Line #173 Film/BlackMirrorBandersnatch


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2	%%Handling Spoilers: Both official word of god and popular opinion determine that Bandersnatch is a film separate to the series; therefore this is NOT a Recap page and spoiler tagging SHOULD be used.
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4	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Recap/BlackMirror'''''': Bandersnatch'''-]]]]]
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6	%%Image Pickin': This image has not been voted on, but is covered by an earlier decision to use official posters for Black Mirror where possible, for quality and sourcing. Do not remove or replace image without starting an Image Pickin' thread first.
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8	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d28766d8_98bc_4668_86be_73f0db18f002.jpeg]]
9	->'''Stefan:''' Now they've only got the illusion of free will, but really, I decide the ending.\
10	'''Haynes:''' And is it a happy ending?\
11	'''Stefan:''' I think so.
12
13	The first official ''Series/BlackMirror'' film. [[note]]"White Christmas" was a special that ran to 73 minutes, and "Hated in the Nation" was a regular episode even though it's feature length.[[/note]]
14
15	It's 1984. A young programmer named Stefan Butler (Creator/FionnWhitehead) attempts to make the fantasy {{Gamebook\|s}} ''Bandersnatch'', written by the infamous Jerome F. Davies (Jeff Minter), into a computer game. Soon, reality and the virtual world become mixed and start to create confusion as Stefan descends into madness. The film is interactive -- viewers select Stefan's actions through timed choices on the Netflix interface, and MultipleEndings can be achieved based on these decisions.
16
17	Starring Creator/FionnWhitehead, Alice Lowe, and Creator/WillPoulter. Directed by David Slade.
18
19	The film was released on Creator/{{Netflix}} on December 28, 2018. The trailer, released only the day before the film, can be found [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=XM0xWpBYlNM here]].
20	----
21	!!''Tropes have no control'':
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23	%%Because Charlie Brooker is an absolute madman, feel free to add tropes that are specified as for Literature, Film, TV, and Video Games, since Bandersnatch's bizarre nature can feasibly contain them all (and does).
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25	%% For tropes featured in the tie-in game, go to VideoGame/BlackMirrorNohzdyve.
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27	* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Not only can you rewatch the whole film, before you reach the credits it lets you choose other pathways from all your decisions. There's a lot. Netflix's tracker bar will show you how far into the entire footage you are -- if you finish the film in a MinimalistRun, it'll look less than a quarter of the way through, ''because it is''.
28	* TheEighties: Set in 1984, complete with characters wearing huge glasses, video games with 8-bit graphics, and an electronic soundtrack.
29	* AliceAllusion: ''Bandersnatch'' makes numerous references to ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'':
30	** The title itself is named after a creature from the poem "Jabberwocky," featured in ''Through the Looking Glass, And What Alice Found There.''
31	*** Although creatures called Bandersnatches also appeared in the Larry Niven novel ''World of Ptavvs'' - in which they were the only creatures immune to the mind control exercised by the rules of the galaxy.
32	** Colin Ritman evokes the White Rabbit. In one particular scenario, the viewer is given the option to have Stefan "Follow Colin." Immediately after that choice is made Colin tells Stefan that he is "in the hole," referencing the rabbit hole Alice falls down into Wonderland, they then take drugs and have a crazy Wonderland sequence. Visually, Colin's platinum blond hair looks almost white in some shots.
33	** In one story path Stefan steps through a mirror, similar to how Alice does in ''Through the Looking Glass.''
34	** Stefan's rabbit started this whole mess.
35	* AllJustADream: The discoveries made by Stefan could be dreams or delusions, or a scary truth. He's right about at least one thing...
36	* AllMythsAreTrue: If the [[spoiler:dimension-hopping]] is real, then all potential explanations as to what's plaguing Stefan are valid (haunted story, government conspiracy, being a fictional character, etc.), but tragically, Stefan winds up getting confused as to which universe he's in.
37	* AlternateTimeline: [[MindScrew Possibly]] the reason for the multiple paths. Colin is very gung-ho about life and death; his reasoning being that if he dies in this one, he's probably alive in another one.
38	* AnachronismStew: How is the hospital named for St. Juniper when he wasn't canonized until 2015?
39	* AndStarring: "and Will Poulter".
40	* ArcNumber: We catch up with Stefan every 17 days while he's making the game. Among other things, seventeen has been determined as the least random number, suggesting that things really aren’t your own choice.
41	* ArcSymbol: The lambda (λ) symbol from "White Bear" makes a reappearance, this time used in a different context. In this case, the symbol represents branching alternate realities created by differing choices.
42	** It appears throughout the film, like in blood on the walls of Jerome F. Davies' room, and on the wall of Stefan's house where it's formed by the shape of the windows, [[spoiler:[[BreadEggsBreadedEggs in blood on the wall of Stefan's house]]]], and later appears [[FreezeFrameBonus very briefly]] on [[spoiler: Pearl's computer screen]] in the DistantFinale ending.
43	** On the inside of Stefan's house, when he [[spoiler:goes to get the rabbit]], the windows visible form half the symbol, showing only one path.
44	* ArcWords: "Pac". Colin claims the "PAC" in ''VideoGame/PacMan'' is an acronym for "Program and Control", which later ties into [[TrumanShowPlot a later storyline]] where [[spoiler:Stefan uncovers evidence that he is a participant in a "Program and Control Study" (P.A.C.S.)]]. This reflects the film's themes of control and free will.
45	* ArtisticStimulation: In one path, Colin and Stefan use LSD to get around a creative block.
46	* AspectRatioSwitch: From the second time the viewer reproduces the movie and so on, there will be a section which recaps the events up to the point where the viewer stopped. This section will be in a 4:3 format until the last scene they watched, when the screen format will slowly change to the previous screen format of 1.78:1 (or 2.20:1 if it's being watched in UHD). This change helps the viewer to regain immersion in the story as it resembles them regaining control over the movie.
47	** The 4:3 format is also the one from Stefan's childhood flashbacks.
48	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Tragically, between Stefan and his father. It can be that at first Stefan only describes how much he hates his father and suggests that it's reciprocal because of his mother's death. It may be one of the main impetuses for [[spoiler:killing his father (which is difficult to avoid no matter what path you choose)]]. However, if Stefan ever chooses to be honest about his mental collapse, most of the time his father is obviously overwhelmed with worry and comforts him several times. Of course, it doesn't appear in every version of the film, with his father in some being downright manipulative of his mental state.
49	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Invoked in the viewer; think it's frustrating that you're only given the option "No" when [[spoiler:your mother asks in flashback if you're coming with her on the train?]] One path does give you the option to choose, and given your foreknowledge of the consequences it's an inherently SadisticChoice.
50	* BitingTheHandHumor: An extremely disturbing version. [[spoiler:One of the options you can select as the sinister force controlling Stefan's life is...''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou a Netflix viewer.]]'']]
51	* BittersweetEnding: Even some of the better possible endings in this film feel rather unsatisfying. Two of them involve Stefan finishing the ''Bandersnatch'' game, but without having to deal with any (additional) conflicts or drama regarding his mental illnesses; resulting in the game being released as a rushed, sloppy product that is panned by critics. But on the bright side, Stefan doesn't die nor end up getting other characters killed, and it's implied that he continues to live a normal (if boring) life. See MultipleEndings for more details.
52	* BlackComedy: In the right mindset, the sheer amount of meta jokes tucked within the multiple, miserable narratives in this scenario that poor Stefan can go through are hilarious.
53	* BloodFromTheMouth: Stefan, when getting stabbed by Jerome F. Davies.
54	* BreakingTheFourthWall:
55	** Throughout, Colin does a fair bit of this, likely deliberately -- making references to going forward/back, choosing the right path -- with all the other characters "accidentally" doing it. There's more if you've had to go and redo a choice, too.
56	** Go through the cycle enough times, and you get this quick exchange in the office before Stefan watches the documentary:
57	--->'''Colin:''' Skip to the next bit.\
58	'''Stefan:''' What?\
59	'''Colin:''' For fuck's sake, I'll skip it for you. [[SmashCut claps]]
60	** Depending on the path you take, if you try and make Stefan destroy his computer, he'll [[spoiler:fight back and demand to know who's controlling him... at which point you can choose to be ''yourself'' if you choose "Netflix".]]
61	* BritsLoveTea: As it's set in Britain, there's naturally a lot of cups of tea, several of which have choices and plot points attached to them.
62	* ButThouMust: Certain choices often lead to the same result, no matter which option you choose. This plays into the film's theme of the illusion of free will; that there are forces beyond our control making our choices for us.
63	** One example is when Colin offers Stefan a blotter strip for a psychedelic drug. If you pick "Yes," Stefan takes the drug and the scene of Stefan's drug trip proceeds; if you choose "No," Colin puts the strip in Stefan's tea, which he drinks, and the same scene follows.
64	** Another blatant example is in one flashback to the day when Stefan's mum dies. Stefan can't find his rabbit toy and his mum insists that it's time to leave. The only option Stefan is given in that scene -- given that it's "already happened" -- is to say "no." [[spoiler:Until it isn't.]]
65	** When [[spoiler:Stefan's therapist asks if his life should be more entertaining if he is in a TV show]], the choice that appears is either "Yes" or "Fuck yeah", which lead to the same outcome.
66	** Regardless of your decision for Stefan to bite on his nails or pull his earlobe at the shrink's office, he will resist the viewer's command.
67	** A more subtle one happens when you're asked to pick between the ''Thompson Twins'' or ''Now! II'' when Stefan is putting on his Walkman in the bus. You do get different songs, but the Thompson Twins selection is "Hold Me Now", ''which was also released'' on the ''Now! II'' cassette [[note]]For those in the countries who do not get them, The ''Now, That's What I Call Music!'' tapes are compilation albums containing the previous year's UK chart toppers.[[/note]]. Regardless of the choice, Stefan will eventually encounter the song!
68	** In-universe, the "true" ending of the story where ''Bandersnatch'' becomes a bestseller has Stefan admit that he pulled it off by making most of the choices fake and forcing the player on a preset path.
69	* CallBack: Stefan will watch an ad for whichever cereal you chose later on.
70	* CallingTheOldManOut: At one point Stefan gets annoyed with his father and tells him to fuck off.
71	* CassandraTruth: If you decide to [[spoiler: tell Stefan that you're watching him on Netflix and then make him see his therapist, she]] will spend a while convincing him that the idea is ridiculous.
72	* CastingGag: Jerome F. Davies is played by Jeff Minter, an actual 80s videogame author (and one of the relatively few still active as an independent).
73	* ChekhovsGunman: The dog that's digging up Stefan's dad's flowerbeds early on can land Stefan in prison in some of the endings.
74	* ChristmasRushed: [[invoked]]If you so wish, you can agree to crank out production on ''Bandersnatch'' to get it done for Christmas. You'll get a 0/5 for it, though.
75	* ContinuityNod: The film has references to past episodes.
76	** Colin's latest successful game is called "[[Recap/BlackMirrorMetalhead Metl Hedd]]", and he's currently working on one called "[[Recap/BlackMirrorNosedive Nohzdyve]]". [[https://tuckersoft.net/ealing20541/history/ The Tuckersoft website]] reveals other games: [[Recap/BlackMirrorMenAgainstFire "Roachbusters" and its sequel "Terror on Rannoch B"]], "[[Recap/BlackMirrorFifteenMillionMerits Rolling Road]]", "[[Recap/BlackMirrorTheNationalAnthem Pig in a Poke]]", "[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister Valdack's Revenge]]" and "[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteBear White Bear]]", all with further nods in the game pages themselves.
77	** The lambda symbol from "[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteBear White Bear]]" appears again.
78	** The gaming company is called Tuckersoft, a combination of TCKR Systems from "[[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero San Junipero]]" and something like Microsoft.
79	** The Saint Juniper Hospital, where Dr. Haynes works, to "[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]"[[note]]Rolo Haynes of that episode worked with Peter Dawson, who used to work at St. Juniper's[[/note]]. Also, it's not necessarily mentioned in the film, but Stefan's dad [[spoiler:who may be a mad scientist]] is called Peter, too.
80	** Stefan is making a video game with a Christmas deadline, and believes he is trapped in a world which he can't control, like "[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]]". He also has the choice to kill his hero coder, like Nanette.
81	** Stefan becomes a 19-year-old sympathetic murderer, though likely more sympathetic than Kenny in "[[Recap/BlackMirrorShutUpAndDance Shut Up and Dance]]".
82	** The film itself was already referenced in the episode "[[Recap/BlackMirrorPlaytest Playtest]]" where a videogame magazine promises a review of ''Bandersnatch''. Yeah, the film has a lot of reviews of the game available.
83	* CosmicHorrorStory: Stefan has no control of his destiny. He is only a puppet, who is controlled by us.
84	* CosmicPlaything: [[TechnoDystopia Stefan is this to you, the viewer.]] Whilst you don’t really have a lot of control over the overarching plot, in-universe Stefan certainly believes he is in an AndIMustScream situation.
85	* DeskSweepOfRage: Stefan does it at his shrink's office when the choice is made to spice up the action.
86	* DismemberingTheBody: One of the endings has [[spoiler:Stefan kill his father and chop up the body in an attempt to cover up the murder, a sure sign that [[SanitySlippage he's gone off the deep end]].]]
87	* DoorStopper: In-universe, the book ''Bandersnatch'' is ''very'' thick. One major challenge Stefan has is the memory limitations on software from this time period forcing him to do major surgery on the prose from the book to fit it into the game.
88	* DownerEnding: It wouldn't be ''Black Mirror'' without having at least some of these. In the worst possible endings (which are most of them), something ''really terrible'' happens; such as any of the endings where [[spoiler:Stefan dies in a freak accident, or goes to prison for committing murder]]. See MultipleEndings for more details.
89	* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: The (InUniverse) [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment BLAM]] FightScene that you can do shows that Haynes, Stefan, [[EveryoneJoinTheParty and then Stefan's dad]], have some amazing fighting skills.
90	* ExecutiveMeddling: In-universe. When Mohan gives Stefan the initial offer, he proposes him time until mid-November to deliver the game for Christmas. This means entire group of people working on the project. But if Stefan refuses, the deadline is set on 12th of ''September'', while he has to do the entire workload all by himself and deliver a finished product.
91	* FictionalDocument: The eponymous ''Bandersnatch'' {{Gamebook\|s}} that Stefan is trying to adapt into a video game.
92	* FlashSideways: Stefan and Colin both remember certain events from alternate timelines, even if they haven't happened in their own yet.
93	** For example, in the first run through of the story, Stefan won't know what's wrong with Colin's game when it crashes. In the next run through he will, surprising Colin and Mohan.
94	** Colin will also remember meeting Stefan even if, in that timeline, they haven't met yet. [[spoiler:If he jumps from the balcony,]] his last words to Stefan are "See you around." Restarting back to their first meeting leads to this exchange:
95	--->'''Colin:''' We've met before.\
96	'''Stefan:''' No.\
97	'''Colin:''' We've met before. I told you I'd see you around, and I was right.
98	** After seeing Colin jump to his death, if his wife visits Stefan at his home, Stefan will remember meeting her, but she has not met him yet.
99	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
100	** Colin creating the game ''Nohzdyve'' in his opening scene, where the player jumps off a balcony to collect multi-colored balloons, is one to the scene where he makes you have either him or Stefan jump off a balcony, high on acid.
101	** Right at the start of the episode, Stefan's dad is locking up a room when Stefan comes out of the bathroom, looking a little bit suspicious. You can explore this room later to find secrets.
102	** When Stefan demonstrates his game to Mohan, we see an encounter with a government agent where the options are to "BACK OFF" or "KILL AGENT". Later, the viewer has a similar pair of options in a confrontation between [[spoiler:Stefan and his own father.]]
103	** Early on in the movie while Stefan and his father are having breakfast, a dog begins to dig a hole in their backyard, to which Stefan's father says "that dog will be the death of us". If you choose to [[spoiler:kill Stefan's father and bury him, this same dog will dig up the body, resulting in Stefan being sent to prison.]]
104	* FreezeFrameBonus: Other allusions to previous episodes are blink-and-you'll-miss-it.
105	** To "[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]": Dr. Haynes's office is in a medical building named "Saint Juniper", and if you look at her door when Stefan comes out, you’ll see her first initial is 'R'. The villain in "Black Museum" is called Rolo Haynes, and had a brief stint at St. Juniper's hospital (which is itself a reference to [[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero another episode]]).
106	** In the endings where [[spoiler:Stefan is arrested for murdering his father]], other stories on the newspaper reporting the incident are the creation of "[[Recap/BlackMirrorHangTheDJ a futuristic love machine]]" by [[Recap/BlackMirrorBeRightBack BRB software]][[note]]"Be Right Back" abbreviated as a company named BRB was previously used in an allusion to that episode in ''Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum''[[/note]], the release of a new installment of ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister Space Fleet]]'', and [[Recap/BlackMirrorFifteenMillionMerits a 15-million talent team appearing]] on the show "Hot Shots".
107	** In the ending that jumps ahead to the present day, news tickers shown include:
108	*** [[Recap/BlackMirrorTheNationalAnthem Michael Callow]] winning a celebrity bakeoff.
109	*** [[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation A prototype pollinator drone]] being released.
110	*** The cast of ''Space Fleet'' reuniting.
111	*** The release of a [[Recap/BlackMirrorCrocodile memory recall device]].
112	** The person at the end [[spoiler:remaking the video game into an [[NoFourthWall interactive Netflix film]]]] is Pearl Ritman, which you might remember is mentioned as Colin's daughter, if you followed him earlier.
113	** The Creator/PhilipKDick poster in Colin's room is for ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'', a novel about the nature of reality.
114	* TheGamePlaysYou: Stefan starts to develop a version of the game...and then realises he's being played by the viewer.
115	* {{Gamebooks}}: An interactive film with multiple endings. Every so often, the viewer is given a series of choices, usually with a ten second window of time before the timer runs out and a default choice is made. [[spoiler:It gets deconstructed in certain endings.]]
116	** In-universe, the original dead-tree ''Bandersnatch'' was a surreal, literary version of a gamebook created by Jerome F. Davies.
117	* GenreDeconstruction: Of {{Gamebooks}}, regarding the illusion of choice. The viewer is given many paths to choose, but the paths are limited in certain aspects. For example, there is no ending in which [[spoiler:Stefan can create a perfect video game while still maintaining his sanity.]] This is acknowledged in the ending in which Stefan's game ''Bandersnatch'' becomes critically claimed as Stefan admits that he, the game's creator, gets to decide what the players can and can't do in his game. In-universe, Stefan is a CosmicPlaything of the viewer, and his choices are ultimately not his to make.
118	* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: A gender-inverted example with Stefan, at the age of five, being very attached to his toy bunny, much to his father's chagrin.
119	* GiveMeASign: Stefan calls out for the audience to reveal themselves to him.
120	* GroinAttack: In a physical fight against his father, Stefan can either karate chop him or knee him in the balls.
121	* HardWorkMontage: At least twice do we get a montage of Stefan sitting on his computer, working hard on completing his video game.
122	* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Colin's prescience regarding alternate timelines and lifetimes seems to have come from his drug use; and things go downhill when Stefan takes acid with him.
123	* HistoryRepeats: Stefan himself is following in the footsteps of Jerome F. Davies; both are creating works titled ''Bandersnatch'' which feature branching story paths and parallel realities, and both slowly go mad in the process. [[spoiler:Both end up murdering someone important to them - Davies his wife, and Stefan if the viewer goes through with the option of killing his dad.]] The path then ends in the present day, where [[spoiler:Colin's daughter Pearl, now a Netflix programmer, is attempting to adapt Stefan's game into an interactive film and begins experiencing the same hallucinations as Stefan and Davies]].
124	* HollywoodDarkness: When the protagonist sneaks into his dad’s room at night, he and his sleeping dad are lit by so much blue light that it may as well come from a spotlight. This contrasts with the dad’s office in the next scene, which is lit by [[OrangeBlueContrast an orange lightbulb.]]
125	* InterestingSituationDuel: Haynes and Stefan in their Hollywood fight scene for the purpose of, [[spoiler:literally, making a Netflix entertainment show have more action]]. As stated by Haynes, in-universe. It's in a small, plain, office.
126	* ItsShortSoItSucks: InUniverse, if Stefan accepts the offer to work in the office, the game will end up rushed and get a 0/5 note for being short. It's also the shortest path to the ending.
127	* LaughingMad: [[spoiler:Stefan laughs insanely talking about his friend from Netflix in the ending where he kicks his therapist's ass.]]
128	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
129	** When giving his 0/5 rating, the game reviewer notes that the developers of ''Bandersnatch'' should have gone right back to the start to try again. In a later 0/5 review he mentions that if there were second chances in life, he hopes the developer would've chosen differently.
130	** If you accepts Mohan's offer to develop the game in Tuckersoft with a professional team, he then reveals that they will need to streamline the game, while Colin tells Stefan that he made the wrong choice.
131	** At one point, Stefan says that he feels like his actions aren't his to control, that he's being directed by someone who he can't see or hear.
132	* LockAndKeyPuzzle: One that you can "replay" to get different information and better/worse storylines is trying to get Rabbit. It's visualised by Stefan's adventure game writing guidebook, "Look Door, Find Key". He must then go find the key from dad, unlock a literal door, then use a code to open a safe.
133	* LoggingOntoTheFourthWall: Netflix also made the ''[[VideoGame/BlackMirrorNohzdyve Nohzdyve]]'' game featured in the episode, though it's [[https://www.reddit.com/r/blackmirror/comments/aabhd3/so_yeah_you_can_play_nohzdyve/ hard to find]], and an advertisement for Tuckersoft that said it was hiring, with links to Netflix's job advertisements (as well as a full website that really looks like a fan's/Mohan's personal attempt to write a history of the company). See: [[https://tuckersoft.net/ 1980s website]] and [[https://tuckersoft.net/ealing20541 History website]]. Said History website has pages on the company's titles (i.e., [[https://web.archive.org/web/20181229001826/https://tuckersoft.net/ealing20541/bandersnatch/ Bandersnatch]], [[https://web.archive.org/web/20181229190031/https://tuckersoft.net/ealing20541/nohzdyve/ Nohzdyve]], [[https://www.tuckersoft.net/ealing20541/metlhedd/ Metl Hedd]]), full of ''Black Mirror'' {{Mythology Gag}}s.
134	* MadArtist: Jerome F. Davies was considered a visionary author, but he also went mad and murdered his wife. It's suggested that the ruminations on alternate universes in ''Bandersnatch'' drove him crazy, and Stefan [[HistoryRepeats skirts closer and closer to this]] as he continues to adapt Davies's novel into a game.
135	* MediumAwareness:
136	** If you "screw up" at a certain decision, you hit the dead end pathway and are forced to start again. From this point on, Stefan and Colin are aware of the actions they performed and the choices you made on the last run. Sometimes, they're very aware, for others they just think they have DejaVu.
137	** Throughout the story, Stefan notices certain actions that the viewer makes on his behalf. [[spoiler:He even begins to defy actions that would otherwise derail the story.]]
138	** It even gets to the point where [[spoiler:''Netflix itself'' is heavily involved in two of the routes]].
139	* MetaFiction: Unavoidable, given that the film is a {{Mind Screw}}-y choose-your-own-adventure story centering about a programmer trying to create a choose-your-own-adventure game. Stefan begins to have crises about alternate timelines and the illusion of free will.
140	* MindScrew: The existence of alternate timelines, how one traverses through them, and what is ''really'' true about Stefan's life, isn't wholly explained nor clarified in any of the paths.
141	* MissingMom: Stefan's still reeling from the death of his mother in his childhood, which he believes he and his father inadvertently caused.
142	* MultipleEndings: Par for the course of a choose-your-own-adventure tale. Stefan's story can end in many different ways, depending on the player's choices. The possible endings (which can have varying details depending on additional choices) include:
143	** [[invoked]]In the simplest (and most anti-climatic) ending, Stefan [[spoiler:accepts the job offer from Tucker, but ends up having his ''Bandersnatch'' game "[[ExecutiveMeddling streamlined]]" by Tuckersoft, resulting in a poor 0/5 rating. And this is perhaps the most (relatively) "[[BittersweetEnding good]]" ending you can get. Sure, Stefan's game sucked, and he's disappointed by it; but at least he's still alive, relatively sane, not in prison, and nobody else had to die or suffer because of his actions.]]
144	** A bit later during the film, you can get another ending (similar to the above) by [[spoiler:forcing Stefan to continue taking the anti-psychotic pills that his psychiatrist prescribed. As with the above scenario, the ''Bandersnatch'' game is a critical failure, though nothing else of note happens.]]
145	** Another early, premature ending involves [[spoiler:Stefan, while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs and Colin's crazy suggestions, [[TooDumbToLive voluntarily jumping off a balcony to his death]]. ''Bandersnatch'' is later posthumously released to terrible reviews.]]
146	** Later on, there's a [[MindScrew crazy twist ending]] that can ''also'' [[spoiler:result in Stefan's death. Stefan (seemingly) [[TimeTravel travels back in time]], finds his toy rabbit, happily joins his mother on the ill-fated train ride that killed her... and is revealed to have [[YourMindMakesItReal actually died in his therapist's office while reliving that flashback]], much to the utterly confused horror of his father and therapist.]]
147	** In the most complicated ending routes, [[spoiler:Stefan [[SanitySlippage finally snaps due to his increasing insanity]] for one reason or another, and consequentially [[{{Patricide}} murders his own father]], resulting in him going to prison for it. Depending on your choices, he can also kill Colin or Tucker as well; the release and reception of ''Bandersnatch'' following the murder(s) will also vary (the game can either get a 5/5 rating, a 2/5 rating, or never be released at all); and some other details regarding Colin's fate (along with what happens to his wife and daughter) might also be shown or mentioned.]]
148	** In a ''very'' [[BreakingTheFourthWall metafictional]] ending, [[spoiler:Stefan is revealed to be a fictional character, played by an actor named Mike; who is slowly descending into his own madness, [[LostInCharacter believing himself to actually be Stefan]].]]
149	* MundaneHorror: At its most base and normal interpretation, the movie is about an ambitious and depressed programmer who literally [[spoiler:works himself to death vis-a-vis exhaustion.]]
150	* MushroomSamba: Stefan [[ButThouMust will take acid]] at Colin's, and its effects are visualized by visual distortions in the world around him.
151	* NeckLift: In the fight scene, Stefan's dad does this to him, throttling him as he goes.
152	* NestedStoryReveal: In one ending, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Stefan is a fictional character, played by an actor named Mike.]]
153	* NoFourthWall:
154	** In one path, you can have a long conversation explaining Creator/{{Netflix}} to Stefan.
155	** In the epilogue, [[spoiler:Pearl has made a Netflix film based on the events of the film, and thus starts to play the film (that you just watched)]]. It's like [[ShowWithinAShow an in-universe documentary]]. She must then destroy the computer.
156	* NonStandardGameOver: The route where Stefan accepts Mohan's offer plays like this, as it ends the film much earlier than the other routes and several LeaningOnTheFourthWall lines from the characters encourage you to try again. Ironically, this is probably the best (or least bad) ending in the film.
157	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Colin mentions that all people remembered of Jerome F. Davies was him decapitating his wife while forgetting that he also was a visionary author.
158	* OneHitKill: [[spoiler:Stefan's dad]] takes one lame whack to the temple.
159	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Stefan can have an opportunity to open his father's safe, and the password is always a three-letter word relevant to the route at hand.
160	* PercussiveTherapy: Stefan smashing his keyboard. Can also happen to Pearl Ritman in the 2018 timeline where she smashes a monitor with her keyboard.
161	* ProsceniumReveal: PlayedForDrama in one ending, where [[spoiler:Stefan, in the middle of confronting his therapist, goes "off-script" and turns out to have been filming a show for Netflix; his actor Mike appears to have gone [[LostInCharacter too deep into the role]].]]
162	* PunnyHeadlines: If Stefan [[spoiler:murders and chops up his dad]], it will appear in a newspaper story with a subheading referencing [[spoiler:the victim being chopped into 8-bits]].
163	* RewatchBonus: There are whole scenes that will ''only'' trigger after you've seen certain dead ends and gone back to an earlier branching point.
164	* SanitySlippage: While already [[CreatorBreakdown mentally unwell]] at the beginning InUniverse, the mounting pressure of the ''Bandersnatch'' release and his increasing paranoia about his own lack of free will continue to tear away at Stefan's sanity.
165	* SelfDeprecation: The characters think that the film is boring.
166	* ShoutOut:
167	** To ''Film/TheMatrix''. In one story branch, Stefan is offered a drug (implied to be LSD), the drug in this case [[spoiler:allows him to perceive a higher level of reality]]. ''The Matrix'' also shares references to ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' and a character who in one scenario [[spoiler: discovers that they are part of a mind-bending conspiracy]].
168	** Colin considers ''VideoGame/PacMan'' to have no free will.
169	** The idea of "roaming a maze while avoiding a creature named Pax" is a part of the actual game ''Prisoner 2'' from 1982 -- which was notable for including MindScrew elements. (Both Prisoner games were based on ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'')
170	** The film echoes ''Film/DonnieDarko'' in many ways. Both are stories set in the 1980s about young men trying to cope with whether they have free will or can control their future. Therapy sessions figure into both. Both featuring liquid mirror images. Both characters have bunnies central to their stories.
171	** Jerome F. Davies' original book, a MindScrew piece of MetaFiction where characters in the various nested narratives get driven insane by engaging with the multilayered nature of reality, is highly reminiscent of ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves''. (The biggest difference is that ''House of Leaves'', though it is a DoorStopper that encourages flipping back and forth, has no actual GameBook elements.)
172	** In terms of gaming history, the story of a legendarily surreal work of literature being adapted into an even more legendarily surreal computer game in the 1980s is highly reminiscent of ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984'', although neither the subject matter nor the real-life circumstances were nearly as dire as ''Bandersnatch''. The Hitchhiker's game was even, like ''Bandersnatch'' is in-universe, a notoriously TroubledProduction due to Douglas Adams sharing Stefan's problems with deadlines. Creator/{{Infocom}}'s followup to the HHGG game, ''VideoGame/{{Bureaucracy}}'', was an even more troubled production that reflects Adams' paranoid view of a surreally hostile universe to an even greater degree (invoking real life ConspiracyTheorist culture along the way), thus making it an even stronger parallel.
173	** The GroundhogDayLoop with Stefan waking up to his alarm clock.
174	** The title itself is a shoutout to a rather famous-in-the-80s vaporware from Imagine Software[[note]]said game would undergo constant DevelopmentHell until it was finally released as ''Brataccas'' by Creator/{{Psygnosis}} for the [[Platform/{{Amiga}} Commodore Amiga]], Platform/AtariST and Platform/AppleMacintosh[[/note]].
175	** The Netflix route has some similarities to ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'': Stefan finds out he's being controlled by a Netflix viewer (you) in the same way the narrator of the game finds out that Stanley is being controlled by the player (also you) in the "Real Person" ending. Also, [[spoiler:the therapist suggesting that Stefan's life would be more exciting if it really was a Netflix film and then suddenly turning everything into an action-packed sequence]] resembles the narrator teleporting Stanley to "better games" if he refuses to follow the orders and then fails to play his "Save the Baby" game.
176	** Colin has posters of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' and Music/NewOrder's ''Music/PowerCorruptionAndLies'' hanging on the wall of his flat, and a print of a page from ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'' laying against a wall.
177	* SignificantReferenceDate: Stefan's first day at Tuckersoft is July 9th, 1984, which is the day that Imagine Software -- the company who were developing the real ''Bandersnatch'' game -- shut down.
178	* SlippingAMickey: If Stefan refuses to take acid with Colin, Colin will slip it into Stefan's tea when he's not looking.
179	* TheStinger: A certain ending has a post-credits scene with Stefan in the bus playing differently: he puts in the ''Bandersnatch'' cassette, which expectedly only makes weird noises. Which [[https://www.thewrap.com/black-mirror-bandersnatch-secret-ending-post-credits-scene-easter-egg-bus-zx-spectrum-tuckersoft/ do work in a ZX Spectrum the game was supposed to be played on...]]
180	* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: 'Making Plans for Nigel', an 80s-era BritPop song that plays in the car as Stefan is tricked into going to therapy. It's about a young man being pressured to conform to society. Follows this trope as it's extremely appropriate for both story possibilities: either Stefan's circle is trying to help him return to a state of social normality, or they're manipulating and controlling him as part of TheConspiracy.
181	* TakeThat:
182	** [[EpicFail The shortest path to the credits]] can be interpreted as a potshot at big-budget video game publishers. An independent game developer with a fresh, revolutionary idea sells himself out at the prospect of hitting it big, only for his brainchild to end up "streamlined" and ChristmasRushed for maximum profit by a guy who clearly doesn't have the slightest clue about what gamers want. The result is a soulless, critically panned dime-a-dozen product that nobody is happy about. It's even lampshaded InUniverse.
183	-->'''Colin:''' Sorry, mate. Wrong path.
184	** Alternatively, the rest of the story can be taken as a middle finger to all the overambitious, endless beta indie games that are sold on similar slogans of "endless possibilities" and "free will of the player", while in reality being simply modelled into a scenario where players ''think'' they have a choice, rather than being railroaded.
185	*** The "mad genius visionaire" game dev is also shown what it most often really is: an overworked, single guy who just can't deliver, because the project is too big, too ambitious and in the same time too much constrained by technical limitations. [[Creator/PeterMolyneux It definitely doesn't sound like anyone in particular]].
186	* TooCleverByHalf: Combined with WrongGenreSavvy; this is why people who work on ''Bandersnatch'' go insane. They have no way of knowing if the dimension they're in is the one where their suspicions are vindicated or simply misguided. For example, in one timeline, a government conspiracy theory might be government conspiracy fact, but you might have gotten a clue to it from a universe where the machinations don't exist, making you think that the sinister municipal goings-ons are constant throughout rather than unique to that strain.
187	* TomeOfEldritchLore: The in-universe book ''Bandersnatch'' appears to be this. Anyone who delves too deeply into it tends to go insane. Jerome went mad writing the original version, Stefan slowly goes insane adapting it to a computer game, and [[spoiler:Pearl is implied to start experiencing her own hallucinations as she makes a film version of it.]]
188	* TransformationDiscretionShot: One possible ending features Stefan opening his dad's safe and finding the toy rabbit that was taken from him when he was a child. Stefan's dad then appears in the room - sporting a haircut he hasn't used in decades; cut to a shot from Stefan's POV as his view of the world abruptly shifts downwards... and then cut to a wide shot of the room, revealing that Stefan has once again travelled through time and become his five-year-old self.
189	* TrumanShowPlot: One story branch has Stefan slowly uncover evidence that he has been [[spoiler:watched and recorded his entire life, and that the trauma of his mother's death was manufactured]] in an attempt to pacify and control him.
190	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Invoked to such a point to be deconstructed. In hindsight, it appears that the happiest ending for Stefan is for ''Bandersnatch'' to be rushed out for Christmas and fail. No one dies, but Stefan ''insists'' on using the choose your own adventure feature to go back in time to do things differently. From there, it's near-impossible to make a choice that isn't horrible for Stefan. It's often invoked, such as when Stefan needs to choose between [[spoiler:chopping up or burying his father's body.]]
191	* XtremeKoolLetterz: Colin's video games have titles such as ''Nohzdyve'' and ''Metl Hedd''.
192	* YouBastard: What's driving Stefan insane? Is it his lingering feelings of guilt over his mother's death? Is it the creature haunting his dreams? Is it his growing awareness of the alternative timelines? Is it the PACS? No, it's ''you'', the viewer, watching and making Stefan's misery for entertainment! And he gets pretty mad at you for that.
193	* YourMindMakesItReal: The path where Stefan [[spoiler:goes back in time, finds the rabbit, and chooses to go with his mum on the doomed train]] is revealed to be happening in his head, as he sits in Dr. Haynes' office reliving the memory. [[spoiler:From her perspective, he just closed his eyes and... died.]]
194	* YouShouldHaveDiedInstead: Deconstructed. Stefan holds himself, and his father, responsible for his mother's death. While they're shown to have a strained relationship, Stefan's father is extremely protective of him and doesn't ever seem to wish this. In fact, when Stefan chooses to go back and try to save his mother's life, he fails. It doesn't matter if young Stefan found Rabbit or not, [[spoiler:[[MortonsFork his mother was always going to be late for her regular train and be forced to take the ill-fated 8:45 train, resulting in her death]].]]

Context Film / BlackMirrorBandersnatch