After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.
- Mourner
- (uncredited)
- Christopher
- (uncredited)
- Sarah's Man
- (uncredited)
- Onlooker
- (uncredited)
- Paramedic
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
Although I did not think the first season of Back Mirror was perfect, I really did like that it is able to take current situations and move them a few steps down a logical or reasonable line and then see what happens in a specific situation. As with the previous season this episode very much sticks with technology as its jumping off point but it is most in common with the third episode of the first season it the way it is driven by an emotional core. The idea in this case is that, just as it is possible already to have software that can just about text you like a person, so, in theory, it should be possible to have software that builds a "you" based on all your emails, texts, Facebook posts and so on; OK it is a few steps beyond Amazon suggesting products based on your purchasing history, but it is effective because it doesn't seem too far away and thus we are not given the comfort of a future far from our own.
With small steps we get to a plot that is far-fetched while being conceivable and with this idea as the narrative device, Brooker builds a story that is emotionally engaging as we can both empathize with what Martha does while also seeing how bad a thing it is in the grand scheme of things – just like it being easy to see the faults of others from a distance while totally failing to see the same in ourselves. It is really moving and the conflict is throughout the story which means that it never stops working on the level it does at the start. The downside is that it ends in the same mould rather than having something dramatic, but still it is effective for what it does.
The direction is good and the tone matches Brooker's excellent writing. If I didn't already know this is the same sarcastic and miserable Brooker we see on Screenwipe, I never would have believed he wrote this. What really seals the deal though is the performance from Atwell, because she is amazing. She really understands her character and she convinces through the story whether she be content, grieving, denying, hurting or accepting. The story is essentially a two-hander but she is the lion's share of it and her success is the film's success. Gleeson is more of a device than character but his performance is also well pitched, convincing in how he needs to be even if Atwell gets the better of the split.
This film will be hard to watch in the wake of Her since thematically they are similar but I'm sure this is just coincidence. It is best to ignore this and focus on the film doing what it does because it is clever, engaging, convincing, moving and sobering. Hard to believe that the guy cursing at his TV would turn out to be such a good sci-fi writer or that the pretty girl from the Captain America film would have such a great performance in her, but BRB is great.
Don't get me wrong, it is a good episode that realistically toys with a very chilling concept that, in part, may be somewhere in our future (Scary thought!)
I think the first two thirds of this story played out better than the final third, maybe it went a little too far and became less scary when it could have become terrifying!
As much as I enjoyed this, I was left wanting a little more.
8/10.
I love the futuristic touches, such as the desktop and the car, really nice glimpses into a possible future.
It's not an episode I'd be inclined to watch over, like San Junipero or Hang the DJ, but it serves as a really engaging, moving piece.
Yes, the idea of being connected even after death was very touching and I am sure it pulled in the audience, because only at the moment you lose someone you want them all the much more, you understand their importance in your life. But at the same time i felt really bad for Martha, she was stuck with a robot for life whom she cannot get rid of out of the respect for Ash memories but that will never ever let her move on with life as well. She will keep clinging to the memories and never be able to make new ones.
Also, the part where she yells at the robot to hit her brings out a very interesting aspect of human psychology. As much as we all want perfect and serving people in our lives, what makes them real and lovable is their imperfections. The imperfections in humans is what makes them different from algorithmically programmed robots; by the time we realize this difference it shouldn't be too late that we are living our lives more in control of the robots than ourselves.
In this episode, what technology takes away from us when we are living: our concentration and focus on the here and now, it attempts to reinstate when we are dead, all those lost opportunities and moments spent in the virtual world are returned, with interest.
Only what comes back is merely a simulacrum, a reflection of what once was, and when the grief is over and one opens one's eyes again, one realises the shallowness of that before them and any previous feeling of intimacy and thankfulness is quickly soured into resentment and anger.
IS there a difference between life itself and a simulation, thereof? And if a simulation were of sufficient complexity and sophistication, would it become indistinguishable from life itself?
"Black Mirror" Episodes Ranked by IMDb Users
"Black Mirror" Episodes Ranked by IMDb Users
Did you know
- TriviaA service called 'That can be my next tweet!' has existed since 2013 that analyzes a person's Twitter stream and attempts to create a Tweet that they could have written.
- GoofsAt 8.45, The lights of a police car can be seen. It wasn't a emergency so the lights would not have been on.
- Quotes
Ash: Just sharing that.
[he holds the photo of Ash as a boy]
Ash: Thought people might find it funny.
Martha: It's not funny; It's sweet.
Ash: Trust me; that day wasn't sweet... first family outing after Jack died... When I came down the next morning all Jack's photos were gone... she put them in the attic. It's how she dealt with stuff. And then when dad died, up went his photos to the attic. She just left this one here. Her only boy giving her a fake smile
Martha: She didn't know it was fake.
Ash: Maybe that makes it worse.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojoUK: Top 10 Actors Who Have Appeared in Black Mirror (2018)
- SoundtracksIf I Can't Have You
(uncredited)
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb
Performed by Yvonne Elliman
Details
- Runtime
- 48m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD