After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.After learning about a new service that lets people stay in touch with the deceased, a lonely, grieving Martha reconnects with her late lover.
- Mourner
- (uncredited)
- Christopher
- (uncredited)
- Sarah's Man
- (uncredited)
- Onlooker
- (uncredited)
- Paramedic
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA service called 'That can be my next tweet!' has existed since 2013 that analyzes a person's Twitter stream and attempts to create a Tweet that they could have written.
- GoofsThe police would not have come to her house with the vehicle lights on.
- Quotes
Ash: Just sharing that.
[he holds the photo of Ash as a boy]
Ash: Thought people might find it funny.
Martha: It's not funny; It's sweet.
Ash: Trust me; that day wasn't sweet... first family outing after Jack died... When I came down the next morning all Jack's photos were gone... she put them in the attic. It's how she dealt with stuff. And then when dad died, up went his photos to the attic. She just left this one here. Her only boy giving her a fake smile
Martha: She didn't know it was fake.
Ash: Maybe that makes it worse.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojoUK: Top 10 Actors Who Have Appeared in Black Mirror (2018)
- SoundtracksIf I Can't Have You
(uncredited)
Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb
Performed by Yvonne Elliman
Although I did not think the first season of Back Mirror was perfect, I really did like that it is able to take current situations and move them a few steps down a logical or reasonable line and then see what happens in a specific situation. As with the previous season this episode very much sticks with technology as its jumping off point but it is most in common with the third episode of the first season it the way it is driven by an emotional core. The idea in this case is that, just as it is possible already to have software that can just about text you like a person, so, in theory, it should be possible to have software that builds a "you" based on all your emails, texts, Facebook posts and so on; OK it is a few steps beyond Amazon suggesting products based on your purchasing history, but it is effective because it doesn't seem too far away and thus we are not given the comfort of a future far from our own.
With small steps we get to a plot that is far-fetched while being conceivable and with this idea as the narrative device, Brooker builds a story that is emotionally engaging as we can both empathize with what Martha does while also seeing how bad a thing it is in the grand scheme of things – just like it being easy to see the faults of others from a distance while totally failing to see the same in ourselves. It is really moving and the conflict is throughout the story which means that it never stops working on the level it does at the start. The downside is that it ends in the same mould rather than having something dramatic, but still it is effective for what it does.
The direction is good and the tone matches Brooker's excellent writing. If I didn't already know this is the same sarcastic and miserable Brooker we see on Screenwipe, I never would have believed he wrote this. What really seals the deal though is the performance from Atwell, because she is amazing. She really understands her character and she convinces through the story whether she be content, grieving, denying, hurting or accepting. The story is essentially a two-hander but she is the lion's share of it and her success is the film's success. Gleeson is more of a device than character but his performance is also well pitched, convincing in how he needs to be even if Atwell gets the better of the split.
This film will be hard to watch in the wake of Her since thematically they are similar but I'm sure this is just coincidence. It is best to ignore this and focus on the film doing what it does because it is clever, engaging, convincing, moving and sobering. Hard to believe that the guy cursing at his TV would turn out to be such a good sci-fi writer or that the pretty girl from the Captain America film would have such a great performance in her, but BRB is great.
- bob the moo
- Jan 31, 2014
Details
- Runtime48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD