After a year of waiting for more Black Mirror, creator Charlie Brooker heard our cry and gave us the best Christmas gift of all – a feature-length interactive episode.
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But despite the trailer featuring Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the ‘choose your own adventure’ episode is not letting anyone feel relaxed.
Black Mirror fans have naturally flocked to Twitter to report on just how stressful it is to basically direct your own episode of Black Mirror, struggling with the variety of choices which often lead to a series of unfortunate endings for the characters.
And it seemed even the most simple choices, such as which cereal you chose to eat, lead to meltdowns among viewers.
THEY MADE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO CEREAL VARIANTS I DON'T EVEN EAT THOSE BAKET BA KASI HINDI HONEY STARS AND KOKO CRUNCH I AM SO STRESSED THAT MY CHOICE OF CEREAL WILL AFFECT THE WHOLE FILM #Bandersnatch pic.twitter.com/H83QVhJG2Y
— Kamille Abanilla (@camillexdiaz) December 28, 2018
✣ I’m stressed. I’m scared that having Stefan pick Frosties in #Bandersnatch hugely effected my endings— pic.twitter.com/YDlc6CldQN
— ᴍɪᴅᴏʀɪʏᴀ ɪᴢᴜᴋᴜ (@QuirkyQuirkless) December 28, 2018
Whew chile my stress level when I had to chose between frosties and sugar puffs #BlackMirror #Bandersnatch pic.twitter.com/Om4U4FwsLO
— 🅼 (@LoneIyLisa) December 28, 2018
The time limit on decisions caused blood pressure levels to rise:
I don't know about yall, but I'm now terrified of what happens if I don't make my choice on time. #blackmirror #bandersnatch #netflix
— Ta'Vi (@TaviTalksTrash) December 28, 2018
And for some the sprawling web of plot was just too much.
Me, trying to comprehend #Bandersnatch as Stefan goes insane with my decisions pic.twitter.com/xbqmseBI4Y
— NIELS NABLE (@nielsnable) December 28, 2018
Me tryna see into the possible 2,457,121 futures to see how picking Sugar Puffs might kill the main character #Bandersnatch pic.twitter.com/nrzMfgSlCT
— Dusty Snowfishy (@Shadowfishy) December 28, 2018
There were viewers relieved they had to contend with such stress levels while being able to down mulled wine…
#Bandersnatch #WTF @blackmirror Bloody brilliant but my word I’m stressed. But it’s okay because it’s that nothingness period between Christmas and New Year where you can start drinking at 11am pic.twitter.com/tolNTkPxA6
— Gem (@gemma_byrne) December 28, 2018
While others turned to more light-hearted material:
The stress of having to make (really bad) decisions for Stefan is making me twitchy. I had to pause and come and watch cartoons for a bit to chill… #bandersnatch #BlackMirrorBandersnatch #netflix
— Sara (@Thegeekycrafter) December 28, 2018
But for many the stress was too much as they repeatedly messed up protagonist Stefan’s life.
I'm going to blame my bad desicions to me being tired bc its 5am so I won't feel bad about ruining Stefan's life #Bandersnatch pic.twitter.com/D6DjMNA2Zh
— abigail (@cvrdanjude) December 28, 2018
And by and large they resorted to what they know best: shouty tweets…
#Bandersnatch HAD ME STRESSED CONFUSED AND SAD ALL AT ONCE
— Slay J (@AjDufff) December 28, 2018
when will this end aksldjsklcme im so stressed na ha #Bandersnatch
— Marella Reyes (@marellarey_) December 28, 2018
Set in 1984, Bandersnatch tells the tale of a hopeful computer programmer who wants to adapt a fantasy novel into a video game – and puts viewers in control of picking the outcome of the story.
The feature-length special takes viewers on average 90 minutes to watch, but this time can be reduced to a speedy 40 minutes if you avoid having any do-overs.
Speaking about the ambitious project to Wired, Brooker explained, “It’s a bit like making a giant patchwork quilt. It’s the only thing I’ve ever worked on where the story treatment crashed.”
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is streaming on Netflix now
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