairns, Press Secretary with a potent combination of political savvy, starchiness and shrewdness.
Tom Goodman-Hill as Tom Bilce, who appears to be some kind of liaison to the Press. He doesn't do much with his lines near the beginning, but as the show runs along, we see him becoming increasingly frazzled.
Donald Sumpter as Julian Hereford, Minister of Defence. Grave and solemn. Guy's face doesn't change much.
Alex Macqueen plays Special Agent Callett, with stony-faced gravitas. Seriously, this guy wouldn't be out of place in a Hitman movie.
Lydia Wilson as Princess Susannah. She puts up a great and convincing, if perhaps a little stiff, portrayal of a young woman scared to death of her kidnappers.
Jay Simpson as stand-in performer Rod Senseless. Cocky but enthusiastic dude, and fun to watch. Wish he had more screen-time.
Alastair Mackenzie as Martin, Editor-in-Chief of the Press. Not that much is seen of him, though he alternates between exasperation and eagerness as the biggest story of the century breaks and he's torn between wanting to do his job and needing to adhere to the laws of the land.
Chetna Pandya as Malaika, the pretty journalist who keeps being shown taking naked selfies of herself. Why is she even in this?!
Patrick Kennedy as sleepy-eyed, almost sheepish Section Chief Walker. Mostly there as furniture.
The Mood
The lighting in the early stages is a nice contrast to the full-color video of Princess Susannah. Somehow it really brings across the bleak war room vibe. The story starts out dark visually, and gets darker thematically.What I liked
The scary power of the Internet is on full display here. The British Government try to kill a story, but the fact that it was uploaded on YouTube means that the video is here to stay. The speed at which information is disseminated in the modern era, is thoroughly underlined.I especially love how various segments of the public is shown discussing it, including that scene in the press and how they wrestle with whether or not they should work on that story. The medical team discusses whether or not the PM will actually fuck a pig on live TV. Bonus points for the entirely cavalier way that guy is holding those crutches!
OMG the hashtags are to die for.
There's a deliciously cruel twist near the end, and a bold statement about the attention of the public today.
The ending was a real downer. The PM's marriage is utterly ruined and it wasn't like he deserved it. Still, it's a realistic ending and for that, I give it props.
What I didn't
The reporter takes a naked selfie of herself in a restroom... for what? The viewers' cheap titillation?In fact, the entire running gag of her taking sexually explicit selfies and sending them to her contact for information, just feels like a gigantic waste of time.
Conclusion
This episode is a great commentary on new media and the Internet, the public consciousness and the power of public perception. It has been more than a decade since this came out, but the message within still reverberates.My Rating
8 / 10Let us now examine the next episode in this series, Fifteen Million Merits!
The Premise
This episode begins with yet another shot of someone sleeping (seriously, is this some sort of pattern?) and we soon find out that our protagonist is in some kind of dystopian future where everything costs "merits" immediately, even toothpaste.These merits are earned via peddling exercise bikes to generate power. The public is entertained by all kinds of programmes (ranging from simulations, porn and game shows) while performing this service, and every individual harbors dreams of making it big one day, and being able to get off their bikes.
The Characters
Daniel Kaluuya is Bingham Madsen, or just "Bing". I last saw him in Get Out (where he was excellent!) and Black Panther. This guy's facial expressions in this episode are a delight to watch, ranging from eye-rolling boredom, depression, hope and frenzied desperation.
Jessica Brown Findlay as Abi Khan, the talented singer and the subject of Bing's affections. She likes origami. When we first see her, she is sweet, pleasant and positively radiates serenity. The behavior is consistent as the show goes on, at least until her downfall.
Rupert Everett as Judge Hope. Wow, it's been a while since I saw this guy... probably twenty years ago or more, as the villain in Inspector Gadget.
Ashley Thomas, or "Bashy", as Judge Wraith, the man behind porn production studio Wraith Babes. Basically the lecherous black dude stereotype. But he does have some pretty good lines.
Man, just fucking kill yourself. You get heavy on me, dawg, I swear to God I'll kick your ass back to life just so I can cut your Goddamn head off.
Julia Davis as Judge Charity. Serves as the Paula Abdul archetype in the talent judges' panel.
Paul Popplewell plays Dustin with crassness, lewdness and sheer obnoxiousness.
Isabella Laughland is Swift, the girl who displays an interest in Bing. We don't see much of her, which is a shame, because I enjoyed their brief interactions.
Colin Carmichael as Kai, who seems to be a bit of a dim-wit, representing the kind who treat their online avatar too obsessively.
Kerrie Hayes has a grand time hamming it up as Glee. We only see her in a scene or two, but she is a hoot!
The Mood
The visuals are pretty bleak, which is quite apt for this story. The surroundings are angular and sterile, and everyone is dressed in shades of grey. Things get more colorful once we move to the virtual reality stage, but that somehow ratchets up the claustrophobia and drabness of it all.What I liked
It is pretty cute how different hand (and even finger) gestures control different screen interactions.Popup messages like these add to the sinister vibe. Not only are ads intrusive, they are mandatory. And if the viewer closes his eyes, the system refuses to continue until otherwise! Brrr! These ads are ubiquitous - at one point they even appear on the walls of urinals!
The concept of the Lemons - obese members of society who cannot contribute directly to producing power and thus are reduced to menial labor. They are made the butt of cruel jokes such as in games like Fattax and Gut Brothers, and the first-person shooter game that Bing plays even has him shooting them!
Call me a sap, but the interactions between Bing and Abi are pretty cute.
The bored, constipated looks of the staff of Hot Shot are practically a uniform. It's amusing.
Bing's expletive-laden speech to the judges of Hot Shot near the end. Daniel Kulaaya really nails this one with his raw anguish.
What I didn't
The brief flashes of nudity seem unnecessary. It's porn, we fucking get it.The plot point where Abi takes the drug-laced drink Cuppliance and gets persuaded into doing porn. This just feels unrealistic and lazy.
I feel like the episode could have just ended right there, with Bing being tortured by scenes of Abi's porn. Because the rest of it is just shaky. It hinges too much on the concept of Cuppliance, which wasn't all that compelling to begin with.
Conclusion
This episode really nails the entire Social-Media-is-evil thing. The quest for approval, admiration and above all, stardom. The avatars were great and really act as a nod to present-day Metaverse even though this was aired ten years ago. The layers of ironies within this episode, plot twists and all, just about offset whatever wasn't perfect about it.My Rating
9 / 10Time to take a look at the final episode, The Entire History of You.
The Premise
In a reimagined version of today's world, a device known as The Grain is implanted into human beings, which records all visual and audio events experienced by them. These can be replayed using another device known as a Redo, with zooming and analytics able to be run on these replays.Society runs on these - we see customs officers request them to ascertain that the owners have not been in contact with any known persons of interest, and policemen request them for visual evidence when reports are made.
The Characters
Toby Kebbell is Liam Foxwell the lawyer. He somehow manages to look simultaneously befuddled, accusatory and disturbed. He's obsessive and not very likeable.Jodie Whittaker, who six years later took over the mantle of Doctor Who, is his wife, Ffion Foxwell. I had no idea the name was spelled with two "f"s. I'm quite taken with her display, here. Sure, she gets a little dramatic, but maybe that's called for.
Tom Cullen as Jonas. Not a big fan of his performance. I feel like he isn't really believable as the guy who somehow keeps being able to get into the pants of women.
Phoebe Fox as Hallam. She cuts a suitably tragic figure as the victim of a "Gouging", and later on becomes the one-night stand of Jonas, which actually serves as an interesting plot point.
Rhashan Stone as Jeff, the black guy who works in Recruitment and obsesses over details. Entertainingly whiny.
Rebekah Staton as Colleen. Works in Grain Development. Not extremely interesting.
Mona Goodwin as Gina the babysitter. Doesn't have much to do except look uncomfortable, which she does acceptably well, I guess.
Amy Beth Hayes as Lucy the hostess. Pleasant but superficial, with very little to do with the plot.
Jimi Mistry as her husband Paul. Serves as a dialogue point and a prop, nothing more.
The Mood
There is almost zero humor in this episode. The other episodes had moments of dark comedy - this one is just dark. Not visually, but tonally. Everything just seems dead serious and tragic.And this at the end, when Liam Gouges himself. Grim!
What I liked
The story. It was a tight narrative, masterfully told with little to no dead weight in between the plot points.The scene where Liam watches the Redo of his wife having an affair with Jonas. It is heartbreaking and the entire leadup to that was masterfully executed. What's even better is that only audio is heard and we, the audience, doesn't actually see anything.
The special effect of the eyes changing color to a luminous grey every time a person is doing a Redo, didn't strike me as all that special at first. Until this scene, where Liam and Ffion are having sex and reliving other memories at the same time.
This was powerful... especially when it's implied that Ffion is focusing on some other memory of someone else while she's having sex with her husband. Because we see what Liam's watching, but we don't see the same for Ffion.
The moral of the story seems to be that it's better to live in the present than keep reliving the past. From Jonas's account of how he spends his time masturbating to replays of his previous sexual conquests instead of having sex with the current women in his life, to Liam's obsessiveness with details from the past rather than enjoying what he has, the episode makes it easy to see why Nature causes memories to fade, and what would happen if this were not the case.
The scope of this tale is extremely relatable as well. Cheating spouses and infidelity is a naturally hard-hitting subject simply because it's such an everyday concern.
What I didn't
What happens when someone watches a Redo? Does that get recorded? Is that like a photocopy of a photocopy? So many questions!This entire concept of The Grain is brilliant, but it has so many other implications. What about memories of people having sex? Can that be voluntarily peddled for porn, instead? What are the legalities here?
Conclusion
This episode is the crowning achievement in Black Mirror Series One. The premise and story are not only bleak, but also a cautionary tale as to the dangers of being able to recall everything in your life history with perfect clarity.Sure, it could have been a lot more, but maybe it's just as well that the scope was trimmed down for this one story. Less is more, after all.
My Rating
9.5 / 10Final thoughts on Black Mirror Series One
Love it. Love it. It's tech-related, though not overly techy, and the thought-provoking narrative throughout the series is: tech could be able to accomplish this, but how far should we take it before it becomes harmful? The National Anthem deals with the attention span of the general spectator public on new media. Fifteen Million Credits deals with the obsession of virtual users with useless, well, virtual stuff. And The Entire History of You touches on the culture of surveillance. All great stuff.Resume viewing? Y/N
