Dystopic near future returns in six nightmare-inducing episodes

Fire up your brain implants, issue commands to your holographic other-self and be prepared to be dropped into a horrific technological dystopia! Black Mirror, the British sci-fi anthology TV series created by Charlie Brooker, is back for a 7th season of six nightmare-inducing episodes. Black Mirror explores a near future of technological dystopia and its dark impact on society, or as Elon Musk calls it “a great idea”.

The trailer for season 7 dropped this week, sending fans into a frenzy. The trailer is a perfect showcase for this envelope-pushing show: it blends the six unrelated episodes into a single narrative, one that tricks the audience into believing that it is a trailer for a single movie or show. Aided by major star-power (Paul Giamatti, Rashida Jones, Awkafina, Peter Capaldi, Cristin Milioti and Will Poulter, just to name a few), mind-bending special effects and a twisting and twisted narrative, season 7 promises to be yet another major hit!

The last two names, Cristin Milioti and Will Poulter signal a first for the show, as these are characters featured in previous episodes. Black Mirror has not done a sequel before, this is an anthology show so every episode tells an individual story. Cristin Milioti starred in USS Callister, a season 4 episode about a game developer who gets trapped in an online game, while Poulter played a role in Bandersnatch, the experimental interactive movie released in 2018.

Series creator Charlie Brooker sais he wants to return to the roots of the show. “They’re all sci-fi stories, but there’s definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror movie way. There’s definitely some disturbing content in it. The episodes are back to basics in many ways,” Brooker said.

Asked about the length and the nature of the seventh season, Brooker told Netflix that fans can expect a mix of genres and styles.“We’ve got six episodes this time, and two of them are basically feature-length. Some of them are deeply unpleasant, some are quite funny, and some are emotional,” he added.

All new Black Mirror episodes drop on April 10, on Netflix worldwide, giving you plenty of time to rewatch your favourite episodes to catch up. Here is our list of four must-watch episodes that will get you into the mood for the new season.

Season 1, Episode 3: The Entire History of You

A question as old as societal norms. Is it better if you know the truth or is life happier if you just let some things lie? In the near future, a device implanted into everyone’s brain called ‘the grain’ allows people to perfectly re-live their memories. What happens though when some memories that should be buried come to the surface? Would you want to know? And what would you do with the burden of that knowledge?

Season 2, Episode 2: White Bear

The quintessential Black Mirror episode. A woman wakes up in a house but has no idea what her name is, how she got there or what she is doing. As the day progresses, the woman is hunted by masked men but everyone she turns to for help either ignores her or takes his phone out to film her. Desperate for answers, she decides to fight back.

Season 3, Episode 4: San Junipero

This might just be my favourite, just on the grounds that is vastly different to every other Black Mirror episode. Whereas the series is bleak, pessimistic and downright horrific at points, ‘San Junipero’ stands out as a beacon of joy and a celebration of love that is the absolute antithesis of the whole series.

The episode takes place in 1987 when a woman named Yorkie meets Kelly, a fun, outgoing person and the two fall in love. As they make plans for the future they are faced with an unexpected reality that threatens to shatter their dreams. Can love persist? Can they get a happily ever after? Spoiler, they do, but the journey there will have you in tears.

Season 6, Episode 2: Loch Henry

As an avid fan of true crime documentaries, this one hits differently. An aspiring documentarian travels back to his hometown in an attempt to shoot a documentary about a serial killer who was arrested there years ago. Unfortunately for him though he digs too deep and comes face to face with some life-changing truths.