With two fresh Emmy Awards, Annabel Jones tells us more about the Black Mirror season 4 episodes, coming to Netflix this year.
Just last month, episode 4 from Black Mirror season 3 (San Junipero) won two Emmy Awards – Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special. With Black Mirror season 4 around the corner, produce Annabel Jones revealed the plots of all 6 episode to the Independent.
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Originally airing on UK Channel 4 before moving on to Netflix, Black Mirror is a British anthology series that centers around dark and satirical themes that examines unanticipated effects of new technology on modern society. If you ever watched the Twilight Zone back in the day, this is a darker, realer, modern version of that.
While we’ve known the names of each of coming 6 episodes for a while now, Jones gave us a little insights to the general stories of each of them.
Episode one: Crocodile
‘Crocodile’ is a beautiful, more personal study. It’s set in Iceland which introduced a totally new palette – one of the privileges of doing Black Mirror is the opportunity to create different worlds and moods and tones. It’s a film set in the near future where your memories are no longer private so they can be dredged – sometimes in helpful ways. It’s very different to [season one episode] ‘The Entire History of You’ in that they’re not accurate – they’re memories rather than recordings. We follow Andrea Riseborough, a woman trying to solve a dilemma…
Episode two: ArkAngel
So this one’s like an indie movie set in blue-collar America even though we filmed it in Canada. It follows a mother who has a young daughter and faces that perennial question of how do you look after a child in an increasingly technical world; it taps into helicopter parenting… I always hope that whatever we tackle, it’s never on the nose and just more in the background but this episode asks how do you be a responsible mother in a world in which you can be all-powerful and omnipresent? How do you exercise responsibility? How do you ensure you give your child independence in a world in which you can have a lot of control? Charlie’s very technical – I’m a little bit technical – but none of these stories really ever have technology screaming down the lens. ‘ArkAngel’ is a very human story. It was a really harmonious production and watching [director] Jodie Foster with the young actors was just a joy to behold.
Episode three: Hang the DJ
‘Hang the DJ’ doesn’t look contemporary but some of the observations and scenes that it tackles are… pertinent to the contemporary dating scene. It involves a lot of comedic moments. There’s quite a lot of sex in it – not a huge amount, but come on, who’s complaining? It’s funny, it feels real, and has that ‘Nosedive’ feel – a very alternative reality visual to it. ‘You don’t know where you are or what world it is, but very quickly that becomes background – you’re just there with the characters, you’re seeing what they’re experiencing. I think there is a lot of comedic wry observations in the protagonist’s story that people will enjoy. It’s beautifully acted by Georgina Campbell and Joe Wright. People will enjoy this one with a little smile.
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Episode four: USS Callister
‘USS Callister’ is a space opera. The challenges of trying to create that world, and obviously getting to play with the genre, opened a whole new opportunity. But I think we’ve put a clever spin on it. It’s a romp – it’s big and ambitious with lots of CG. It’s an absolute visual feast and really high octane. There are obviously more unsettling, poignant and slightly more melancholic moments, but at the same time, it is a romp. It’s such a treat for a filmmaker to be making a film this epic.
Episode five: Metalhead
This film is in black and white which is a new thing for Black Mirror but it feels the creative decision was earned by the world we’re portraying.
Episode six: Black Museum
‘Black Museum’ is absolute popcorn. It’s three stories in one – a portmanteau type thing – but absolutely full of ideas that whip along and before you know it you’re at the end of a 90-minute film and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, can you please stop? This is horrendous – stop throwing me these things!” It’s just unrelenting. It was the last we did in terms of shooting.
While no exact premier date has been announced for Black Mirror season 4, Jones said “later in the year”, but lets hope for more sooner than later.
