Bandersnatch: The illusion of choice
A ‘choose your own adventure’ review of the new Black Mirror film.
The latest in Black Mirror’s ever-growing list of game-changing Netflix episodes comes in the form of Bandersnatch, a roughly two hour long interactive ‘movie’ in which a young videogame developer, Stefan Butler, attempts to create a choose-your-own-adventure videogame based on a similarly themed book of the same name.
This is a very special review, as it will allow the reader to ‘select’ whether or not the review shines a positive, or negative light on Bandersnatch.
WARNING: Thematic spoilers follow. Narrative remains untouched.
First, the positive:
The scepticism that I felt towards a Black Mirror episode centrally focused on viewer choice was, hopefully, understandable. The show holds a special place in our hearts for its renowned ability to subvert viewer expectation, and Bandersnatch did not disappoint. As a result, the first thirty seconds or so were filled with a desire to know precisely what the ‘Catch 22’ of my ability to choose Stefan’s path was, but this was quickly forgotten as I found myself lost in the narrative, curious to find out what said path would be, and desperate to make sure I chose correctly.
Before I go on to discuss the thematic elements of the movie, I’ll touch on the actual content of it. The setting and characters in Bandersnatch are a lot of fun. My Spotify playlist has garnered some welcome new additions as a result of the soundtrack, and the 80’s nostalgia pervades (almost) every aspect of the film (you’ll get what I mean). The characters are solidly written, and very well acted, with standout performances from Fionn Whitehead, who delivers Stefan consistently throughout all paths in the story, and Will Poulter, who pulled off the role of Colin to a clever and humorous degree.
The show itself is extremely intelligent. Not only in its writing, but in its execution. The risk of having viewer choice factor into a film’s narrative is the possibility that there will be a decline in satisfaction to that narrative, a direct result of the fact that the ability to make the ‘wrong choice’ is, in some instances, merely one wrong click away. However, the narrative of Bandersnatch revolves around Cartesian themes of reality, and whether the concept of free will has any relevance if multiple realities or ‘parallel universes’ really do exist. As a result, missteps are treated not as failures by the viewer, but as learning experiences for Stefan, Colin, and the other characters in the episode. It is for this reason that I would thoroughly encourage anyone watching the episode to make whichever choice feels right, at any point in the story. After all, you are always welcome to try again.
This provides an interesting commentary on other iterations of the ‘choose your own adventure’ style. Unlike in Bandersnatch, we cannot remake our real-life choices. It is for this reason that, unlike other Black Mirror episodes, Bandersnatch doesn’t have much relevance to anything outside its direct subject matter. It is, however, a phenomenal achievement, and a welcome first entry in what I’m sure will be a long line of Netflix features that utilise the viewer’s choice.
And now, the negative:
R: Out of Range.
Sorry guys, we haven’t programmed that path yet.
