Have you not finished all of* Black Mirror* yet? Please hurry up. We need someone to chat to about it. And by ‘chat’, we mean irrationally debate over copious amounts of hard liquor until the early hours of the morning.
Fingers crossed you’ve got past episode two – Playtest. It’s about an American bro who’s travelling round Europe (like they do during the summer, you’ve probably come across them during an otherwise civilised holiday in Budapest) when he runs into a spot of financial trouble.
Luckily, he’s hooked up with this girl in London, a tech writer who alerts him to a cash-in-hand job testing immersive games at one of the world’s biggest and most mysterious gaming companies.
Thinking it’ll be fun, he takes the job.
Big mistake.
If you’ve seen it, you’ll know that oh my gosh what happens next is very disturbing and, in fact, in our interview with Charlie Brooker, even he admitted that he didn’t realise how close to being a reality the technology he’s written about has become. He tried the PlayStation VR headset after he’d written the episode you see, and ended up tied to a chair in some 'Resident Evil' style set up. It sounded terrifying.
Hannah John-Kamen plays Sonja in Playtest, that's the tech writer that Cooper (the bro) hooks up with (FYI if you’re wondering where you’ve seen Cooper before, actor Wyatt Russell also plays Channing Tatum’s frat boy bro in _22 Jump Stree_t). She also appeared in Fifteen Million Merits, the episode way back in series one of Black Mirror that was about a fucked-up* X Factor* style show, is slated to appear in the next season and, most importantly, played the lead role in the short-lived Spice Girls musical Viva Forever! Which is great.
‘It’s a typical wonderful Charlie Brooker anthology,’ She says about Playtest when we speak to her. ‘There’s amazing twists and turns.’
For Hannah, it was the perfect episode to appear in. ‘I am such a gaming geek myself.’ She says. ‘I grew up on Nintendo 64, PlayStation, X Boxes and all that.’ In fact, she’s noticed a theme with the roles she’s playing, ‘A lot of them at the moment are fantasy-based and escaping reality, about a whole life in the future, living in a brutal world.’
Those of you that have watched the episode know there’s one erm, particularly disturbing scene involving Hannah. If you have seen it, you’ll know it’s the kind of scene that your brain likes to recall just as you close your eyes, hoping to drift off for a peaceful sleep, thus shattering any hope of that. ‘I did have a double for that,’ Admits Hannah. ‘I did everything right up until the point where it gets really "real". It’s a real Hellraiser moment. I saw Hellraiser on TV when I was younger and it’s just like that. It’s terrifying. It makes you feel so uneasy!’
Charlie Brooker was very present when it came to being a director. Something which Hannah appreciated. She says him being around meant more freedom to play around with different ‘weird’ approaches to the situation. ‘It was a safe zone to do that.’ She says. ‘Which is exactly what you want.’
Watching the series has given viewers food for thought about where we're headed with technology in the future. But does actually being in the series add to that apprehension? Hannah reckons so, recalling, half in jest, the now infamous prime minister pig shagging episode from season one. ‘Charlie can predict the future!’ She jokes.
On a more serious note though, she’s aware that Black Mirror helps bring millennial concerns to those currently too old (sorry) to properly comprehend them. ‘It brings to a different generation who aren’t aware of the way we’re going.’ She says, noting the irony that us as millennials are already out of date with how the generations younger than us interact with technology too. ‘Oh my gosh I’ve got nieces on nephews on iPads… that’s not what I grew up with. Changes happen so quickly.’
For her though, the main concern is the accessibility social media gives us. ‘Things like Twitter are fantastic forums to relay your political view and your opinion but... look what’s recently happened with Kim Kardashian. How much do you share?’ She asks. ‘How far do you go? If you give away too much you become vulnerable.'
Watch Black Mirror on Netflix now.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker: 'I Feel Sorry For Millennials. You Get A Bad Rep!’
Black Mirrors's San Junipero: From Filming Locations To The Song, Here's Everything You Need To Know
China Are Actually Trying To Implement A System Like Epsiode One Of Black Mirror
Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.