*This review contains spoilers*
The bodies in which we live are temporary and through the influence of time, they are slowly getting worse. We might be young in spirit, but eventually we’ll succumb to the failure of the cells from which we are made. For centuries, there has been a search for a source of eternal youth, but to no avail. However, a new mindset seems to be getting more momentum, one that also has been depicted in several films, which is leaving our body behind and uploading our personality to a computer. The Matrix showed a simulated world and you could see in the last Terminator movie or Transcendence wat kind of powers such an environment could add. This episode of Black Mirror looks at how our consciousness and computers could work together.
San Junipero is initially confusing, because as a viewer you aren’t shown yet how the world works (on purpose). You see how a young woman in the eighties is feeling uncomfortable visiting a club. She starts talking with another girl and after spending the night together with her she disappears. She wants to meet her again, but can’t seem to find her. Someone else tells her that she can find her in the nineties and that’s when you start wondering what is going on. Slowly you discover what’s happening and this is one of the few expisodes of Black Mirror which doesn’t end on a low. It’s all about a possible answer what are lives could look like if we would no longer be contained by our physcial bodies and could live forever. One of the best episodes of season 3, with great roles by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis.
Timing for posting this review is perfect, Nostra—I just saw the episode last night. Up there as one of my favourites from Black Mirror. It’s so hopeful! And it shows that Black Mirror stories don’t have to lean on the dark-side of technology to create depth. It’s the characters and their story here which is truly spellbinding. Loved it.
Yeah, I loved it as well. Hope they do things like this in future episodes.