Stefan is a gamer/creator living in the ’80s who is working on a version of the game Bandersnatch he chose to create based merely on the illusion of choice – how meta. Technically speaking, Bandersnatch is exactly the choose-your-adventure videogame that Stefan is developing in the plot. More playfully though, Stefan discusses the possibility that he is being controlled with his therapist, where one option for the viewer is to choose to have this unknown entity be a streaming service provider from the future named Netflix, which is the film’s most playfully entertaining moment/choice. All of this puts us at the center of the pursued self-awareness director David Slade is trying to achieve; that we are indeed controlling this poor, distraught Stefan’s fate.
The point of the “Bandersnatch” gimmick is to let us control Stefan, let us be the inner demons that lead to his demise or his rescue, whichever avenue you decide to choose, really, until it actually chooses the true outcome for you. However, cinema has always been a driving machine for empathy, and despite Bandersnatch’s intention to drive up the empathy for Stefan, we just don’t really feel it, nor do we feel the paranoia that has invaded this poor and disoriented teenager’s life. This results in making the film feel more like a video game rather than give us any kind of cinematic absorption.
This is all very disappointing given the fact that if a cleaner execution of the content had been delivered to us then maybe, just maybe, this gimmick could have worked. I watched most of the alternate choices for each opportunity given, and I have an idea of what the filmmakers were trying to say, but it all felt rather dull and gimmicky, akin to just scrolling on your phone looking for another news headline to fit your fancy.
Contribute
Hire me
Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy
