Black Mirror Season 7 TV Review: The anthology is back with a sequel and unique original tales

Charlie Brooker’s acclaimed series features two sequel episodes amongst six stellar and twisted tales featuring Rashida Jones, Awkwafina, Will Poulter, and more.

Plot: 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.

Review: Since Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror moved from the UK’s Channel 4 to Netflix in 2016, we have been lucky to get four seasons and the interactive movie Bandersnatch. The last foray into the surreal anthology was in 2023, which offered a mix of almost feature-length tales that felt a bit underwhelming compared to the legacy the series had built for itself. The seventh volume of Black Mirror debuts on Netflix today and is a return to the powerful storytelling we saw in the early years of the series. Bringing back spin-offs and continuations of beloved entries, this may be the most diverse mix of story tones and themes, all tied to the ongoing theme of technological horror that is just slightly askew from what could really happen. With a fantastic ensemble of actors, the seventh season of Black Mirror is excellent.

Consisting of six episodes, the seventh season of Black Mirror is the longest entry since 2017, the banner season that included the episode “USS Callister.” This season, two episodes clock in at a feature-length running time, and all see the return of directors and writers from previous years. The opening episode, “Common People,” stars Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones as Amanda and Mike, a couple struggling after the discovery that Amanda has an inoperable brain tumor. When they are approached by a representative (Tracee Ellis Ross) from a biotech company with a way to save her, they sign up but do not realize the subscription cost is beyond their reach. Satirizing streaming services as well as online social media payment platforms, “Common People” is a sad and disturbing tale that blends elements from the season six episode “Joan is Awful”, also directed by Ally Pankiw, and themes from the infamous series opener “The National Anthem”. Chris O’Dowd is great in a dramatic turn, making you frustrated and shocked along the way.

“Bete Noire” and “Plaything” are the episodes North American fans will have the least familiarity with, cast-wise. “Bete Noire” follows Maria (Siena Kelly), a food scientist at a large British candy company. A successful creator of unique flavors and brands, Maria runs into a former friend from her student days, Verity (Rosy McEwen), who was a bit of an outcast. When Verity joins her company, Maria begins to experience bizarre shifts in her reality that lead her to question if it is the Mandela Effect or something more sinister. “Bete Noire” is an intriguing premise that did not quite stick the landing for me. On the other hand, “Plaything” is a chilling story led by Peter Capaldi as Cameron Walker, a man accused of murder. In flashback, Cameron’s story connects directly to the events of Bandersnatch and features Will Poulter reprising his role as Colin Ritman from the film. Beyond that connection, this is a fully distinct tale about artificial intelligence and the dangers it could contain. Another chilling episode with an ambiguous ending will leave audiences divided. David Slade returned to direct “Plaything” after helming Bandersnatch, while Toby Haynes directed “Bete Noire.”

“Hotel Reverie” and “Eulogy” are my two favorite episodes of the season and for very different reasons. “Hotel Reverie” follows Kimmy (Awkwafina) who works for a tech company that has devised a tool to insert living actors into old films. Actress Brandy (Issa Rae) joins the lead role of the title film in which she co-stars with Dorothy (Emma Corrin). While she tries to stick to the script, the artificial intelligence behind Dorothy becomes aware and the romance they share becomes real. It is a beautifully created love story that is the least scary episode of Black Mirror but one still dripping with the dangers of what technology could be. Shot mostly in black and white, the episode is both an ode to love as it is to classic films. “Eulogy” is another heartbreaker that follows Phillip (Paul Giamatti), who learns the love of his life has passed away. Using a new technology to remember their times together, Phillip and the A.I. Guide (Patsy Ferran) go back through his relationship and where it fell apart. The majority of the episode is centered on Giamatti who has to perform on his own from most of the story. It is a fantastic performance from one of our best actors and one that has twists and turns that likely will have people shedding tears throughout. Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor helmed “Eulogy” while “Hotel Reverie” was direxted by Haolu Wang.

The final episode of the season is “USS Callister: Into Infinity”, a direct sequel to the 2017 episode that audiences went crazy for. Cristin Milioti returns as Nanette Cole along with Jimmi Simpson as James Walton, Billy Magnussen as Karl Plowman, Osy Ikhile as Nate Packer, Milanka Brooks as Elena Tulaska, and Paul G. Raymond as Kabir Dudani. Toby Haynes helmed the episode, followiing his work from the original. While the twist in the original “USS Callister” cannot be replicated here, there is a lot in store that will have viewers talking for weeks to come. The episode runs eighty minutes and feels more like a movie than an episode and is a really great continuation of the first episode. Both work as self-contained narratives with this episode working better if you saw the previous episode but does not require it. Milioti is riding high after her work on The Penguin but gives a very different performance here. “USS Callister: Into Infinity” is an entertaining story but I would have rather gotten another new glimpse through the Black Mirror than revisiting this world again.

Charlie Brooker wrote all six episodes of this season along with Ella Road, Bisha K. Ali, William Bridges, and Bekka Bowling. The quality this season is the best it has been in years with a lot of the episodes reminiscent of the weight and depth of the first seasons of the series. I found myself the least impressed by the “USS Callister” follow-up but still enjoying it quite a bit. Charlie Brooker has tapped into something powerful with Black Mirror that we have not had on television since Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. While I wish we would get a season of Black Mirror every year, waiting longer to get a small batch of episodes as good as these is more than worth the wait. This series continues to prove that there is little divide between big screen and small screen storytelling and elevates the anthology format beyond what any other show has done. Black Mirror is once again going to be a hot topic of conversation and I look forward to hearing what people think.

Black Mirror debuts all six episodes of season seven on April 10th on Netflix.