Another season of Black Mirror has come and gone. Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi series delivered another round of futuristic technology and bizarre twists. But with easy-to-binge episodes, fans will have to find other ways to get their Black Mirror fix until Netflix announces the next season. Fortunately, there’s plenty of movies out there that fit the bill!
Inception (2010)
Charlie Brooker has taken us on wild adventures with crazy technology that we can see in 1 year or 500 years. Christopher Nolan’s dream heist movie Inception follows the same cues, taking us into the world of ‘extracting’, using the dream world as the battleground for corporate espionage. The technology Cobb and his team use feels grounded in our world, but just out of our reach; both eerie and, yes, dreamy.
The Game (1997)
Some of Black Mirror‘s most terrifying episodes are the ones that take place in a reality that closely mimics our own. David Fincher’s 1997 thriller follows a businessman as he plays The Game, a personalized game that reveals a truth about yourself. You don’t know when it begins, you don’t know who to trust, and it pushes you to the breaking point. While more of a thriller than a commentary on technology, the mere idea of a company using your information to invade your privacy and tailor a life-threatening game may be enough to send shivers down your spine.
The Truman Show (1998)
What if your entire reality was a lie and free will is an illusion? That your life was designed for the entertainment of others? Black Mirror has explored this concept in a variety of episodes, but The Truman Show takes the concept to a whole new level. Every variable in Truman’s life is perfect and controlled down to the detail. That is, except for Truman (played by a pitch-perfect Jim Carrey) himself. When he discovers the truth of his existence, Truman has to decide what to do about his life. A perfect blend of science-fiction, satire, and comedy, The Truman Show nails the basic elements of Black Mirror.
Ex Machina (2014)
I’d like to think if Stanley Kubrick was given the reins to direct an episode of Black Mirror, he’d make something along the lines of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. Brimming with tension, Ex Machina follows an employee of a tech company on a week-long retreat with his enigmatic CEO and their series of Turing tests (tests with computers designed to determine whether or not it is comparative to human intelligence, emotion, etc.) on a new android. Garland blends suspense with philosophical conversations on the nature of humanity and dangers of creating artificial intelligence so close to ours. In the words of Jeff Goldblum, “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Her (2013)
What Her lacks in mind-blowing twists, it more than makes up for in everything else. The movie tells the story of a lonely man who falls in love with his Siri-esque operating system. Spike Jonze focuses less on the dangers of technology and more on the human emotions and connections we make. Told in soft shades of reds, yellows, and pinks, Her deals with the emotional impact of technology in our world; its ability to simultaneously isolate and bring us together. Beautifully thought-provoking, Her represents the core of Black Mirror– show the complicated relationship between humans and technology and how they impact each other and give insight into who we are.
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Well there you have it! I hope these can fill the empty void until Charlie Brooker announces a new season of Black Mirror. If you want to know my thoughts on Black Mirror click HERE! Until next time dear readers…
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Great post!
I loved The Truman Show. I haven’t seen that movie in forever, but such a good film. I’ve never seen Her, but I hear it’s another good one. I’ll have to check that film out at some point.
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