Topics: Black Mirror, Netflix, Technology, Health, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Twitter, Reddit, Film and TV
Netflix users are leaving the platform in droves after watching the first 'traumatizing' Black Mirror episode.
The hit dystopian sci-fi series, created by British writer Charlie Brooker, has been making us question reality since it first aired in 2011.
We've had a brief two year break since the thriller anthology last threw us into an existential crisis, and it appears its new seventh series that dropped on Netflix on April 10 is causing everyone to spiral once again.
Black Mirror fans know what they're in for with the show as each episode shines an ugly spotlight on the grim reality of our modern technological lives, yet its first episode of the new season, 'Common People,' is apparently hitting even the most seasoned fans too far.
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Dozens have raced to social media to claim they're immediately cancelling their Netflix subscriptions after watching it.
Over on Reddit, viewers said the show made them 'very uncomfortable' and was 'one of the most horrible things' they've ever seen.
So, what actually happens?
Warning: Spoilers ahead for 'Common People'
Well, it touches on topics very close to home: the pervasive threat of artificial intelligence, the ever-increasing cost of healthcare, inescapable advertisements and the way tech companies can monetize everything, even life itself if given the chance.
It follows the story of husband and wife, Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones), whose livelihood hangs in the balanced of a futuristic healthcare company, Rivermind Technologies.
When Amanda slips into a coma and is given the devastating diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor, the company steps in to offer her a second shot at life, offering her a revolutionary procedure that essentially installs some high-tech system in her brain that keeps her alive.
And like anything, it comes with a monthly fee.
Amanda's brain, and therefore her body, has to stay within a certain radius of the vendor's server to keep ticking, and the company continues to move the goalposts of the subscription model that leaves the couple constantly struggling to afford the technology.
Among some of the bleakest moments in the episode sees Mike driven to perform humiliating stunts on live-streams for cash, while Amanda's 'subscription' falls to basic, which sees her blackout from her usual self and turn into a walking talking advertiser.
The ads become so frequent that Mike feels forced to take on more degrading stunts for money to 'upgrade' Amanda's subscription to 'Rivermind Lux'.
"It was the ads bit that had me," one viewer wrote on Reddit. "I couldn't stomach it all in one sitting."
Others said it just hit too close to home, as another wrote: "This episode messed me up completely. I think it feels more creepier considering how close to reality it is. We had ad-tiers in everything. How long will it take to have ad-tier model in medical care?"
"They legit put a subscription on life," a third added. "And then added the ads. It just kept getting weirder and creepier."
Many suffered a visceral reaction after viewing it, from panic attacks to nausea.
"It triggered me with subscription-based services," explained one sickened viewer. "I used to love this show when it seemed outlandish and fake, now it's too realistic."
In a recent interview with Radio Times, Brooker commented on the rise of AI, saying: "There’s not a human on the planet who’s not getting a little frisson of cold fear when they look at what [AI] it’s capable of.”
You have been warned...
