When Black Mirror premiered on British television back in 2010, dystopia was more conceptual than actual, and the shows fans enjoyed the mind-expanding what-if scenarios presented each season’s handful of stand-alone episodes that posited how technology (and our reliance upon it) could work against us.

By the time the show was brought to America via Netflix in 2016, jokesters quipped that it was starting to feel a little too much like real life.

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker didn’t let the fact that reality was stealing his ideas stop him from producing more episodes about regular human beings, some deserving and some not, having their lives ruined in spectacular and depressing new ways.

Black Mirror season 7, released by Netflix on Thursday, consists of six new episodes that do just that. But in 2025, dystopian nightmares can no longer be considered escapist fare when there are new real-life horror stories invading our consciousnesses every single day.

This review isn’t to debate whether you should or should not watch the new season; that’s a choice you (and possibly your therapist) must make for yourself. But if you do decide to watch, here’s a slightly spoilery look at what you and your (possibly) fragile mental state will encounter, from the least heart-breaking to the most emotionally fraught.

“HOTEL REVERIE”

This is one of the best episodes in a very good season, very much like Season 3’s “San Junipero” in that it offers a little bit of hope at the end, allowing the story’s sad ending to sting a little less. In this one, Issa Rae plays celebrated actress Brandy Friday, who is yearning for roles out of her usual wheelhouse of “tragic victim” and “hero’s girlfriend.” She’s offered a part in a remake of a classic movie called Hotel Reverie, but when she turns up on set she sees there is a catch: This is not a remake as such; a new AI tech called Redream will put her consciousness in the original movie, where she will take over as the lead character. Brandy reclines as Kimmy (Awkwafina) attaches an electronic sensor nubbin to her temple, allowing her to enter the world of the film, where she is to act out the entire movie in real time, to be extracted once she utters the final line.

Naturally things go wrong with the tech, but inside the film, everything is going right for Brandy and the AI version of long-dead actress Dorothy Chambers (Emma Corrin), everything is going right…until it isn’t. Set in the milieu of the black and white movie it is recreating, “Hotel Reverie” is lushly romantic, achingly sad, and beautifully rendered. This is a good one to start with.

“USS CALLISTER: INTO INFINITY”

A direct sequel to “USS Callister” from season 4, the cast reassembles for the continued adventures in virtual space and at the tech firm behind the popular video game Infinity, where the survivors aboard the Callister have been hiding, scavenging to survive. Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) exists in both worlds, as the Captain of the Callister and as the only one who can save the crew in the real world.

Though some bad, bad stuff happens in “Into Infinity”, the tone moves from bleak to hopeful, even whimsical by the end, and though it is the longest of all the season 7 episodes, it plays like a very engaging movie you should enjoy.

“BÊTE NOIRE”

“Bête Noire” is another episode that has a disturbing premise (and execution) that ends up a bit more hopeful than it should, and if it weren’t for the sheer and savage mayhem that exists in the story, it would rank as more hopeful than “USS Callister: Into Infinity.”

Maria (Siena Kelly) is a food scientist for Ditta food company, where she is unveiling a new miso-flavored candy bar. As she watches test subjects from behind two-way glass, she recognizes one of them as Verity (Rosy McEwen), an old classmate of hers that she hasn’t seen in 10 years – a classmate that was the subject of a horrific bullying campaign started by Maria’s friends. Verity finagles a job at Ditta, and that’s when Maria’s world falls apart Verity is somehow able to bend reality – not just for Maria but for the entire world – gaslighting Maria and driving her to do something truly desperate, and to discover Verity’s incredible secret.

“Bête Noire” could trigger anyone who has been the subject of the emotional and mental abuse, as Verity’s campaign is truly terrifying. But somehow, Maria gets a (sort of) happy ending out of the mess she finds herself in.

“PLAYTHING”

Doctor Who‘s Peter Capaldi stars as the older version of Cam, a videogame journalist who gets nabbed trying to steal soda from a convenience store. The police find out he’s wanted for murder though, and bring him to the station where he is asked the name of the victim, who was found in a suitcase, carved up and with Cam’s DNA all over him.

Cam’s story takes us back to his younger days, where he’s played by Lewis Gribben, and how he met Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), the videogame genius we last saw in the choose-your-own-adventure episode “Bandersnatch.” Colin gives Cam a look at his new game Thronglets, which features little digital creatures that players interact with. When Colin’s away, Cam swipes a disc with the source code and takes it home to play.

Cam’s friend Lump comes by to supply him with some LSD, and while tripping, Cam finds he is able to communicate with the Throng, who direct him to make a bigger and more advanced digital environment for them to thrive in. Naturally, something threatens the Throng, leading to catastrophic consequences.

But as bad as Cam’s backstory is, his ultimate plan for the future is far more sinister, and denies us any hope for a happy ending.

“EULOGY”

A more conventional episode, “Eulogy” nonetheless delivers an emotional wallop of grief, anger and regret in the tale of Phillip (Paul Giamatti), who receives a call that his former girlfriend Carol has passed away. A company called Eulogy offers him a chance to upload his memories of her to a collective digital cloud that will be played for everyone at her funeral.

Initially hesitant to revisit the relationship whose end devastated Phillip, he then agrees to explore his memories of her for the project. Equipped with one of those nubbins, the Eulogy technology allows him to step inside his photographs to jog his memories of Carol. But Phillip has blacked or scratched out Carol’s face in every photograph he still has of her, and finds himself unable to remember her face.

The Eulogy digital assistant guides him through the meager remains of his memories until he finally realizes what he never knew about Carol, and himself.

Paul Giamatti does an incredible job here, and “Eulogy” will strike a chord with anyone who grieves those ‘what might have been’ moments from the past.

“COMMON PEOPLE”

Damn. This one hurts. Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones play Mike and Amanda, a happily-married but perpetually broke couple who find themselves in the ultimate no-win situation: Amanda has an inoperable brain tumor, but Gaynor (Tracee Ellis Ross), a representative of a company called Rivermind, offers them a lifeline. They have a technology that will save Amanda, but only if Mike agrees to subscribe to their service, which is $300 a month. Mike barely hesitates before agreeing to an expense he knows it will be difficult to pay, just to save his wife.

What follows are plot twists that condemn not only the United States’ often inaccessible health care system, but also the pricing structures of streaming services like, well, Netflix. And the story heaps tragedy upon tragedy onto Amanda and Mike, until there comes an inevitable ending that is heart-breaking. Proceed with caution when you start this one…I watched it not knowing what to expect, and I definitely don’t recommend you go in with no warnings.