Black Mirror: Season 5 (2019)

i genuinely disliked this. I went in with an open mind, in fact I was excited to try a storytelling format that was pretty new to me, and I trusted that the Black Mirror crew would do it justice. I ended up just being bored most of the time. It felt way too obvious to me. Within the first twenty minutes or so I knew exactly what it was going for and where the plot would eventually lead me regardless of whatever choices I made. That isn't something I want or expect from a series like Black Mirror. If I wanted to play a video game with branching paths, there are plenty of options for me to do so. Those are some of my favorite types of videogames, even, but mixing that with a somewhat straightforward narrative didn't really work. Instead of being an interesting experiment in storytelling, it just comes off as a weird interactive video that I ultimately do not have that much control over. The fact that it stopped the story and made me go back several times was incredibly frustrating. I understand the point of it, but as a film that is supposed to have an engaging narrative this did not work for me in the slightest. I was constantly pulled out of my immersion by the often superficial choices I was faced with. I couldn't get invested in the characters or the path Stefan was going down, because often when it was just getting interesting it would divert me back to something I had already done, just to choose the option I avoided previously. At the end of the day I want to see a film with engaging characters that sweeps me away to a point where I get caught up in the story and the world it takes place in. With this, I just felt like I was biding my time until the next decision came up, hoping I picked the right one that wouldn't end in a total waste of time.

Black Mirror has outdone itself with this interactive episode... It really messes with your mind with a very interesting and clever idea. It's just mindblowing! Decisions, fate, control... mysterious themes as ever!