Black Mirror

Starz viewers will get an eyeful of David Slade’s gorgeous direction with the premiere of American Gods, but we won’t have to wait long for the next gig. Hannibal alum Slade is stepping through Netflix’s Black Mirror, adding his name to the roster of directors for Season 4.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw first caught the film world’s attention with her lead role in Amma Asante’s Belle, and now she’s quickly becoming one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood. You might recognize her most from her recent stint in Black Mirror‘s delightful romance episode “San Junipero,” but soon you’ll see her in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time, Bad Robot’s God Particle (which she didn’t know what a Cloverfield movie), and hear her voice in Disney’s new Beauty and the Beast. But before those hit theaters, Mbatha-Raw co-stars in Miss Sloane as a stalwart gun control lobbyist.

Black Mirror had hits and misses in its double-size transition to Netflix for Season 3, but few stood out so much as the ‘80s-tinged, and oddly-optimistic “San Junipero.” Black Mirror isn’t the type for direct sequels, however connected its stories might be, but the episode’s director weighs in on another potential visit to “San Junipero.”

If there’s one constant in whatever Black Mirror shared universe theory you subscribe to, it might be those sleek future contact lenses bound to replace our cell phones and computer screens one day. So it is, that Netflix has taken it on itself to introduce Netflix Vista, for when you really need piping fresh Gilmore Girls delivered directly to your eyeballs.

The third season of Charlie Brooker’s mind-bending dystopian series Black Mirror arrived on Netflix last week. If you’ve binged all six episodes and your mental health is still intact, first of all, congratulations! You must be an emotionally bulletproof person (but maybe go watch something light and comedic to cool down). But most importantly, did you catch all the easter eggs?

The brilliance of Black Mirror is how it feels relatable to our present, yet just far enough into the future. Creator Charlie Brooker described that distance best when he said the dark satire is about “the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time if we’re clumsy.” There’s an emphasis is on the “we” in Black Mirror, a show that isn’t about the evils of technology, but the ways it can fuel the vile and detestable parts of human behavior to harrowing degrees.

Netflix’s Black Mirror Season 3 hasn’t even had a chance to creep the bejeezus out of you just yet, and already Season 4 is upping its pedigree. The next round of dark technology parables has its first director in Jodie Foster, helming one of six new episodes with a first star already picked out.

In just over a week, we’ll be taking another trip through the Black Mirror, engaging Netflix in the dark technology parable for Season 3. We’ll understand if you need an early fix (maybe they’ll make a Black Mirror about it!), so check out new previews of two Season 3 episodes, including Bryce Dallas Howard’s “Nosedive.”

There’s no preparing yourself for new Black Mirror, exactly – it’s a place you need to visit for yourself. In fact, you may even do it six full times next Friday, as the first Season 3 trailer takes us through six different – and equally terrifying realities.

Adios summer, the fall festival season has begun! On the heels of the Venice and Telluride film festivals, the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival kicks off this week with a handful of films we can’t wait to see. The fall festivals are a time when we can finally put the ugly remnants of summer movie season behind us (especially this year), and get a look at the movies that may redeem the year in cinema.