Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

In Britain in July 1984, a young programmer named Stefan Butler is adapting a “choose your own adventure” book owned by his late mother, Bandersnatch by Jerome F. Davies, into a revolutionary adventure game. Stefan pitches it to the video game company Tuckersoft, which is run by Mohan Thakur and employs the famous game creator Colin Ritman. Stefan is given the choice of accepting or rejecting help from the company in developing the game. If Stefan accepts, Colin says he chose the “wrong path”. The game is released months later and critically panned as “designed by committee”. Stefan considers trying again, and the film returns to the day of the offer, and the viewer is given the same choice.

Rejecting the offer, Stefan begins to work on the game on his own from his bedroom, given a September deadline. As the game becomes more complex, Stefan becomes stressed and is hostile to his father Peter. He visits Dr. R. Haynes’ clinic for therapy. The viewer may have Stefan explain to Dr. Haynes about his mother’s death: when he was five, Peter had confiscated his stuffed rabbit toy. His mother was delayed by Stefan’s refusal to leave without the rabbit and the train she took derailed, killing her. Stefan feels responsible for her death. Dr. Haynes prescribes Stefan medicine, which the viewer can choose to have Stefan take or flush down the toilet.