When Netflix acquired the broadcast rights to Black Mirror in 2014 their promise to creator Charlie Brooker was that he would remain in control of the series, and that they would be able to allocate more funds to the production than previous broadcasters Channel 4 ever could, provided that Black Mirror remain successful and draw in viewers. The success of the consecutively produced Third and Fourth series proved that Black Mirror was truly here to stay, and as such a Fifth series entered production shortly thereafter, but this time Netflix wanted something a little different.
The studio had been experimenting with interactive programming for children, allowing them to participate in their favourite cartoons in ways never before possible, they wanted Black Mirror to be the Guinea-Pig to bring this kind of content to mature audiences as they felt it was on-brand for the show. In agreement with Netflix, and excited at the opportunity, one of the four planned episodes for Series Five would utilise this interactive feature, styled around a ‘choose your own adventure’ branching narrative.
But with the technology proving to be not sufficiently powerful enough to meet Brooker’s needs, and the scope of the episode being far larger than he initially imagined, the episode shifted from being a part of Series Five into being its own standalone film. But as in true Black Mirror fashion, this project wouldn’t settle for half-measures, and Bandersnatch proved to be a glimpse into the possibilities of combining television and film with videogames.
Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) is a promising young software programmer who is creating a new type of adventure videogame in 1984. Based on a choose your own adventure book that belonged to his deceased mother, Bandersnatch, Stefan’s game has attracted the attention of software publisher Tuckersoft, run by Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry). Guided by his idol, Colin (Will Poulter), a fellow Tuckersoft employee, Stefan becomes absorbed by the pressure of getting Bandersnatch finished in time for the holiday season and begins to question whether he is in control of his own life.
The studio had been experimenting with interactive programming for children, allowing them to participate in their favourite cartoons in ways never before possible, they wanted Black Mirror to be the Guinea-Pig to bring this kind of content to mature audiences as they felt it was on-brand for the show. In agreement with Netflix, and excited at the opportunity, one of the four planned episodes for Series Five would utilise this interactive feature, styled around a ‘choose your own adventure’ branching narrative.
But with the technology proving to be not sufficiently powerful enough to meet Brooker’s needs, and the scope of the episode being far larger than he initially imagined, the episode shifted from being a part of Series Five into being its own standalone film. But as in true Black Mirror fashion, this project wouldn’t settle for half-measures, and Bandersnatch proved to be a glimpse into the possibilities of combining television and film with videogames.
Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) is a promising young software programmer who is creating a new type of adventure videogame in 1984. Based on a choose your own adventure book that belonged to his deceased mother, Bandersnatch, Stefan’s game has attracted the attention of software publisher Tuckersoft, run by Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry). Guided by his idol, Colin (Will Poulter), a fellow Tuckersoft employee, Stefan becomes absorbed by the pressure of getting Bandersnatch finished in time for the holiday season and begins to question whether he is in control of his own life.
Bandersnatch’s ambition alone is admirable, with over five hours’ worth of video content available, hundreds of branching pathways, and at least ten distinct endings (with many more if you factor in minor alterations), the undertaking of creating such a behemoth is in of itself incredibly impressive. But the fact that it’s as entertaining as it is, and that it works as well as it does, plus that it’s incredibly exciting to replay/rewatch, means that Bandersnatch is far more impressive than simply being a good Black Mirror story.
It’s a difficult one to pin down to length, but Bandersnatch should last you approximately ninety minutes for a single viewing, but depending on your choices the experience could be over in just a few minutes, or if like me you get sucked into Bandersnatch’s complex progression trees you could be engrossed in its world for hours as you go back and try different things in order to see something new.
I’ve seen around six of the film’s possible endings, and there are some that will absolutely require you going back and starting from scratch to achieve (none of which I tried, but I did look them up after watching/playing for around two and a half hours). Whilst rewatching TV over and over again may sound like a tedious task, Bandersnatch is anything but thanks to its excellent production value, clever pacing, and great performances.
There’s no wrong ending to Bandersnatch, so even if like me you accidentally get the shortest possible ending within minutes of starting the episode, the way Bandersnatch evolves around that choice is extremely clever, because re-watching particular scenes can have the effect of deja-vu for the characters involved, allowing the scene to organically change around your decisions. For example, the scene where Stefan and Colin meet has Colin’s new game crash, he cites a technical error and is then nonchalant in Colin’s game proposal. But when going through that scene a second time after ending the film in the following scene, Stefan points out the error to Colin before he can react, impressing him and making him subsequently more interested in Stefan’s Bandersnatch pitch.
Whilst I’ve seen this many times over my years as a gamer, seeing this in a live-action film format was undeniably impressive, and far beyond what I expected Bandersnatch to be capable of.
As the story of Bandersnatch evolves, it has the ability to take some pretty crazy twists and turns. It’s fantastically self-aware and explores just about any possibility that could fit in the scenario from government conspiracies, alternate universes, and even time travel. Each one feels like it belongs too, even some of the most outlandish and fourth wall breaking options don’t feel like they’ve been awkwardly squeezed in for a petty joke, they’re fully fleshed out paths that fit within the framework of what Black Mirror is known for.
It’s a difficult one to pin down to length, but Bandersnatch should last you approximately ninety minutes for a single viewing, but depending on your choices the experience could be over in just a few minutes, or if like me you get sucked into Bandersnatch’s complex progression trees you could be engrossed in its world for hours as you go back and try different things in order to see something new.
I’ve seen around six of the film’s possible endings, and there are some that will absolutely require you going back and starting from scratch to achieve (none of which I tried, but I did look them up after watching/playing for around two and a half hours). Whilst rewatching TV over and over again may sound like a tedious task, Bandersnatch is anything but thanks to its excellent production value, clever pacing, and great performances.
There’s no wrong ending to Bandersnatch, so even if like me you accidentally get the shortest possible ending within minutes of starting the episode, the way Bandersnatch evolves around that choice is extremely clever, because re-watching particular scenes can have the effect of deja-vu for the characters involved, allowing the scene to organically change around your decisions. For example, the scene where Stefan and Colin meet has Colin’s new game crash, he cites a technical error and is then nonchalant in Colin’s game proposal. But when going through that scene a second time after ending the film in the following scene, Stefan points out the error to Colin before he can react, impressing him and making him subsequently more interested in Stefan’s Bandersnatch pitch.
Whilst I’ve seen this many times over my years as a gamer, seeing this in a live-action film format was undeniably impressive, and far beyond what I expected Bandersnatch to be capable of.
As the story of Bandersnatch evolves, it has the ability to take some pretty crazy twists and turns. It’s fantastically self-aware and explores just about any possibility that could fit in the scenario from government conspiracies, alternate universes, and even time travel. Each one feels like it belongs too, even some of the most outlandish and fourth wall breaking options don’t feel like they’ve been awkwardly squeezed in for a petty joke, they’re fully fleshed out paths that fit within the framework of what Black Mirror is known for.
Whitehead’s performance is the anchor for all of this and his descent into madness is extremely compelling. This could not have been an easy performance to take on, with so many possibilities and so many variations of the same scene needing to be shot, this would have been extremely draining and hard to keep track of where he’s supposed to be mentally. But he plays it off like it comes naturally to him and it’s extremely impressive.
Poulter is arguably the only performance better than Whitehead’s in Bandersnatch, with Colin being such a diverse character. Poulter has spoken out about the role being one of the most difficult he has ever done, simply because he never knew how much information he was supposed to let on that he knew at any one time, because of all the branching possibilities. But the way he approaches it as though he’s this universe hopping time traveller that knows things far beyond the comprehension of any human being works really well, because he also just comes across as this crazy artist who’s done a lot of drugs.
Bandersnatch is a one-of-a-kind experience. Whilst I have seen films utilise audience participation to direct the narrative before, none of them have done it with the amount of complexity, re-watchability, or ease of access as this before. Bandersnatch can be watched anywhere, on any device that supports Netflix, and you’ll get the same kind of experience. That kind of flexibility is incredible for a project of this scale and complexity.
Bandersnatch is not the best story Black Mirror has to offer, but the experience of going through it will absolutely make it the most memorable.
Poulter is arguably the only performance better than Whitehead’s in Bandersnatch, with Colin being such a diverse character. Poulter has spoken out about the role being one of the most difficult he has ever done, simply because he never knew how much information he was supposed to let on that he knew at any one time, because of all the branching possibilities. But the way he approaches it as though he’s this universe hopping time traveller that knows things far beyond the comprehension of any human being works really well, because he also just comes across as this crazy artist who’s done a lot of drugs.
Bandersnatch is a one-of-a-kind experience. Whilst I have seen films utilise audience participation to direct the narrative before, none of them have done it with the amount of complexity, re-watchability, or ease of access as this before. Bandersnatch can be watched anywhere, on any device that supports Netflix, and you’ll get the same kind of experience. That kind of flexibility is incredible for a project of this scale and complexity.
Bandersnatch is not the best story Black Mirror has to offer, but the experience of going through it will absolutely make it the most memorable.