BBC – Culture – Black Mirror Series 5 reviews

He may be concentrating on the future, but can Charlie Brooker's and Annabel Jones's dystopian anthology of Black Broror be a little outdated? After all, its focus on the disruptive and corrupting influence of technology may seem a little outdated at a time when more global issues of political collapse and ecological catastrophe are becoming more and more important. And there is also the question of how many different stories you can draw from the main obsession of the series: the interaction between virtual reality and physical reality.

Well, this fifth series justifies its continuation by a breathtaking episode – even after only three episodes, its variable quality is more evident than ever. What's more, if you consider that this last season is shorter than usual because of the time that Brooker and Jones had to devote to the scrapping of last year to choose your own experience. Bandersnatch adventure, so we can not say that she has a good form. at the moment.

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But let's start with the positives: Striking Vipers is up to par with Be Right Back and San Junipero among the most beautiful and the most soulful and unique of the duo. Avenger star Anthony Mackie plays a young man in his twenties at a club – before indulging in a different RPG at home with his girlfriend (Nicole Beharie) plays the video game "Striking Vipers "with his best friend (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) until the early hours of the evening. Cut to eleven years later, he is comfortably settled in suburban family life – but an update of his old favorite game proves more than distraction.

That's about all that needs to be said, except that it has a premise that goes to the absolute place of Black Mirror, being both technologically plausible and rich in philosophy. I have counted homoeroticism of the game, the pornographic quality of violence in video games, the fundamentally ambiguous nature of sexuality and gender, and the questionable virtue of self-sacrifice in relationships between themes addressed. But above all, like San Junipero, he is as much invested in timeless human emotions as in timely commentaries on the world we are inaugurating: one of the best scenes is a simple conversation between husband and wife in a restaurant kiosk. , which pulsates with as much sadness as a film by John Cassavetes.

Smithereens, on the other hand, is a well-defined case of characters pretending to be a plot, which is a vehicle for a rather awkward stand. Andrew Scott, currently better known as Fleabag's "Burning Priest", plays the role of a London pilot for an Uber-type application with an obvious "past" – and a curious predilection for trying to recruit clients in front of the offices of a social media company called Smithereens. , not quite unlike Twitter. When an employee finally gets into his cab, he takes him hostage. This leads to a stalemate in a country, the kidnapper demanding to talk to the big boss of Smithereen – a tech-bro with a ponytail currently being engaged otherwise in a silent 10-day retreat in Utah, of course.

Aimed at both the lack of accountability and the uncontrolled power of today's social media giants, it is almost as satirical as Black Mirror does. But it also asks, more deeply: who has the ultimate responsibility if technology drives us to harm, creator or consumer? Unfortunately, an interesting topic of discussion here results in a rather inert and under-characterized drama. Topher Grace stages a fun parody of Jack Dorsey and Scott is at least a shaky and ambiguous presence. But if it is basically the story of a man arguing against his lack of agency, it seems ironic that writers also reduce to such a figure.

Smithereens is still quite observable, which is unfortunately not the case for Rachel, Ashley and Ashley Too, a bit atrocious, which is an example of the most grossly parabolic Black Mirror. Following A Star is Born and Vox Lux, the latest-born of a curious wave of pop industry movies, it stars Miley Cyrus in the role of Ashley O, a mega-star with a pink wig whose quality of production line is made literal by releasing a robot doll programmed to speak and behave like it. Meanwhile, at the same time, an adorable and lovable super fan buys one of these Ashley Too robots and drinks in his hyper-perky chatter and his tasteless emancipation messages. The question is: with all these approximations in the world, is Ashley O herself now consumable?

The controlled spectral performance of Cyrus in its infancy is what is best in this field. We see the depressed and exploited person behind the facade of the scene of Ashley O. His own conquering pop career confers on these scenes a particular advantage, of course. explained in interviews how she integrated the scenario with her own experiences. But as the episode continues and his avatar changes, he becomes more and more ridiculous and puerile. the types of films that were shot in the 1980s as a result of ET.

So, a good episode on two mediocre episodes? This is not really a good rate of success – but again, a total jewel like Striking Vipers is enough to justify the almost certain return of the series for another part.

Striking Vipers: ★★★★★

Smithereens: ★★★ ☆☆

Rachel Jack and Ashley Too too: ★★

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