Black Mirror season 7 review: An instant classic instalment that showcases Charlie Brooker at his best

A fresh batch of weird and wonderful episodes, worlds and characters to dive right into, you don't quite know whether each instalment will leave you brimming with chatter afterwards or could simply ruin your day – but so is the essence of the Charlie Brooker series. And that is the true feeling with these six new episodes, a testament to the backbone of storytelling that makes Black Mirror such a hit.

Where last season's risk-taking horror theme left many fans slightly perplexed at the direction of the series, season 7 reaffirms to any doubters just what Black Mirror is all about.

Sure, the series is, at its core, an exploration of dystopian technology but some of the episodes that have stuck with viewers long after watching are those that are steeped in human emotion and relatability.

In my humble opinion, this new batch of season 7 episodes is Brooker's most emotional to date, with episodes that will surely shock, surprise and – I don't say this lightly – tear your heart open. To balance all of that while digging into mind-bending technology is no easy feat, but it's done with near-flawless quality here.

The core values of Black Mirror – to lull you into a false sense of storyline security to then entirely flip the script – are at play in a major way here, with every single episode delivering twists that you think you may see coming but you really won't.

Starting off at arguably its strongest point of the entire series, Rashida Jones (who co-wrote season 3 hit, Nosedive) and Chris O'Dowd bring a palpably natural comedy to Common People, a tale about life-saving start-up tech company, Rivermind, which promises the opportunity of a lifetime when Jones's Amanda suffers a medical emergency.

It's a tale about the lengths we'd go to in order to help the ones we love, while also exposing the money-grabbing nature of health-related companies that simply see their sick customer base as numbers on a profit margin sheet. Tracee Ellis Ross is on top form as Rivermind employee Gaynor in this, surely included as a grating background force but proving to be one of the most hilarious highlights in such a dark story.

It's the episode out of all of these season 7 instalments that showcases the brilliance of OG Black Mirror; blending comedy, incredulity and quietly shocking developments in a way that will not only stick with you long after watching, but may also leave you re-considering your own library of paid subscription services.

Bête Noire is also a showcase of what Black Mirror does best from a behind-the-scenes perspective as well, platforming lesser known talent that will surely be at the tips of our tongues in no time after this.

Siena Kelly stars as Maria, a development executive at a chocolate company who seems to be absolutely bossing it in her career. That is until Verity (Rosy McEwen), an old classmate from her school days turns up, instantly setting off alarm bells within Maria but not within anyone else. An eerie chain of events start to unravel, with the episode underlining what it means to be gaslit on a major scale.

It'll undoubtedly bring up memories of secondary school for most viewers, but Bête Noire is gloriously petty and brings up the question of how long you'd actually be able to hold a grudge for, as well as whether a leopard can really change its spots.

Before its release, Hotel Reverie was one of the episodes that had drummed up the most anticipation, not least because of its initial comparisons to season 3's San Junipero.

Starring the impeccable Emma Corrin and Issa Rae, the episode deals with the very real-world advancements of AI in the film industry, while teleporting us back to the heady heights of old Hollywood.

If you've watched the likes of Casablanca, Notorious or Gone With the Wind (to name just a few), you'll be left in awe at the way Black Mirror manages to transport you back into that golden age of cinema, complete with Corrin's transatlantic accent, which perfectly mirrors many of the greats of the time.

Hotel Reverie will get its fair share of comparisons to San Junipero, as they're both sweeping love stories but actually, this new episode may very well break a few more hearts than its predecessor.

Really though, Hotel Reverie and Common People show that leaning on that vulnerable basis of emotion is where Black Mirror truly excels, something that is also felt in Eulogy, an episode that should likely be watched with a tissue at hand.

Paul Giamatti and Patsy Ferran deliver the kind of two-hander episode that you can't quite tear your eyes away from, leading you into what almost feels like a mystery drama. Literally stepping back into memories of the past, Giamatti's Philip is forced to relive one of the most heartbreaking parts of his life, but the episode poses the sentiment of whether, as with any long-held memory, our mind (and really, our innate selfishness) can distort the reality of what actually happened.

Again, technology is at the forefront of this season of Black Mirror, but the real harmony of it comes from awe-inspiring storytelling, its innate sensitivity and some pretty flawless casting.

Peter Capaldi and Lewis Gribben are further examples of this in Plaything, a slightly ridiculous episode that spends a lot of its time in the '90s and includes hark backs to Bandersnatch, complete with appearances from Will Poulter's Colin Ritman and Asim Choudhury's Mohan Thakur.

While I personally was part of the camp of people that didn't get on too well with Bandersnatch when it was released back in 2018, the two returning characters simply just add a little more context to the world of gaming and technology at the time in this Black Mirror multiverse, if you will.

What starts off as a grisly cold case soon becomes clearly linked to a video game that boasts artificial life forms.

It is the silliest episode of the new batch, but if you had a vested interest in Tamagotchis, The Sims or any games of the like, the nostalgic hit of emotions is one that you'll easily be able to attest to – although perhaps not to the heights that Plaything takes them to.

And that brings us onto one of the most anticipated episodes of this season, Black Mirror's first ever sequel episode: USS Callister: Into Infinity.

Did USS Callister need a sequel? Not really. Does Into Infinity set a potentially worrying future precedent for Black Mirror sequels to come? While I initially thought so, I genuinely don't think it does... but I may have to rue the day, eventually.

While I did have some trepidations going into the episode, the feature-length instalment surprisingly doesn't feel drawn out, thanks to its fast-paced nature and truly immersive set design.

It delivers some jaw-dropping turns as the stakes remain ever higher for Nanette (Cristin Milioti) and the crew, with their newfound struggles revolving around the arrival of millions more players and in-game price hikes.

They're in a precarious position, and the real-world Nanette is also struggling in the face of Robert Daly's (Jesse Plemons) death, still not knowing exactly who sent her to his home on that fateful night.

It's a good episode, but with nothing especially new about it, I feel as though many Black Mirror fans will be left wanting after watching. As a Real Housewives fan, did I thoroughly enjoy the crossover that comes with its Atlanta franchise and USS Callister? You bet your bottom dollar I did.

Any good season of Black Mirror gets people talking, reflecting on the show's ruminations about the real world and marvelling at the future of technology that is often mapped out in its episodes. This time round, there's no denying that there will be plenty of deserved chatter, as Brooker really is at his best here with a season that returns back to what makes Black Mirror so great.

A testament to everyone involved, season 7 is home to instant classics aplenty that you'll want to devour in no time at all and will stand the test of time, standing tall against many of Black Mirror's episodic greats from seasons past.

Black Mirror season 7 will stream on Netflix from 10th April 2025. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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