Season Page

Black Mirror – Season 7, Episode 4 Plaything

Play trailer

Black Mirror – Season 7, Episode 4

Plaything

Aired Apr 10, 2025

Sci-Fi

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

57%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

An eccentric loner named Cameron, who harbors an obsession with a mysterious 1990s video game, is arrested in connection with a grisly cold case - and his interrogation soon goes to places the police weren't expecting.

Watch on Netflix

Stream Now

The Get Down

81%

89%

The Get Down

Watchlist

Persona

%

67%

Persona

Watchlist

Paava Kadhaigal

75%

%

Paava Kadhaigal

Watchlist

Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams

88%

81%

Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Joko Anwar's Nightmares and Daydreams

Bloodline

62%

74%

Bloodline

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Charlie Brooker

Creator

Peter Capaldi

Older Cameron Walker

Lewis Gribben

Younger Cameron Walker

James Nelson-Joyce

DCI Kano

Michele Austin

Jen

Will Poulter

Colin Ritman

View more photos

Nick Hilton

Independent (UK)

Apr 11

1/5

It's hard to write about “Plaything” with a straight face, and it must’ve been even harder to make it without bursting into embarrassed giggles. It’s just so fantastically stupid, yet played with utter po-faced seriousness.

Go to Full Review

Judy Berman

TIME Magazine

Apr 10

Wise, strange, and oddly serene, Capaldi’s Cameron contains the raw material to support every plot twist, while Poulter is smartly deployed in his brief but haunting appearance.

Go to Full Review

Ben Rosenstock

New York Magazine/Vulture

Apr 10

3/5

So yeah, another episode with its fun and eerie moments that doesn’t totally stick the landing, and that feels more like a remix of previous episodes than something truly new.

Go to Full Review

Pedro Paunero

EscribiendoCine

Apr 11

Plaything fails in several respects, including, most importantly, its failure to delve deeper into the artificial life it proposes. Its ending, likewise, is rushed and gimmicky. [Full review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Asyia Iftikhar

metro.co.uk

Apr 11

The build-up has a rich tension and you truly feel that horrible sensation crawl through you as though watching a car crash in slow motion.

Go to Full Review

Louisa Mellor

Den of Geek

Apr 10

4/5

“Plaything” is a great way for anybody wanting a good roll-around in the dirt of the 1990s to spend three-quarters of an hour, but it’s not only that.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

An eccentric loner named Cameron, who harbors an obsession with a mysterious 1990s video game, is arrested in connection with a grisly cold case - and his interrogation soon goes to places the police weren't expecting.

Creator: Charlie Brooker
Executive Producer: Annabel Jones
Network: Netflix
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date: Apr 10, 2025

More Top TV Picks Netflix