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Fans of bad vibes and cynicism found their perfect series in Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s modern take on the Twilight Zone. The show’s focus on technology and all the ways it can ruin and terrify (and, very occasionally, save and sustain) us has shown us the darkest sides of social media, memory retention, virtual worlds, and dating algorithms, usually to chilling effect. If the show’s long breaks between its short seasons have you craving more dystopia and tech-fueled psychological horror (and you've watched all the similar series out there) maybe what you need is more long-form desolation. If that’s you, there’s one movie that fits the Black Mirror vibe perfectly: Moon, starring Sam Rockwell.
Why Moon is the perfect companion to Black Mirror
This mind-bending sci-fi movie starts off grim and just gets grimmer, pivoting off the same paranoia and distrust of technology as Black Mirror. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is the sole inhabitant of a largely automated helium-3 mining facility on the dark side of the Moon. With only the AI named GERTY (played by Kevin Spacey) for company, Sam believes he’s nearing the end of a three-year contract and will soon return to his family on Earth. When he discovers his own badly-injured body at a crashed rover site outside the facility, however, his reality starts dissolving as he realizes the truth: He’s ultimately just an asset owned by a corporation, and he’s never going home.
What makes Moon the perfect film for Black Mirror fans is the way it both explores the dark side of a scientific breakthrough (easy, robust cloning) and also just plain messes with your head. Sam’s initial contentment gives way to puzzlement, and then to angry horror as he figures out what’s going on. The story exposes how technology that should improve our lives can be leveraged against us to rob us of agency and exploit us in ways we can’t currently imagine.
At the same time, like the best Black Mirror episodes (“San Junipero,” for example), Moon ultimately pivots to an ending that simultaneously surprises and reinforces how resilient and unstoppable the human spirit really is. Technology, the film argues, might be nightmarish when misused, but being human means we will always find a way to wriggle free of its grasp and find something close to justice. Add in a typically amazing performance from Rockwell, and you’ve got the perfect movie to watch after you’ve exhausted your supply of Black Mirror episodes. You can stream Moon on Pluto TV or rent it on Prime Video.
More movies like Black Mirror
If you’re not totally depressed yet, maybe you just need more tech-adverse, brain-twisting movies. We got you—here are a few more films that fans of Black Mirror will love.
The Lobster (2015)
From the delightfully demented Yorgos Lanthimos (and co-writer Efthimis Filippou), The Lobster’s logline reads like a Black Mirror episode summary: After his wife leaves him, a man named David (Colin Farrell) has 45 days to find a new romantic partner or he will be transformed into the animal of his choice. David knows full well how it works, because his own brother, Bob, accompanies him in his new form as a dog. Believe it or not, it gets weirder (and wayyyyy more violent) after that. It definitely feels like a Black Mirror episode exploring the social constructs around relationships and dating. Rent The Lobster on Prime Video.
Vivarium (2019)
A young couple (Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots) drive to a housing development called Yonder where all the houses are eerily similar, and find themselves trapped—no matter how hard they try, their attempts to leave always lead them back to “their” house. They’re soon ordered to raise an infant boy in order to earn their release. It’s a sci-fi/horror hybrid that’s as bleak and terrifying as any Black Mirror episode, and it shares the show’s general antipathy toward happy endings. Stream Vivarium on Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video.
The One I Love (2014)
If your favorite Black Mirror episodes are the ones that explore modern relationships through the dark lens of sci-fi technology (like season four’s “Hang the DJ”), check out The One I Love. A struggling couple (Elizabeth Moss and Mark Duplass) go to a remote estate in an attempt to reconnect—and discover that duplicates are living in the guest cottage. The duplicates are initially better at being their partner than the originals, and the couple attempts to set up “rules” allowing them to spend time with their doppelgängers—but, of course, there’s a darker twist lingering under the surface. Stream The One I Love on Kanopy on or rent it on Prime Video.
Swan Song (2021)
Black Mirror often delves into existential questions around the true nature of the bonds between us—for example, in the episode “Be Right Back,” when a young woman played by Hayley Atwell brings her dead boyfriend back as an AI android that uses videos and social media posts to reconstruct his personality. Swan Song plays with similar themes from the other direction: When Cameron (Mahershala Ali) is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he’s offered the option of having a clone seamlessly replace him, sparing his family the grief of his passing. It’s a kinder, gentler sort of story than Black Mirror typically offers, but it’s just as devastating. Stream Swan Song on Apple TV.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
There might not be a film premise that’s more Black Mirror-ish—a service that erases bad memories, with all the unintended consequences a viewer could hope for (echoing the “grain” technology the show features in episodes like “The Entire History of You”). When Joel (Jim Carrey) learns that his ex-girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has had her memories of him erased, he decides to do the same. But as he undergoes the procedure and dreams through his memories of her, he changes his mind and attempts to “hide” Clementine in his other memories, leading to some truly haunting and terrific set pieces directed by Michel Gondry. Rent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Prime Video.
This article was originally published by Lifehacker and written by Jeff Somers.
Read original article on Lifehacker