Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

It's very clever and very dark (but then Black Mirror always is). I do agree it's a bit prententious in places. Having now watched all of the 5 endings, and not without some exasperation, and yes repetition, the penny dropped that Bandersnatch is all about choices and the choices you think are under your control. The outcome is pretty bad no matter how you choose because the ultimate destiny is not in your hands. Choices in life are not always good versus bad. It asks more questions than it answers and while that might not be satisfactory to some, that's the whole point.

Bandersnatch is not a new experience by any means, although it is new for Netflix. There have been games like this for many years. However, for this particular title the choices are rather uninteresting and there isn't really a "choice" when you are choosing between very close actions. Basically whatever you chose gets you to similar points so not really a choice based ending. I don't think the choices were very wise chosen and overall the plot of the movie was not very great. I mean it's interesting but nothing new or groundbreaking compared to other episodes from Black Mirror, that is, mind you, a darn good TV show. I think an interactive movie based on Juniper City or Metalheads episodes would've turned much much better. There is also some sort of disparity between what you chose, what the character does in the movie and what happens in the scene. Meaning that somehow you choose what the other characters are doing with your choices instead of the main character, and that's also a bit confusing and a bit of a drag for me. So overall I recommend this title for it's novelty, but not so much for the script and general idea. Worth your time though, just for the sake of it.

A movie about the struggles involved in the creative process, both technical and personal, and the problems artists face when expected to deliver something personal and profound with intense public scrutiny, on a constricted schedule, while simultaneously having to deal with their own personal relationships.

I actually didn't write this myself, this is a description from the Wikipedia article about Fellini's prominent movie 8½.

This film takes the public pressure on the write a huge leap further - he's actually not only pressed by some vague 'public' but literally controlled - by you, the viewer. Or maybe not? The film shows how hard it is to tell, and the process of going back and forth in time trying to remake the plot and improve the result is similar to what is happening in the creators mind.

So far so good, a very interesting idea. And of course it would be unfair to compare almost any movie to the rich ingenius and amazing experience of watching Fellini's 8½. So just as a film I watched without such expectations our of curiosity, beside the idea it is a minimalist, dark, moderately interesting film, with a pessimistic feeling that matches the series. Not a highly entertaining experience, but interesting as a pioneering experiment.

It never occurred to me that something like this would someday be tried. Kudos to Netflix for trying to push the boundaries of what is possible through this medium. That said, the whole thing felt like a game. A fascinating game because of the novelty, but I felt none of what usually a good film would elicit. Yes, there was a lot of anticipation of what would happen next, but overall, due to the frequent pauses to choose, there was no continuity or involvement in the story per se. Some of the choices too felt pretty childish. The idea that the character was actually feeling like he had no free will and felt compelled to do things as though someone (the viewer) was controlling him - well, it brings a smile the first time, but later, feels like something that perhaps a smoked-up teen would find mind boggling. Overall, yes, definitely something that people would be thrilled to watch and try, but I sincerely hope we do not have a lot of this type of interactive films - at least not at the expense of "normal" films.

The overall idea behind an interactive film is great and it was a good attempt. However, the film kept taking you back to the same options over and over again until you chose the one you hadn't seen yet. So, for me it was dessesperating and I felt like it didn't actually give me much of a choice, if I dint chose what I was "supposed" to, then the film would keep looping. Maybe that's the point but I'm just not a fan, I had bigger hopes for an interactive film.