REVIEW: 'Black Mirror' Returns with a Seventh Season Full of Highs and Lows
- Emma Fisher
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Black Mirror returns for its seventh season after a two-year hiatus with six new episodes on Netflix.
This season marks a return to the show’s roots, focusing once again on technology and its unsettling consequences. While some episodes are emotionally devastating and others more reflective, the strongest instalments are those that manage to be both. As with recent seasons, the overall quality is mixed, but the highlights stand out.
A central theme in Season 7 is Artificial Intelligence, which is an unsurprising focus given its increasing prominence in society. Following the 2023 writers' strike and SAG-AFTRA negotiations, and amid growing public fascination with ChatGPT and other generative tools, it feels timely and necessary for Black Mirror to explore something as conflicting and worrisome as AI.
Despite the varied quality, Season 7 feels more in line with the show's earlier seasons, particularly following widespread criticism of Season 6's shift towards horror and away from tech-focused stories. While there is room for improvement, the series appears to be back on the right track.
Common People - ★★★★
When schoolteacher Amanda (Rashida Jones) suffers a sudden medical emergency at work, her husband Mike (Chris O'Dowd) makes a desperate choice: he signs her up for Rivermind, an advanced neural technology that promises to keep users alive - at a cost.
Introduced by Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross), Rivermind offers to take an imprint of the damaged part of Amanda’s brain, clone it into their mainframe, and store it on a cloud server. After surgeons remove Amanda’s tumour and surrounding tissue, the system will transmit cognitive function from this backup into synthetic receiver tissue implanted in her brain. The idea is that Amanda can continue living as though the collapse never happened.
But in true Black Mirror-esque fashion, it's never that simple. What starts as a life-saving intervention spirals into a disturbing portrait of corporate exploitation. Rivermind is less a medical miracle and more a monetised nightmare that takes from the vulnerable.
"Common People" is a haunting story that once would have been sci-fi to fear. Now it feels imminent, and that's what makes it so uncomfortable.
Bête Noire - ★★
Maria (Siena Kelly) lives an ordinary life as a development executive at a chocolate company until an old schoolmate, Verity (Rosy McEwen), arrives at a group tasting session and reality falters. However, Maria is the only one who seems to notice as everyone else around them is charmed by Verity’s ways. What then follows is an exercise in power and isolation.
"Bête Noire" opens with a compelling premise that ultimately falls into a trap that has plagued the later seasons of Black Mirror: poor execution. The episode gestures at big ideas but delivers them in ways that feel clumsy and, at times, unintentionally absurd.
There is certainly a visceral reaction to be had, but whether that response is meant for the characters or what you’ve just spent 49 minutes watching is another question entirely. Compared to the brilliance of the series opener, this is a significant step down.
Hotel Reverie - ★★★½
When Hollywood star Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) signs on to play a gender-bent Dr. Palmer in a high-concept remake of the British classic Hotel Reverie, she’s expecting to be the star. What she experiences instead is an immersive experience that blurs the line between performance and reality, designed by Kimmy (Awkwafina) and Judith Keyworth (Harriet Walter).
The first of two feature-length episodes, "Hotel Reverie" draws you in and leaves you wanting more. Rae’s modern but slightly awkward charm makes her the perfect match to Emma Corrin’s period-perfect Dorothy (also known as Clara in the film-within-the-film). Their chemistry is magnetic within an already interesting concept, making the episode's 76-minute runtime feel significantly shorter.
The episode also asks timely questions about the role of AI in performance: Who controls the narrative? What is left once AI takes over? Overall, it’s a stylish spin on identity and control, told through classic cinema, making a return to the quality of the first episode.
Plaything - ★★
Cameron, an eccentric recluse, is arrested in connection with a decades-old murder, all tied to his obsession with a mysterious 1990s video game. What begins as a routine interrogation soon spirals into something far stranger as reality begins to resemble the game itself.
Peter Capaldi and Lewis Gribben both deliver exceptional performances as older and younger Cameron, but even their commitment cannot save "Plaything" from dragging. The central mystery never fully grips, while the plot, which revolves around protecting artificial lifeforms, quickly becomes more tedious than intriguing.
What could have been a chilling descent into madness ends up feeling flat and overlong despite its 45-minute runtime. "Plaything" has flashes of the classic Black Mirror weirdness, but ultimately, it just does not play.
Eulogy - ★★★★
In "Eulogy," the titular technology allows users to step directly into enhanced photographic memories. For the lonely Phillip (Paul Giamatti), this groundbreaking innovation offers a chance to revisit moments he thought were long gone of a recently passed woman named Carol whom he once knew.
What begins as a gentle look through the past soon reveals deeper heartbreak. Guided by a seemingly neutral assistant (Patsy Ferran), Phillip explores long-forgotten or destroyed photographs only to discover that all is not as it seems.
The 46-minute episode is a devastating take on regret, memory, and the version of life we might have lived if we had made different choices. The episode quietly poses one of the series’ most haunting questions: Would you want to know the life you missed out on?
"Eulogy" ultimately earns its place among the season’s more affecting episodes. Giamatti offers a heartfelt performance, while Ferran is the perfect counterpart.
USS Callister: Into Infinity - ★★★
Robert Daly may be gone, but the digital crew of the USS Callister are far from free. As Captain Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) leads her team deeper into the vast unknown of the online multiverse, they quickly discover that escaping Daly’s control was only the beginning.
Milioti once again shines, and the rest of the returning cast settle comfortably into their roles. That said, while "Into Infinity" is a solid continuation, it does not quite justify its existence. Sure, it’s entertaining enough, but it lacks the bite and originality that made the original "USS Callister" so memorable.
Overall, it’s nice to have Black Mirror back. It would be even greater if the series could return to something of consistent quality. Season 7 certainly proves it can if a focus on devastation and reflection is balanced within its technological commentary.
About Black Mirror Season 7
Premiere Date: April 10, 2025
Episode Count: 6
Executive Producer/Showrunner: Charlie Brooker, Jessica Rhoades, Annabel Jones
Writer: Charlie Brooker
Director: Ally Pankiw, Toby Haynes, Haolu Wang, David Slade, Chris Barrett, Luke Taylor
Production: Broke & Bones
Distribution: Netflix
Cast: Awkwafina, Milanka Brooks, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Patsy Ferran, Paul Giamatti, Lewis Gribben, Osy Ikhile, Rashida Jones, Siena Kelly, Billy Magnussen, Rosy McEwen, Cristin Milioti, Chris O’Dowd, Issa Rae, Paul G. Raymond, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jimmi Simpson, Harriet Walter.
Synopsis: Charlie Brooker's dark, satirical anthology series will return in 2025 with six brand new episodes, including a sequel to the sci-fi adventure "USS Callister."
Comentarios