It looks like Netflix is finally making an official Black Mirror movie—and it’ll be here before the year is out.
On Monday, a vigilant Reddit snoop stumbled across a hidden Netflix page for a film called Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because the streaming service previously teased the title in a since-deleted tweet, along with a late December release date. Back then, everyone assumed that Bandersnatch was just the title of the season five premiere or something, but now we know the truth: It’s actually a feature-length Black Mirror film.
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To be fair, this isn’t the first time Netflix has made an oversized Black Mirror episode. Both “San Junipero” and “U.S.S. Callister” were nearly feature-length, and each took home Emmys for “Best Television Movie”—but Bandersnatch is unique because it’s explicitly labeled a “Netflix Film,” so take that as you will.
The movie is slated to drop next week, but until then, here’s a quick rundown of everything we know about it so far.
So, What Do We Know About the Plot?
Well, uh, pretty much nothing. All we know right now is that the movie’s likely set in the 1980s (just like the aforementioned San Junipero), thanks to some set photos from last April. That means Blockbuster Video is going to make a cameo, naturally:
What the Hell Is a Bandersnatch?
The name was first coined back in 1872 by Lewis Carroll in his book Through the Looking-Glass, which described the Bandersnatch as a a mythical, bloodthirsty creature. But given the 1980s setting, it’s more likely that the title is in reference to a different Bandersnatch—some kind of never-made game.
The Psyclapse & Bandersnatch Commodore 64 game was also referenced in an Easter Egg from season three, so it looks like the connection isn’t completely coincidental.
What’s this all mean, though? Who knows!
Is This Going to Be a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Movie, or What?
Again, Netflix has yet to confirm any of this, but it seems possible that Bandersnatch might be the choose-your-own-adventure Black Mirror story that the streaming service teased in a Bloomberg feature earlier this fall. The Bloomberg write-up referred to the upcoming interactive TV experiment as a special episode from season five that was due out by the end of the year.
Since this is the only thing coming from Black Mirror in 2018 that we know of, it stands to reason that we’ll be picking our own depressing Bandersnatch ending or whatever.
When’s It Coming Out?
Next Friday—December 28, 2018. There’s no word on whether the long-awaited fifth season will be dropping then, too, though. We’ll have to wait and see.
Does Anyone Even Need More Black Mirror Now that Our Entire World Has Basically Become a Never-Ending Episode of the Show?
Probably not, but it’s coming anyway. Get ready to celebrate your holiday season with some brutally depressing stories of technological isolation and the slow decline of our species, everybody!
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