![]() ![]() Oddly enough, the sci-fi twists don’t make the story feel more alien, but more relatable. The 1980s-era California setting and the heartbreaking performances by Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw combine to make what should be a rather prosaic love story. Born out of Charlie Brooker trying to upend expectations, it’s no wonder that this feels the most different from other episodes. While “Be Right Back” played off the horrors of technology approximating humanity, “San Junipero” offers hope in the form of a digital afterlife. ![]() This poignant installment is a spiritual cousin of “Be Right Back,” in that it has a loving relationship at its center and tries to offer a solution to inevitable mortality. Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in “Black Mirror: San Junipero.” “Black Mirror” can weave an intricate plot if it wants, but sometimes this kind of focus on one relationship leads to the most satisfying kind of story. And the overriding, conflicted nature of her life-salvaging purchase gives Hayley Atwell the chance to deliver one of the best performances in the run of the series. It’s not easy to imbue a robot with just the right amount of personality to seem both loving and frightening all at once, but it’s a divide that Domhnall Gleason manages to pull off. Proof that the show can do romance just as good as any darker human emotion, the unconventional love story between a woman and the replicated android version of her late husband is a consideration of what makes us human and what we are willing to sacrifice for our own version of happiness. While some of the most potent “Black Mirror” episodes focus on people trying to escape things outside of their control, this episode is proof that getting exactly what you want can be just as paralyzing. 'French Dispatch' and 'Last Night in Soho' Start to Lift Stagnant Specialty Box Office 'Single All the Way' Makes the Yuletide Gay in Netflix's Cheesy Holiday Rom-com New Movies: Release Calendar for December 3, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films From gorgeous, haunting overhead shots to a dog’s-eye view of its prey, there’s a measured way to how “Metalhead” approaches space that makes it the season’s most chilling and grounded episode, all the way down to its final reveal. It’s as primal as it is minimal, but still creates a vivid hope-deprived world in black and white. Maxine Peake anchors the entire episode on a physical and emotional level, bringing an equal amount of resolve and terror to her character’s quest to evade a murderous robotic guard dog. Take this monochrome, dialogue-sparse “Terminator” riff that also manages to address ideas of militarized technology, environmental repercussions and the all-encompassing drive for survival better than previous installments did. Amidst the doom-laden premises and occasionally fatalistic approaches to future problems, “Black Mirror” can still be thrilling the further it veers from the norm. ![]()
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