USS Callister
Year: 2017
Directed by: Toby Haynes
Starring: Milanka Brooks, Michaela Coel, Paul G. Raymond, Ose Ikhile, Cristin Milioti, Jesse Plemons & Jimmi Simpson
Runtime: 76 minutes
Published: 30/08/23
Directed by: Toby Haynes
Starring: Milanka Brooks, Michaela Coel, Paul G. Raymond, Ose Ikhile, Cristin Milioti, Jesse Plemons & Jimmi Simpson
Runtime: 76 minutes
Published: 30/08/23
In September 1966 Star Trek aired for the first time and went on to become one of the most popular TV shows of its time. It tackled social issues in ways that were, for the time, nuanced and forward thinking, and the legacy it left behind was so great that the brand continues strong today with new spin-off shows, films, and other media frequently releasing to expand on the universe that original series created.
Meanwhile in the 1990’s, with the dawn of the internet and 3D gaming, online gaming started to become a real possibility, and some games based their entire existence around immersing you in a fictional world where you can live out a fantasy lifestyle. These ‘massively multiplayer online’ games (MMO’s for short) have continued to grow and evolve, expanding to become some of the most personalised and extensive videogames on the market, where your every desire is somewhat attainable.
What if you made these games, and your favourite show was Star Trek? Could you make a Star Trek simulation for yourself, where you’re the main character? What lengths would you be willing to go to in order to make that experience as fulfilling as possible.
Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) is the CTO of Callister Inc., a videogame developer who is responsible for the sci-fi MMO, Infinity. Daly is socially awkward, and feels as though his contributions to the company are undermined by his partner and CEO James (Jimmi Simpson), and various other members of the staff. When a new programmer, Nanette (Cristin Milioti), joins the company and expresses her enthusiasm to be working with Robert, he abuses his power and steals some of her DNA for his own nefarious purposes.
When the workday is over, Robert spends his time playing his own modded version of Infinity, based on his favourite TV show ‘Space Fleet’. He plays the role of captain, and his crew consist of various employees at Callister, whom Robert has collected DNA samples of and created digitised versions of them for his game. Here, they are trapped and forced to live out his power fantasies or force an endless tortured existence. When Nanette finds herself inside Robert’s game, she refuses to accept this as her new life and sparks a mutiny against her captain.
Meanwhile in the 1990’s, with the dawn of the internet and 3D gaming, online gaming started to become a real possibility, and some games based their entire existence around immersing you in a fictional world where you can live out a fantasy lifestyle. These ‘massively multiplayer online’ games (MMO’s for short) have continued to grow and evolve, expanding to become some of the most personalised and extensive videogames on the market, where your every desire is somewhat attainable.
What if you made these games, and your favourite show was Star Trek? Could you make a Star Trek simulation for yourself, where you’re the main character? What lengths would you be willing to go to in order to make that experience as fulfilling as possible.
Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) is the CTO of Callister Inc., a videogame developer who is responsible for the sci-fi MMO, Infinity. Daly is socially awkward, and feels as though his contributions to the company are undermined by his partner and CEO James (Jimmi Simpson), and various other members of the staff. When a new programmer, Nanette (Cristin Milioti), joins the company and expresses her enthusiasm to be working with Robert, he abuses his power and steals some of her DNA for his own nefarious purposes.
When the workday is over, Robert spends his time playing his own modded version of Infinity, based on his favourite TV show ‘Space Fleet’. He plays the role of captain, and his crew consist of various employees at Callister, whom Robert has collected DNA samples of and created digitised versions of them for his game. Here, they are trapped and forced to live out his power fantasies or force an endless tortured existence. When Nanette finds herself inside Robert’s game, she refuses to accept this as her new life and sparks a mutiny against her captain.
USS Callister’s biggest appeal is just how unashamedly it borrows from the classic Star Trek TV show, with the wild set designs, skimpy and colourful outfits, and the hammy dialogue. It feels like a blast from the past for all the right reasons, and the way that Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and William Bridges have corrupted that nostalgia for the sake of their own show is really fun.
It’s a rather unique Black Mirror episode in that comedy is made more prevalent, and whilst the ethical issues present in the story are just as sinister as you’d expect for a Black Mirror episode, the comedic overtones juxtapose that darkness well to create an experience that’s probably a lot more palatable to Black Mirror newcomers.
Plemons gives a great performance as Daly. For his ‘daytime’ sections he leans heavily into the creepy caricature of that guy who stares from a distance, dreaming about ways to one-up his adversaries in a revenge of the nerd’s style power fantasy. This contrasts well with his Captain Daly persona who is physically strong, and uses that strength to belittle and terrorise his crew for errors their real life counterparts have made.
Simpson plays the hapless and weak second in command who panics at the slightest whiff of danger, a man who has become conditioned into submitting to Daly out of fear that he will be forced to watch his son be ejected from the airlock for eternity. Michaela Coel plays Shania, a gossip at the game company who becomes the easily impressed and sexually available crewmate. Milanka Brooks is Elena, a moody Eastern-European receptionist who is turned into a blue skinned alien hottie for Daly’s amusement. Osy Ikhile is Nate, the intern that got Daly’s coffee order wrong and so spends his digital eternity being Daly’s errand boy. Then finally there’s Paul G. Raymond who plays software engineer Kabir, a guy who’s so eager to impress and competent at his job that Daly has him be the ship’s engineering officer.
Whilst Plemons is the standout performance of the bunch, the whole crew bring something strong to the USS Callister, something that Milioti harnesses to turn them against Daly.
It’s a rather unique Black Mirror episode in that comedy is made more prevalent, and whilst the ethical issues present in the story are just as sinister as you’d expect for a Black Mirror episode, the comedic overtones juxtapose that darkness well to create an experience that’s probably a lot more palatable to Black Mirror newcomers.
Plemons gives a great performance as Daly. For his ‘daytime’ sections he leans heavily into the creepy caricature of that guy who stares from a distance, dreaming about ways to one-up his adversaries in a revenge of the nerd’s style power fantasy. This contrasts well with his Captain Daly persona who is physically strong, and uses that strength to belittle and terrorise his crew for errors their real life counterparts have made.
Simpson plays the hapless and weak second in command who panics at the slightest whiff of danger, a man who has become conditioned into submitting to Daly out of fear that he will be forced to watch his son be ejected from the airlock for eternity. Michaela Coel plays Shania, a gossip at the game company who becomes the easily impressed and sexually available crewmate. Milanka Brooks is Elena, a moody Eastern-European receptionist who is turned into a blue skinned alien hottie for Daly’s amusement. Osy Ikhile is Nate, the intern that got Daly’s coffee order wrong and so spends his digital eternity being Daly’s errand boy. Then finally there’s Paul G. Raymond who plays software engineer Kabir, a guy who’s so eager to impress and competent at his job that Daly has him be the ship’s engineering officer.
Whilst Plemons is the standout performance of the bunch, the whole crew bring something strong to the USS Callister, something that Milioti harnesses to turn them against Daly.
Whilst a lot of Black Mirror concepts are a strong starting point for further exploration, USS Callister is a great starting point for a sci-fi black comedy that could be expanded in so many ways following its conclusion. Obviously, it would be little more than a Star Trek parody, and I’m sure that’s something that Brooker and Bridges don’t want to invest time and money into. But a part of me would be interested in seeing the future exploits of the USS Callister delved into. Maybe a run of shorts? Come on Netflix, I know you’re reading this!
The episode is very CGI heavy, and some of it doesn’t look as good as others. This is by far the grandest episode of Black Mirror so far in terms of what it wants to achieve visually, but it’s easy to understand why something like the insect-like creatures that inhabit the alien worlds look so rubbery and fake when paired up against the reasonably good teleportation animation.
It strikes a nice balance between replicating the cinematography of years gone by for the colourful USS Callister sequences, and then contrasting that with the slick real-life sequences that are dominated by more industrial greys and silvers.
The one area where the episode lacks is in its runtime. At just shy of eighty minutes it’s one of the longest Black Mirror episodes ever made, and it has a tendency to drag its feet at times. Had this been cut back to a spritelier sixty-to-seventy-minute affair then I think the episode would have really hit the nail on the head. But there are a number of sequences that I feel go on for too long or serve little purpose.
USS Callister is an overall strong Black Mirror episode, and a good start to the shows fourth series (the second to be produced for Netflix). It takes the show in interesting new directions, and presents a good jumping-in point for newcomers thanks to its generally less depressing tone. It still has the shows staple warning about technological abuse, and a kicker of a finale that showcases what could go wrong, but it wraps it up in a package that’s considerably more palatable than most Black mirror episodes. Get your pastel coloured velour on folks, the infinite possibilities of space await!
The episode is very CGI heavy, and some of it doesn’t look as good as others. This is by far the grandest episode of Black Mirror so far in terms of what it wants to achieve visually, but it’s easy to understand why something like the insect-like creatures that inhabit the alien worlds look so rubbery and fake when paired up against the reasonably good teleportation animation.
It strikes a nice balance between replicating the cinematography of years gone by for the colourful USS Callister sequences, and then contrasting that with the slick real-life sequences that are dominated by more industrial greys and silvers.
The one area where the episode lacks is in its runtime. At just shy of eighty minutes it’s one of the longest Black Mirror episodes ever made, and it has a tendency to drag its feet at times. Had this been cut back to a spritelier sixty-to-seventy-minute affair then I think the episode would have really hit the nail on the head. But there are a number of sequences that I feel go on for too long or serve little purpose.
USS Callister is an overall strong Black Mirror episode, and a good start to the shows fourth series (the second to be produced for Netflix). It takes the show in interesting new directions, and presents a good jumping-in point for newcomers thanks to its generally less depressing tone. It still has the shows staple warning about technological abuse, and a kicker of a finale that showcases what could go wrong, but it wraps it up in a package that’s considerably more palatable than most Black mirror episodes. Get your pastel coloured velour on folks, the infinite possibilities of space await!