BANDERSNATCH

For those who haven’t seen Bandersnatch it is a movie based on a British TV series called Black Mirror. Now personally, I see a lot less movies than I used to for the sole reason that all of them are just a repetition of the same story line with different actors and better graphics. The film industry at this point seems very dull and unattractive, with the same story over and over and over… Yeesh.

But as soon as I saw the name Black Mirror attached to it there was a sense of excitement. If you haven’t seen Black Mirror I recommend you check it out. It’s a series experimenting with different ideas of technology in the future and the effects it can have. Every episode has it’s own story line and you can watch it in any order without getting confused. I highly recommend watching the 3^rdseason and even though it has a pretty creepy vibe to it you can never get enough.

Bandersnatch, being made by the same people, without a doubt has the same vibe as well. So naturally I was also slightly scared to watch the movie alone as you can never expect what’s coming, which is what’s so great about the whole Black Mirror world. Bandersnatch is an interactive movie and they used Netflix’s platform to their extent, but you can only watch it on your phones or tablet. Sorry pirates… you can’t put this on torrent. You are given two choices and the story line is taken by the choice you make and you are given 6-8 seconds to make a decision. There are 5 main endings to the movie with different choices on each, clearly. With all honesty, no matter what choice you make you will always feel like you’re making the wrong one. So don’t worry. It’s just how Black Mirror rolls. 

The idea of the story is that there are alternate realities and nothing really matters, as one mistake in one reality you can alter in the next. What’s going to happen is going to happen. There’s someone controlling your fate and no matter what you do you can’t run away from it. Bandersnatch, at one point, breaks the 4^th wall. And let me tell you, it feels like you’re on 70 drugs when that happens. So strap on to your seat belts. This one’s a real roller coaster. 

Warning: Spoiler alert. Move to the second last paragraph if you want to skip spoilers.

So the movie starts off by giving you an idea of the decision making and gives you two options at breakfast: Sugar Puffs or Frosties. You choose either one. I don’t believe it matters, but somehow you feel it decides your fate. The main character, Stefan Butler, or rather you, are going for an interview. You choose a mix tape on your way in the bus. The interviewer, Mohan Thakur, greets you and makes you meet the most significant person in video game making, Colin Ritman. You have a conversation with him regarding his new game and then explain your game to both of them. Mohan seems very pumped up and excited and asks you to make it in the office with a team, and gives you a deadline. The game is based on a book called Bandersnatch. It’s an interactive game and based on your choices leads you to an ending. Ironic. Mohan then asks you your answer: accept or reject.  If you’re anything me, or 99% of the population you’d say yes. Doing that, Colin taps your back and says “Wrong path.” 

At that moment, you’re just a little startled because this is the first big decision you’ve made in this game and Oh No… was it the wrong one.

Fast forward to the day it’s released and given a rating on a tv show. It got 0/5 stars. Stefan, being mad about that wants to try again. And then the whole movie loops back to all the things that have happened from the start. Breakfast, bus ride, meeting Colin and back to the great question: Will you do it? 

This time, obviously, you say no. Unless you want a constant loop of 5 hours says yes. No, as in Stefan would do this at home, in his own space. Fast forward to the day it’s released and it gets a 4/5 review. 

Stefan is then seen talking to his therapist talking about the video game and he feels like the therapist is talking like his dad. The therapist asks about talking about his mom then. She asks if you want to talk about it and like most people you’d say yes. He talks about how his dad hid his favorite toy rabbit and while he was looking for it, his mom left without Stefan because he couldn’t find it. The train crashes and the mom dies, hence Stefan blames his dad for it. 

Stefan, while making another game, stays in his room for days. His dad walks in and asks him to go out and have lunch with him. While trying to explain to Stefan how he’s worried about him, Stefan plays the game and there’s and error. In the moment of anger you’re given two choices: throw tea over computer or yell at dad. If you’re a nice kid like me you’d throw tea all over your work. That puts you back in a loop of doing your work all over again, minus all the playback and you’re given the same choice again. This time you yell at dad. Dad tells him they’re going for lunch in a stern voice. To Stefan’s dismay, they end up at the therapist. There he sees Colin walking to somewhere. You’re given a choice again: Go to the therapist or go after Colin. I went to the therapist. 

Stefan tries to explain to Dr. Haynes that he feels like something is controlling him, making his choices. She gives him some medication. You’re then given a choice to take them or flush them. I flushed them down the drain. Taking them would have taken me to a different path. 

Fast forward to the day Stefan shows his game to Mohan and Colin, and it’s not working. He asks for a little time. Colin gives him a documentary on how Bandersnatch’s book was made for inspiration. The voice over talks about how the how the writer became insane and killed his wife, how the demon character was made, and called pax and how it came to being by the writer with symbols of significance. While Stefan is working on the game the voice over in the back constantly talks about how the maker of Bandersnatch didn’t have any control over fate and how generally fate is decided and nothing is in your control.  Stefan then plays the game to test it and the same problem again. You’re given a choice to hit the desk or destroy the computer. I hit the desk. At that moment Stefan has an epiphany that things are out of his control. He sees two things: a book and the family photo. I pick up the family photo. He holds it and falls asleep. Holding the photo, he dreams that he went through a mirror and becomes his young version again. The memory of his mother and father arguing over the rabbit occur again. He wakes up breathless. 

He tries again with the game and it doesn’t start. Two options arise: throw tea over computer or destroy computer. Whichever you chose, Stefan stops and doesn’t do it. He comes to the realization that someone is controlling him and so he yells into the void, directly talking to us, asking us who’s doing this to him. At this point of the movie you either feel like God or delusional that he broke the 4^th wall. Stefan asks for a sign. You’re presented with two options: Netflix or the symbol of the Bandersnatch maker, which, if you’re seen the series, appears constantly in season 2 episode 2 of Black Mirror. I pressed Netflix. On the screen it types “I am watching you on Netflix.” The show is set in a more 90’s time, therefore, Stefan questions what Netflix is. You can either explain more to him or try to explain what Netflix is. I took the chance to explain more to him because I felt immensely guilty and sorry for him. The screen tries to tell him more about how it’s for entertainment. He still seems confused. You can then stop the conversation or tell him more. I felt the need to tell him more. On that note his father walks in and asks him who he’s talking to, and he tries to explain himself. Dad calls the therapist.

Stefan goes to therapy because of this. They try to figure it out. Dr. Haynes asks if Netflix is really happening to entertain someone, then why isn’t all of this very entertaining, as though telling him choosing this path was the most boring and dull one. So she leans in and asks Stefan wouldn’t you want the viewer have more action to this story line. Two options are presented: yes and hell yes, either one leads to the same conclusion. Stefan throws coffee on her face and she pulls out nun chucks. You can either fight her or leap out the window. Obviously at this point you’d want to see how they fight. A whole action packed scene occurs and there’s a lot of adrenaline rush. The dad joins in. He pulls him out by the neck while Stefan screams at us asking if we’ve enjoyed the action. 

Netflix then loops us back to the time where you had the option to run after Colin, and asks if we want to take a different ending this time. You can stop the movie there or watch alternate timelines. I’ve just explained one ending.

Overall, the acting is pretty spot on, the whole creepy hollowness of the story is there, you feel delusional of the story at some point and believe you’re dissociating. Bandersnatch captured the essence that they were going for but they could’ve done a lot more because I feel like they were lacking in the making in some areas. The worst thing about the movie is when my sister watched it, it kept looping back to alternate endings, which was very confusing, I chose the fate of Stephan and it looped me back to what could’ve happened if I chose the other option. So I had only two endings. For my sister she had about 4 endings possible to the story, which gets a little draining at some point. Why can’t we just choose the one ending and stick to the consequences of it? If someone had to go back and check out other alternative endings that would’ve been okay too. 

The most amazing thing I felt about Bandersnatch was the interactiveness. They perform some action until you choose in the 6-8 seconds you’re given. Its a very minute detail focus but makes a whole lot of a difference unlike most interactive games. The directors achieved what they were going for and it was brilliantly executed. So for me 8/10.