Black Mirror Bandersnatch if a new film released on Netflix. The film takes place in 1984, where the main character Stefan Butler attempts to create a video game titled Bandersnatch. Which is based off a choose your own adventure book, also titled “Bandersnatch”. During this time Stefan begins to question his reality and discovers that there is something strange is afoot. Black Mirror Bandersnatch is directed by David Slade and stars Fionn Whitehead as Stefan Butler and Will Poulter as Colin Ritman.

This film is not like normal films that come out in theaters. Black Mirror Bandersnatch at its core isn’t a film. It’s more or less a choose your own adventure game. Meaning as the film plays out viewers will have to make choices that dictate where the story will go from then on.

Depending on what the viewer chooses dictates the ending and type of story you get. This is what sets this movie apart from the rest on Netflix: it being compared to other films like Jonathan Lynn’s Clue (1985) which also had multiple endings. However, Clue didn’t go as in depth as it did with Bandersnatch as far as divergent paths and storylines. There is one scene in particular that explains everything the movie is and how to get the perfect path. Joliet West junior JB Angel says “[Black Mirror Bandersnatch] is rich with detail in everything it is and all that the production has put into this film… it’s such a joy to figure out the story and find every ending”. This is due to how each divergent path/storyline makes sense in some odd way.

A standout performance in this film has to go to Will Poulter and Fionn Whitehead. Both actors pull of difficult roles with such ease and such complexity. With Fionn specifically as Stefan goes through many difficult scenes. As far as Will Poulter as Colin he remains a standout performance due to how genuine and how aware he is in the storyline. Now that doesn’t mean that they are the best actors in the film. Everyone including very minor characters in the film all pull off tremendous performances during each storyline. Producer Charlie Brooker says “There were points wherein working stuff out, it got like trying to do a Rubik’s cube in your head”. This is due to the way that the script was written and how the planning was executed, as well as how they decided to film the entire film. Black Mirror Bandersnatch, in the end, is a beautiful film with the cinematography and numerous twists throughout its narrative.

It is truly mind-bending, to say the least; with multiple viewings, viewers can learn more and more about the lore of Black Mirror Bandersnatch.