BLACK MIRROR (2011-2025) – Hotel Reverie

San Junipero (2016) is the fourth episode in the third season of Black Mirror. It is one of the few episodes that I can recall that doesn’t highlight the negative aspects of technology, but instead imagines the idea of a digital afterlife. It’s the story of a lesbian couple and *SPOILER* offers an uplifting ending, unlike the majority of Black Mirror episodes; and (quite rightly) it received critical acclaim (two primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special). I feel this is worth noting because Hotel Reverie Season 7, Episode 3 (2025) also explores an out-of-body interracial lesbian relationship, this time between a modern Hollywood actress played by Issa Rae  – Insecure (2016-2021), The Lovebirds (2020) – and an AI generated fictional 1940’s actress played by Emma Corrin – The Crown (2020), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Nosferatu (2024) – but with none of the magic and heat of San Junipero. There is so much they could have done with the premise. Instead of analyzing the movie-making trend of inserting different races and sexualities into old stories, it simply winks at this timely issue. As if to say, yeah, we used to be pretty weird about interracial gay love. But now we’re cool. An AI 1940’s Cairo simply accepts Rae as a white straight male doctor and we’re all supposed to smirk? What about the current and callous trend of a single race swap in current movie remakes?  What about an exploration of the moral quandary of AI repurposing dead actors? But the real problem is much simpler than my reimagining of a worthier ethical dilemma for the brilliant Black Mirror show runners, it’s that the romance is nonexistent. Corrin is doing what’s asked of her here playing a high-brow ol’ timey English thespian, as is Rae, who is tasked with playing a larger version of herself. The problem is Rae is more of a personality than an actor. The charm she wields is never plausibly shown to win the heart of an AI version of a depressed and closeted 40’s film actress. And without a spark, or deft commentary, I was left asking: Why am I watching this? And why is it 77 minutes long?  Of course, not every Black Mirror episode is a winner, and this one is, so far, the dud of the season (see our pick for the season winner).

WATCH OR NOT: NOT

Additional musings: Am I alone in wanting a break from Akwafina? Like Rae, I find her to be more of a personality than an actress.