Metalhead

Negative reviews about "lack of exposition", "no dialogs" and "no context" prove that the viewers nowadays completely lost the imagination and need to be spoonfed with worldbuilding, just to understand what could possibly go wrong in a world where deadly metal robots were created as warehouse sentries.

This is one of the best Black Mirror episodes, along with Shut Up And Dance and The Entire History Of You. It's a tense 45 minutes with a bleak, nihilistic, ending. People complaining about it being about nothing going nowhere are missing the point, if humans put too much into making robots that can fight a war then they're asking for trouble and if a war is fought using them then this could be the sort of scenario the human race faces after such a war. The "dog" robot is eerily close to the systems being developed by the likes of Boston Dynamics and the Chinese Military, only just today the Chinese unveiled a dog robot that can defend itself and I only just watched this episode last night! Just view it as a straightforward sci-fi horror similar to The Terminator.

I've never before ever felt so divided about an episode of Black Mirror, I either love them or I don't. Metalhead is for my part the weakest offering of a strong fifth series, but it gains my imagination for its sheer originality, indeed it feels like a stand alone episode from the show, there is nothing really to compare it to. If I were to sum it up in one word it would be bleak, it's bleak from start to finish, it's clinical, sharp, dark, indeed to only soft and cosy thing we get to see are the teddy bears in the final shot. It has a vintage horror feel to it, I think it benefited from its black and white shooting, adds to the overall bleak theme. It's almost like they took a snapshot from a movie, keeping only the action packed ending, we get no explanation, no solution, just the core action. Charlie Brooker invites us into a post apocalyptic world, but allows us to invent for ourselves the cause, was it the AI, or something else? I felt uncomfortable from beginning to end, possibly one of the scariest Black Mirror episodes to date, it's not one I'd visit frequently, but it was certainly a powerful watch. Maxine Peake is outstanding, the emotions she packed into it were brilliant. I think it's an episode that for those that didn't like on first watch, they're sure to want to give it another try. It is certainly thought provoking.

Honestly, I'd recommend ignoring anyone giving this below a three or above an 8. I think most of the reviews are people exaggerating in one direction or the other. This episode does have a number of issues, and ultimately the entire premise doesn't work at a fundamental level (without going into spoiler details). But the episode is beautifully shot and expertly acted. It definitely takes a lot of inspiration from The Road, and does very well at setting mood and creating suspense. I don't really consider it a good or bad thing that it's not like the rest of the series. If the creators want to do something different once in a while, go big.

I don't feel like I wasted my time watching it, and it did a number of things well (big shout out to the lead). But I also think it's a weaker entry that could have been even shorter than it was. Spend the 40 minutes to watch it, think about it for a minute, and carry on with your day.

Not really sure what to make of the negative reviews of this episode. For me this was the first episode of season 4 that got my attention, it was different for sure but definitely in the right way. I appreciate any film/episode that prompts me to think about what is happening and why, rather than spoon feed me every detail of the plot and over explaining the technology presented.

This episode was gritty, gripping, and well paced. It gave just enough pieces of the story to get me thinking about how things came to be and where things had evolved to. I like this type of storytelling, where just enough of it takes place in your head.

Very different than other episodes, and I for one appreciated the presentation of the genre in a completely different and terrifying way.