NETFLIX: THE VIDEO GAME

Video games are the single most profitable sector of the entertainment industry, even outweighing the film industry by a sizable margin, and Netflix knows it.

While that’s probably got nothing to do with why Netflix decided to green light “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,” the streaming service’s latest original hit is a literal video game.

A choose-your-own-adventure movie, to be precise.

The concept itself is nothing new and dates back to the gimmick era of 1950s and ’60s cinema, with films such as “Mr. Sardonicus,” and is still a prominent niche today, especially in the FMV (Full-Motion Video) video game genre. If you’ve ever played a Telltale “The Walking Dead” game or anything from Quantic Dream, then you’re already used to this particular way of telling a story.

Directed by David Slade, the story of Bandersnatch revolves around a young 20-something, Stefan Butler, played by Fionn Whitehead, who is an aspiring ’80s video game coder.

After presenting his work-in-progress title, “Bandersnatch,” to a game development company, Butler is presented with the opportunity to work with the firm and even given the chance to work with his idol, Colin Ritman, played by Will Poulter, who is a fellow coder.

The two have a series of very strange interactions and Stefan starts feeling that things aren’t quite right when the exact same events continue to happen to him.

He begins to notice his ever-growing lack of free will as he becomes obsessed with finishing his game, which is fittingly based on a choose-your-own-adventure novel of the same name, and he eventually spirals out of control.

But what will his fate be?

Obviously that’s up to each of you viewers to decide, but rest assured, whatever decisions you make throughout the course of the movie, there are multiple opportunities to go back and try another path, so your experience will be different every time.

Overall, the experience is fairly seamless and presents a fun change in format that presents some interesting possibilities for the future of Netflix original content.

While Bandersnatch isn’t overflowing with decisions, there are more than enough paths to take and choices to make that will affect the course of the story in either major or minor ways.

Aside from the film’s main gimmick, the story, acting, and cinematography are all on par with the other three seasons of the show, which is to say, pretty stellar. The ’80s, neon, hyper-color beautifully accentuates the superb set design and sets a perfect tone for Stefan’s specific brand of 8-bit madness.

Speaking of tone, this is probably one of the most accessible pieces of Black Mirror content as the film keeps its R-rated, bleak “Twilight Zone” tendencies, but still allows for a ton of fun, and even for comical moments.

While not the best out of the series, the ideas and concepts presented in the 90 minutes you’ll spend toying with the characters of Bandersnatch is well worth the watch… or play.

Bandersnatch gets a solid 4/5.