NETFLIX REVIEW: BANDERSNATCH (2018) | Jazz Blackwell
It'll probably come as little surprise to any of you that I'm something of a Black Mirror superfan. As both something of a fairweather conspiracy theorist, as well as a great big horror nut, it honestly feels like the series was made for me. I was also super into choose-your-own adventure stories when I was a kid - so, naturally, when I heard about Bandersnatch, I was beyond excited.
The first thing I'll say is a criticism, not of the show, but of Netflix itself. I initially tried to play Bandersnatch on the desktop app - to be presented with the 'Sorry' montage informing me that I wouldn't be able to do so. That was a bit confusing for me; its the newest version of the app that I have, and my laptop is brand new (I got it for Christmas), so I'm a little bit confused as to why the episode wouldn't play. However, I did manage to get it going on the Netflix online player with no issue, so it wasn't too much of a problem - just a heads up that if you are struggling to play it on the desktop app for any reason, then the web player might be the way to go.
As for the show itself, I intentionally didn't read too much into the premise or anything beforehand because I really wanted to go into it and have a totally fresh experience - so I was very pleasantly surprised to see Dunkirk's Fionn Whitehead in the main role as game developer Stefan Butler and the wonderful Will Poulter as his hero Colin Ritman. It was also wonderful seeing People Just Do Nothing's Asim Chaudhry as company director Mohan Tucker. In short - the show was altogether very well cast, though I expected no less of Black Mirror.
The choose-your-own-adventure style of the program - its main selling point - more than met my expectations. When I initially spotted people on Twitter talking about how their were rather cosmetic choices they didn't expect to be asked to make, I worried that it might be too much - I thought, perhaps, the show would be over saturated with viewer choice and lack that anxious sense of tension and suspense that makes Black Mirror so great. Thankfully, however, they seem to have found the perfect balance. The choices do, indeed, start off rather superficial and cosmetic seeming - you decide what Stefan will eat for breakfast, or what music he will listen to on the bus - but as the program progresses, the choices become more and more sinister and difficult. In typical Black Mirror style, there is no ending that is really 'happy' or 'good' - just some which are less dark and grisly than the rest.
Overall, Bandersnatch has every aspect of Black Mirror which makes it so fantastic. My only criticism is the one fault I had with Netflix itself. It's difficult to issue any kind of disclaimers or trigger warnings for the show, given the near-infinite possibilities that depend on viewer choice, but I will say that if you're sensitive to blood, themes of mental illness, depictions of suicide and mentions of murder, approach this (and, honestly, any other Black Mirror) episode with caution.
My rating is 10/10. This is a definite must-watch.
Keep it weird,
Jazz xo
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