Black Mirror episode Hotel Reverie is a romantic Hollywood tale
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Black Mirror Hotel Reverie
The eagerly awaited seventh season of Black Mirror has landed with six fresh episodes ready to devour.
Among the new thrilling instalments is Hotel Reverie, a nostalgic nod to the monochrome era of cinema, with tributes to classics like Brief Encounter and Casablanca, reports the Mirror US.
The episode packs a punch with a star-studded lineup featuring Issa Rae from Insecure, Dame Harriet Walter renowned for Succession and Killing Eve, Awkwafina of Crazy Rich Asians fame, and Emma Corrin from The Crown.
Hotel Reverie weaves a beautifully complex, romantic narrative and positions itself as the emotional heir to the much-loved San Junipero – let’s dive into how it all wraps up.
The brains behind Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, spilled the beans to Netflix’s Tudum about the bittersweet finale of Hotel Reverie: “I knew exactly what the ending should be.
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“That [Dorothy and Brandy] have this sort of long-distance romance, it felt bittersweet.”
Digging into Black Mirror’s Hotel Reverie
In the episode, we find a financially ailing film studio, yearning for revival by revisiting its classic films with cutting-edge AI technology.
At the helm of Keyworth Pictures is Judith Keyworth (Walter), who ropes in Tinseltown heavyweight Brandy Friday (Rae) for a pioneering gender-swapped portrayal in the timeless black-and-white flick Hotel Reverie.
Taking on Dr Alex Palmer, Brandy adds a contemporary twist to Hotel Reverie, starring opposite her screen idol Dorothy Chambers (Corrin) as the charming Clara.
Brandy takes a virtual dive into the 1940s movie scene using a program called Redream, which is triggered by attaching a disc to her temple.
While immersed in the film, Brandy begins to discover that her on-screen love interest isn’t just a “computer lady” but a sentient being equipped with her own thoughts and feelings.
Yet Brandy must ensure that the story proceeds as scripted, hitting specific milestones so that the film concludes as originally intended.
There’s no time to dawdle; they have a lavatory advert slated to film in their current studio space immediately after their session.
Things take a turn for the bizarre when an accidental coffee spillage on a computer ends up trapping Brandy inside the cinematic world with Clara for several long months.
During this surreal imprisonment, Clara journeys to the edge of the film’s reality and steps into the void, gaining knowledge about the actual Dorothy and attaining heightened consciousness.
Sparks fly between them, and what began as programming blossoms into romance, leaving them entwined in love amidst ambiguous prospects.
Tragically, once the computer malfunction is resolved, Dorothy as Clara undergoes a reset, erasing her memories of her time spent with Brandy.
Heartache ensues as Brandy delivers the closing lines of the movie, triggering her exit from the Redream program.
Although the reimagining of Hotel Reverie is a hit, Brandy can’t shake her yearning for Dorothy, who tragically died by suicide years before after a tumultuous existence.
The narrative unfolds to reveal that Dorothy was a lesbian, living in an era when societal constraints prevented her from pursuing a life openly with another woman.
In the concluding scene, Brandy utilises Redream to converse with Dorothy over the phone, rekindling her relationship with her long-lost love.
Brooker, speaking about the final scene, left fans in suspense, stating: “It’s an open question as to what will happen next, because we’ve shown that there’s the ability to go in there, and who’s to say that they’ve been limited to that?”
Black Mirror season 7 is streaming on Netflix now
