FILM REVIEW - Black Mirror, Season 4, Episode 2 - Arkangel

Arkangel - Black Mirror, Season 4, Episode 2
Rating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

This episode, brought by Jodie Foster, was not that horrible as some critics say. However, it is not worth watching twice. As an amateur filmmaker, I loved some aspects of this episode; however, there were some disappointments.

The episode started with a good concept, a debatable topic. After Marie lost her "one and only" daughter, Sara, in the playground, she became afraid of future risks and decided to install a new chip called Arkangel inside Sara's brain. It could track her location by GPS, monitor her health conditions, and observe and filter her visual sight. However, this "angel" that was supposed to save and help, in reverse, ruined Sara's life and her relationship with her mother.

It is the mother who seems to be the one who caused all the problems by misusing this technology. The director did well of expressing this character, or maybe too well. Because of her strong overprotective character, one might overlook Sara's character and the technology itself. It made the mother seem like the ultimate "supervillain", and the viewers would justify Sara's action such as the last scene where Sara beats her mother and leaves her home. Is Marie really the worst character in this video? Was it all her fault?

The idea they brought up was interesting; however, the small details that are crucial to making a "good story" were missing. The story was losing some dynamic plot change. It had a tense atmosphere from the beginning to the end, which made the climax dull. It would have been better if Arkangel was shown as a perfect technology that seemed to have no harm, creating a peaceful atmosphere in the beginning to emphasize the tension and the climax.

In addition, the lack of explanation and details of Arkangel made the story so predictable, not to mention the irritating unrealistic tech. I was able to predict the whole story from the moment the parental tablet was introduced to Marie. When the salesmen said the implant wasn't removable, but one can remove the parental device, I knew that she was going to look at it one day, and have trouble.

Despite the monotonous story plot, the overall film quality was excellent! I really enjoyed the 52 minutes watching the camera work, the production, and the music that created the tense atmosphere. The unsaturated, sharp tone during intense moments and the cool tone at the lab were very well expressed. Arkangel reminded me of the old computer program that was installed on the computer by my parents. They were able to monitor and control the desktop from their phones. This episode clearly shows that overprotective, helicopter parenting, might lead to a worse ending. The technology shown in this episode exists nowadays in the form of wearable devices (except for the sight monitoring). If this tech is available in a much safer, better way, will you have one for your children?

Who would plant an irremovable chip inside one's brain instead of teaching one not to wander off again?