Viewing Review: Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch

This interactive movie on Netflix is the first of its kind.  Bandersnatch allows the viewer to choose from multiple pathways that lead to different endings.  During the film, the viewer is allowed to make choices at certain points.  You will be prompted to make a choice, and these choices will affect the outcome of the movie.  This allows for multiple viewings with different endings.  It takes its cue from the ‘choose your own adventure’ novels of the 70s and 80s, and brings these to the forefront of the 21st century.

Somebody finally did it.  ‘Choose your own adventure’ was a genre more common in table top role playing games and later video games, but not in series or movies.  ‘Bandersnatch’ is the result of that, and it is not only groundbreaking, but also a mind blowing experience.  There are some limitations to enjoy it though.  If you intend to watch it on a smartphone or smart tv, it has to be an up-to-date model.  I’m not sure the of the year limitations for those, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem when you use a desktop computer or laptop.  What’s important here is the mouse or touchpad mechanism that is required to make the choices as the movie goes along.  This is the wave of the future, so regardless of this limitation, audiences will have to catch up with the tech for I don’t see this as the last of this kind of movie.  And, I’m expecting more of this kind of experience from other creators moving forward.

The movie takes its name from Lewis Carroll’s  novel ‘Through the Looking-Glass’.  There are a lot of references to this novel in the film, and the movie is quite self-referential.  Aside from the ‘choose your own adventure’ novels, I’m reminded of the ‘Chrono Trigger’ video game.  This game, once you’ve finished it, allows for a ‘game plus’ mode that opens multiple endings as you play the game anew.  This is what ‘Bandersnatch’ is like.  You finish it once, and you can still play it again with different adventure strands to lead to different outcome.  I kept playing ‘Chrono Trigger’ many times after I’ve finished it, and I’ve watched ‘Bandersnatch’ many times after the first viewing.  Each ending that I’ve seen so far provides a different resolution to the story.  It’s ingenious. However, there is one common underlying theme to the movie that I cannot reveal without providing any spoilers.  I will say this though.  The theme in itself explains the logic behind the film, and its self-referential approach.  You can enjoy it in so many different ways, that I’m wondering why it took creators so long to come up with a film like this.  Perhaps it’s the technology needed?  In any case, I am ecstatic that we are given a new way of enjoying movies. I cannot stress this enough: this is the next level of entertainment.

One final point, there’s something about the 80s that Netflix has been good at utilizing.  They hit a home run with ‘Stranger Things’, and now we have ‘Bandersnatch’.  I hope to see more of these media that push the boundaries of entertainment.  They are a welcome sight to behold and enjoy.  ‘Bandersnatch’ does just that, and is worth the effort to view and enjoy.  What are you waiting for? Choose your own adventure in ‘Bandersnatch’.