Geekscape TV Reviews: Is Bandersnatch Just a Gimmick?

It’s a common understanding when it comes to Black Mirror, you are going to get a little sad. The saying is “I’ve never been so excited, to get so depressed.”, and on any other given day, the new installment of the Charlie Brooker helmed program would do just that.

Bandersnatch is quite different.

Instead of ramping up any kind of depression that you may have, Bandersnatch goes right for the anxiety that’s lurking deep within. It doesn’t hit you right away though. It’s more of a growing anxiety.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is essentially a choose your own adventure film. Yes. An interactive movie. It takes place in 1984 and follows the life of Stefan Butler. A young programmer trying to get his game, Bandersnatch, off the ground; programming it on his own. Early on in the film, he has a meeting with a hot new developer promising to make his company the Motown of the video game world.

Promising to get the game done by the deadline proves to be a challenge for Stefan as he encounters all sorts of twists and turns in his life that YOU control. At certain points, you decide what Stefan does. From what music he listens to on the bus, to what will be the final outcome between him and other pivotal characters during the course of the film.

I’m trying to stay as spoiler free during this review because this is something that should be experienced, not decided upon based on a review. That being said, Brooker has outdone himself with Bandersnatch. We have all dealt with a choose your own adventure book in our lifetime but nothing like this. You are driven as mad as the character when it comes to the choices you have to make and are left kind of broken at the end of it because you realize that you are not only making decisions for the character but ultimately for yourself.

Like every other episode of Black Mirror, you are taken on a journey that you could see yourself taking in the real world. Like a, well, mirror up to your face, showing you what darkness can lie beneath.

Don’t think that you can just put your Fire Stick on and watch Netflix and enjoy Bandersnatch though. According to Netflix, Bandersnatch can be watched on newer devices including “smart TVs, streaming media players, game consoles, and iOS devices running the latest version of the Netflix app.” The episode does not currently work on Google Chromecast, Apple TV, the Windows App and browsers using Silverlight. We don’t know if that is going to change but the feeling is that Netflix didn’t have a chance to optimize things in time for the release of Bandersnatch. So keep your fingers crossed!

When it all boils down, Bandersnatch, well, Black Mirror as a whole, is a show that holds nothing back in showing the world its faults and the darkness that we all have lurking somewhere in there. There are no happy endings in the world of Black Mirror, but I think it wouldn’t be as good if there were.