Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
cathylr
Without giving spoilers, the story in itself is rather simple: it is about a mother worried about how she will manage her daughter´s education all by herself. She therefore becomes overprotective and resorts to technology to follow her everyday activity. The acting is good, the direction is excellent as it really leaves the suspense of knowing whether the daughter actually needs to be kept under protection. The end is a very good lesson to learn for any parent who would want to know a bit too much about their children.
classicsoncall
Perhaps the reason this episode of 'Black Mirror' fails for a lot of viewers is because it's possibly the one that comes closest to examining a technology that could actually exist today. Let's face it, the ubiquitous cell phone with it's ability to take pictures and record what's happening in real time has changed the lives of everyone using it, some for better and some for worse. In the case of 'Arkangel', an implant of some sort provides a masking ability as well, so that unpleasant or troubling images can be blurred to the recipient of the implant. It wasn't really made clear in the story why the Arkangel project was banned, but one suspects it would be for it's invasive impact on the subjects being supervised. A very creepy affair when a someone can dial into a sexual encounter or view illegal drug use about to occur. And as always, unintended consequences can often intrude to derail one's life without any apparent warning. For once, this is a Black Mirror episode that could actually take place.
xliu-01590
First of all, the ending is so predictable.
Secondly, in other episodes, the technology is to be blamed. But in this one, there is nothing wrong with the technology. The kid doing drugs is not a consequence of the technology, but because she hung out with bad people. This would have happened without that piece of technology. The tech was actually good in a way that the mother stopped her child from doing drugs. Sarah would still have done drug and had sex as minor without the technology.
The tragic ending just seems so farfetched and shallow. It totally defies the theme of black mirror.
numis1978
I am a huge fan of Black Mirror, and I had a huge disappointment after watching Arkangel. Promising story as I have watched the trailer, but it doesn't deliver at the end. Soooooooooo BAD ending. This shouldn't be among Black Mirror's list of episodes.
