One of the most anticipated TV events of the fall has to be the return of “Black Mirror.” The British anthology show from creator Charlie Brooker, which tells sci-fi-sprinkled cautionary tales of uneasy interstices between technology and humanity, became an unlikely word of mouth hit when it hit Netflix in the U.S., leading to the streaming giant to poach the show from Channel 4 and then to greenlight a third season that, with six installments, will virtually double the present length of “Black Mirror.”
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The show has brought in some big-name, fast-rising actors and some heavy behind-the-scenes talent, including Joe Wright (“Atonement”), Rashida Jones and Dan Trachtenberg (“10 Cloverfield Lane). And while things have been top secret until now, Brooker’s finally been spilling the beans on the new episodes to EW.
Wright’s episode is called “Nosedive,” and headlines “Jurassic World” star Bryce Dallas Howard and Alice Eve, and is penned by “Parks & Rec” creator Michael Schur and Jones. It’s apparently a “social satire” with a “creepy serenity” set in a world where everyone obsessively ranks and rates every social interaction. Meanwhile, the 1980s-set “San Junipero,” directed by “Kill Your Friends” helmer Owen Harris, sees Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw striking up a friendship in a beach town. “It’s kind of an ‘80s coming of age drama with a ‘Black Mirror’ undertow,” Brooker says.
Trachtenberg’s episode “Playtest” sees Wyatt ‘son of Kurt’ Russell testing a dangerous new video game technology, and is compared to ‘Evil Dead 2,’ whereas “Shut Up And Dance” is a present-day, sci-fi-free episode starring newcomer Alex Lawther and Jerome Flynn, Bronn from “Game Of Thrones,” and “The Woman In Black” helmer James Watkins will direct.
Finally, “Men Against Fire,” helmed by “The Fall” and “London Spy” director Jakob Verbruggen, is a future-war tale headlined by “Roots” breakout Malachi Kirby (“it stemmed slightly from thinking about drone attacks,” Brooker says), and James Hawes (“Penny Dreadful”) directs “Hated In The Nation,” a feature-length, 90-minute episode inspired by Scandi-noir series like “The Killing,” toplining Kelly MacDonald as a detective on the trail of a social media killer.
The show can be patchy, but fans will undoubtedly be psyched to hear the details, which you can get more of over at EW. “Nosedive” and “San Junipero” screen at TIFF this Tuesday —stay tuned for our verdicts, and you can see all six episodes on Netflix starting October 21st.