Trending

I have been influenced over the last few days by Ally and Davie to watch two “trending” films on Netflix. By trending, I mean that they are currently being widely discussed on news websites and social media. 
Bandersnatch is part of the dark sci fi Black Mirror series but it has been designed to be interactive. It’s really fascinating because the viewer makes choices which affect the multiple possible endings. At one point when we got the chance to go back and change our choice, we noticed some differences in the behaviour of the characters, as if they had learned from the previous storyline - so it’s quite complex. The main character in the film is writing an interactive computer game in the 1980s and his stress leads him to doubt whether he is in control of his life, which of course ties in with the viewer making decisions for him. It’s full of “easter eggs” which the boys tell me are inside jokes and hidden messages. It’s all very cleverly done and entertaining - and it must be quite cutting edge because it has impressed the very critical Ally and Davie, who have been experimenting with the different routes and choices.
Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic film which involves a woman (played by Sandra Bullock) and two children trying to escape from monsters by travelling blind-folded - because seeing the monsters will drive them to insanity and suicide. It is in fact pretty run of the mill, drawing from many sources from Medusa in Greek mythology onwards. However it seems to have achieved a certain notoriety in America because there is a craze among some young people of trying to do various activities blindfolded; in fact Netflix have had to issue a warning to these bright sparks not to copy the characters. Despite this a teenager went driving in Utah earlier this week with her beanie hat pulled down over her eyes in imitation of a scene in the film. Needless to say she soon crashed into another car. Luckily nobody was hurt but the local police chief commented that he had never thought that he would have to warn the public not to drive while blindfolded!