Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too
Year: 2019
Directed by: Anne Sewitsky
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Madison Davenport & Angourie Rice
Runtime: 67 minutes
Published: 06/11/23
Directed by: Anne Sewitsky
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Madison Davenport & Angourie Rice
Runtime: 67 minutes
Published: 06/11/23
In 2021 Britney Spears’ controversial conservatorship was brought to an end following years of campaigning, with fans and the media concerned for the popstar’s mental health. During her conservatorship, which had been in place since 2008 following a supposed mental breakdown, Spears was stripped of all autonomy in relation to how she lived her life, how she looked after herself, and what she was able to do artistically. Meanwhile her father, who was legally responsible for her, ensured that Spears was worked to the bone with live performances and album sales all whilst he controlled her finances. Unfortunately, Spears’ story is just one of many cases where celebrities have been manipulated by their management in ways that could be deemed inhumane.
The final episode of Black Mirror’s fifth season took this idea of a popstar being controlled like a circus animal and combined it with the series’ trademark technological abuse to create an episode that whilst distinct in its subject matter, ultimately struggles to ever really find its feet.
Following the death of her mother, Rachel Goggins (Angourie Rice) lives with her sister Jack (Madison Davenport), and her father Kevin (Marc Menchaca). She is an introvert, and seemingly has no friends, but she idolises popstar Ashley O (Miley Cyrus). When Ashley O releases an AI robotic doll based on her own personality, Ashley Too (voiced by Cyrus), Rachel finally has a friend that she can confide in.
Meanwhile Ashley O is struggling to break free from her controlling aunt Catherine (Susan Pourfar) who is her manager, who’s guardianship of Ashley includes a binding contract to control all of Ashley’s assets. When Ashley wants to take her musical career in a new direction and begins to act out, Catherine places her into a medically induced coma and tries to use the Ashley Too technology to immortalise Ashley as a digital performer in order to keep the money coming in.
The final episode of Black Mirror’s fifth season took this idea of a popstar being controlled like a circus animal and combined it with the series’ trademark technological abuse to create an episode that whilst distinct in its subject matter, ultimately struggles to ever really find its feet.
Following the death of her mother, Rachel Goggins (Angourie Rice) lives with her sister Jack (Madison Davenport), and her father Kevin (Marc Menchaca). She is an introvert, and seemingly has no friends, but she idolises popstar Ashley O (Miley Cyrus). When Ashley O releases an AI robotic doll based on her own personality, Ashley Too (voiced by Cyrus), Rachel finally has a friend that she can confide in.
Meanwhile Ashley O is struggling to break free from her controlling aunt Catherine (Susan Pourfar) who is her manager, who’s guardianship of Ashley includes a binding contract to control all of Ashley’s assets. When Ashley wants to take her musical career in a new direction and begins to act out, Catherine places her into a medically induced coma and tries to use the Ashley Too technology to immortalise Ashley as a digital performer in order to keep the money coming in.
The two stories do intertwine in the third act, which is arguably where the episode is at its strongest, but it takes what feels like a long time getting there. At just shy of seventy minutes, Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too is one of the longer Black Mirror episodes, and it certainly feels that way. After a strong opening which establishes Rachel’s character and her family dynamic, the episode promptly stalls as is does nothing else of interest with the Goggins family, and the introduction of Ashley’s plight with her aunt feels like every generic drama about a tortured artist.
The Ashley Too doll feels just like a variation of the recurring Black Mirror technology, the Cookie, that stores a digital version of someone’s consciousness and forces them to take on mundane activities for eternity. The concept doesn’t have anything new done to it here. But it’s once we start getting onto the holographic performer situation in the episode’s third act that things start to become interesting, as it makes a really great standpoint on the replacement of performers with machines that use a person’s likeness. The problem there is that it’s only just introduced before the episode ends, I feel the episode would have been much stronger had that been the focal point of it all.
Cyrus delivers a strong performance as Ashley. The music sequences were always going to be a good fit for her as she’s an extremely talented musician, but acting has previously not been a particularly strong area for her. Here though she manages to deliver everything she needs to in order to make Ashley a convincing and sympathetic character.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Rice or Davenport who both struggle to shine through from under some horribly written angsty teenagers. Rachel has zero-character development through the entire episode, and her entire thing is that she’s the weird girl who doesn’t have friends. Meanwhile Jack is just a moody bitch who thinks she’s cool because she listens to rock. They are both painfully unbearable, and no matter how good these actresses are (I’ve seen their other work, and I know they’re better than this) the weight of these awful characters just suffocates any opportunity they have to actually deliver.
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too is a bum way to end an otherwise exceedingly strong Series Five. There are moments in the episode where it has something great, but it just as quickly lets that moment go in favour of something that has either been done before (and better) in other Black Mirror episodes, or just does something that doesn’t feel particularly like Black Mirror. I’m sure the episode will appeal to some people, particularly those who aren’t keen on Black Mirror’s more sinister episodes, but I think for fans of the series this is one that’ll more than likely fade into obscurity as time goes on.
The Ashley Too doll feels just like a variation of the recurring Black Mirror technology, the Cookie, that stores a digital version of someone’s consciousness and forces them to take on mundane activities for eternity. The concept doesn’t have anything new done to it here. But it’s once we start getting onto the holographic performer situation in the episode’s third act that things start to become interesting, as it makes a really great standpoint on the replacement of performers with machines that use a person’s likeness. The problem there is that it’s only just introduced before the episode ends, I feel the episode would have been much stronger had that been the focal point of it all.
Cyrus delivers a strong performance as Ashley. The music sequences were always going to be a good fit for her as she’s an extremely talented musician, but acting has previously not been a particularly strong area for her. Here though she manages to deliver everything she needs to in order to make Ashley a convincing and sympathetic character.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Rice or Davenport who both struggle to shine through from under some horribly written angsty teenagers. Rachel has zero-character development through the entire episode, and her entire thing is that she’s the weird girl who doesn’t have friends. Meanwhile Jack is just a moody bitch who thinks she’s cool because she listens to rock. They are both painfully unbearable, and no matter how good these actresses are (I’ve seen their other work, and I know they’re better than this) the weight of these awful characters just suffocates any opportunity they have to actually deliver.
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too is a bum way to end an otherwise exceedingly strong Series Five. There are moments in the episode where it has something great, but it just as quickly lets that moment go in favour of something that has either been done before (and better) in other Black Mirror episodes, or just does something that doesn’t feel particularly like Black Mirror. I’m sure the episode will appeal to some people, particularly those who aren’t keen on Black Mirror’s more sinister episodes, but I think for fans of the series this is one that’ll more than likely fade into obscurity as time goes on.