I know a lot of people are calling this episode unwatchable or skipping it entirely, but Hotel Reverie did something to me that I honestly can’t explain and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

It gave me a feeling I haven’t had since Hang the DJ or San Junipero… but maybe even more bittersweet. This wasn’t just another love story it felt like a dream I somehow stumbled into. One of those vivid dreams where, when you wake up, you lie there with your eyes closed, wishing you could go back… even though you know you can’t. The world moves on, but you remember. And the memory hurts, but in a beautiful way.

There’s this one line Kimmy said “Don’t worry, it’ll reset to the scorpion scene. She won’t remember a thing.” That shattered me. It made me think about how love, time, and memory can all exist in such fragile little bubbles and how sometimes, the person you loved doesn’t even know it ever happened.

I know people are saying the acting was off but honestly? That awkwardness is what made it work for me. It gave the episode this weird, uncomfortable realism, like a vintage romance trapped in a digital space. It was awkward, but still intimate like watching something that wasn’t supposed to be perfect, but wasn’t trying to be. It kept me hooked in that quiet, aching way.

I found comfort in this episode even in the sadness. I felt connected, in awe, melancholy, full of reverie… all at once. It gave me a kind of emotional ache that I almost want to hold onto, because feeling something that deeply even from fiction reminds me I’m alive.

Hotel Reverie wasn’t just an episode to me. It was a feeling. And I wish I could replay it in my heart like it was the first time over and over again.

I just truly wonder if anyone else felt this way as well with this episode.

I am sitting here writing this through tears, that broke my heart in fucking two.

I’m unsure whether or not this opinion is popular, but I generally disliked this episode in season 7.

For starters, the story felt really unnatural - from the strange time limit that the crew had, to the main character’s confusing role as an actor - I mean was she famous or not?

I guess I might be overly complaining, but the whole episode felt very Netflixy and not much like a black mirror episode.

I personally loved the dynamic between the two main characters, their connection felt relatively organic and really emotional, but the whole ‘dystopian’ element that we see in this series felt lacking here.

I’m talking about the AI element of the story - they really could have further explored Dorothy’s understanding of herself once she is told who/what she really is.

I feel like the best black mirror episodes balance well the emotional story and the dystopian aspect of the narrative (I think San Junipero is a really good example of this)

Anyway just wanted to put this out there, this really felt like the least appealing episode of the season 🥲

I'm usually a bit apprehensive because bi characters in shows and movies tend to be very stereotypical and annoyingly written, but here I think the relationship between these characters was very engaging and well done. Also, Issa Rae and Emma Corrin are awesome in it. I was at first a bit wary from the "female remake" part of the plot, but it ended up becoming something quite a bit more interesting.

Did people not like this episode? I just finished watching it and checked out some reviews, but the majority of the feedback doesn’t seem too positive. I really liked it personally. What did you think ?

I just watched th3 episode and finished with tears. I love black mirrors disturbing episodes but this was a nice change. That moment when they got contact again and they just counted down to 5 to roll back with the main character not knowing what to do was so saddening.

I wish they send her a sort of portable system so she could go back in. But the telephone was nice.

This was a 10/10

I know this might go against the grain, but I genuinely believe that Hotel Reverie was a standout episode, and Issa Rae’s portrayal of Brandy was spot-on. Many critics argue that there was a lack of chemistry between Brandy and Clara, but I think that’s missing the point.

Brandy was thrust into a simulation without prior knowledge or preparation. There was no chemistry test, no rehearsals just raw, unfiltered interaction. This wasn’t about watching a polished film; it was about witnessing two individuals genuinely getting to know each other in real-time. The awkwardness and hesitations weren’t flaws; they were authentic reactions to an unprecedented situation.

Clara’s decision to stay ‘unknown to the memories’ within the simulation, even after gaining awareness of her reality, speaks volumes. She chose to follow the script, sacrificing her newfound consciousness to ensure Brandy could return to the real world. And that’s why her death was so poignant because she was also aware of the long time they spent with just one another. This act wasn’t just about love; it was about understanding, sacrifice, and the complexities of identity.

Both characters, navigating their own journeys of self-discovery, found solace in each other. Their relationship wasn’t a scripted romance it was a genuine connection formed under extraordinary circumstances. To say that Issa was not playing a good actor is thinking it in the wrong way because we aren’t watching someone filming we are watching a real budding connection.

Sorry I’m the number one hotel reverie defender

Issa Rae was a terrible casting choice that made this episode unwatchable. She was awful, not sure if it's because she can't act or because she didn't want to put any effort into it, but she wasn't even trying.

I liked the story, the rest of the cast was also good, but Rae just ruined it.

Few shows are able to make me feel such strong emotions. Capture what it means to be alive.

When done well, black mirror can make you feel alive. The true escapism from our day to day lives we so dearly need.

Hotel reverie is soaked with depth, actresses and actors capable of transferring that profound emotion. How it keeps you on edge the whole time and yet pulls you deeper into the hopeless romance is much beyond me.

I wish I could rewatch, having forget the episode, and feel that emotional journey again.

Thank you to the writers of hotel reverie

Dreadfully awful and got worse as it went a long.

I think the premise was great, the execution was terrible. There would be zero people in the world who would want to see that movie and I feel the "classic" just was poorly done - supposed to be a Casablanca type movie but came across as a bad "doesn't think seem like an old timely movie?" that was awful. It felt forced.

Also the lead actress was not a good actress and couldnt pull that part off - some of her scenes in the old movie were cringeworthy.

I think the premise was great. I would have liked to have seen it done differently. And don't get me wrong, I support LBGTQ 100%, this just was just not good.

Just my opinion. I'm good with teh downvotes

Hollywood A-list actor Brandy Friday is thrown into an unusually immersive high-tech remake of a vintage romantic movie. She’s got to stick to the script if she ever wants to make it home.

Directed by: Haolu Wang

Written by: Charlie Brooker

Previous episode: Bête Noire

Next episode: Plaything

I saw the reviews and many people were hating it (idk why would someone it was such a good episode) but I actually lovedd it People were yapping about the plotholes and stuff but in my opinion, the tech shown in the episode was actually awesome especially for someone like me who's a cinema fan, experiencing a movie while being inside it is a really fucking awesomee.

So imo it is one the best episodes in the show easily because of the absolute futuristic tech.

A new startup wants to cheaply remake movies by putting actors in a simulation. Okay, fine, pretty classic concept. We're putting a twist on an old classic romance movie by genderswapping the main character since a famous actress is the first one to volunteer. Okay, sounds interesting, and it makes me happy to see gay characters in mainstream places like this. Beside the new black female actress now in the main role we are changing nothing else about the movie and in fact the entire goal of the simulation is to be as close to the original movie as possible, and when inevitably things go differently from the original movie, everything breaks, the character AIs become sentient, and we trap an A-list actress inside a frozen black-and-white old movie world for multiple months and run the risk of killing her or leaving her there forever. What? Did we lose a thread here?

I just don't understand the point of the technology. I can understand the theming and the satire of bad remakes or whatever but in what world is this going to be something that somebody considers putting in the time and obscene amount of money into producing? Especially when it's so ridiculously prone to error--both the software itself and the things they probably should've thought through for more than two seconds? Did they at no point consider double-checking that Issa Rae could play piano, seeing as it's an important plot element and it screws up the entire movie when she can't? They didn't consider giving her a little direction or making sure she knew her lines before she entered the movie, seeing as the tiniest mistake butterfly effects into the entire plot breaking down? Why did they even bother to make AI characters that realistically react to everything and a world with internal logic that changes based on what happens, if they're just going to desperately try to stick to the plot of the original movie anyway? Who is going to go see a movie in theaters that is just the same exact old movie, black-and-white and everything, except now the main character is a different actress? What is the point of a bunch of nerd characters sitting outside going "exposition delivered", "romantic tension rising", are these metrics we're measuring? Are these statistics we're keeping track of? What is the point of saying "character backstory delivered" like it's some big operation when she's literally just reading the line off the script? Hello? Can anybody hear me? Why is my wife's boyfriend so much more attractive than me? It's just so full of plot holes and inconsistencies and it killed what I think could've been a very good love story otherwise. Like, I love the love story. It was genuinely heartbreaking, and I do think it was fairly well-acted, especially on Issa Rae's part considering the script she was given. But every time something sad happened all I could think about was that stupid nerd dude going "exposition delivered" and spilling his coffee and then I was too busy laughing to actually feel something. Just ridiculous all around

EDIT: unrelated but seeing balatro did make me jump out of my seat and point at the screen like a wojak so at least the episode had that going for it

EDIT 2: Lots of people are condescendingly telling me that this is a sci-fi show where ridiculous things happen which was something I didn't know when I was writing this post or watching this episode or the entire rest of the series, so thank you all for keeping me informed. ❤️

It's not the sci-fi that's the problem for me, guys. Almost every other episode in the series makes sense to me. This one specifically doesn't make sense because, in my opinion, it's poorly written and has no internal logic behind the central concept whatsoever. I would not have made it through the entire rest of the show multiple times if the sci-fi was the issue.

I’m 3 episodes in, & I just finished Hotel Reverie. This one was magnificent, I found myself smiling for the characters. As someone who has a love of the silver screen, this was such a pleasure to watch. What a unique twist on a love story!

Has anyone here ever Googled something along the lines of, “can people fall in love with Ai?” I have, lol. I felt devastated after watching Common People, though it was an amazing episode! Mortifying of course, but I love Black Mirror for that reason. This episode however left me with the complete opposite feeling. Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly was mine. 🖤

So excited to have another season of Black Mirror! I was planning on binging it, but I had to stop after Hotel Reverie. A nice episode to take a break after, from the emotional ride from ep01 to ep03.

Frankly, I loved Hotel Reverie, and I actually came to the sub expecting similar reactions from others. I was genuinely surprised that this was one of the lowest rated episodes.

I actually wasn’t familiar to any of the actresses on the episode, so I would like to think that I wasn’t biased. I thought both of the leading actresses played their respective parts perfectly to the creator’s envisions. I loved the fact that the ‘real human’ Brandy’s acting seemed like a ‘bad acting’ compared to the ai generated Dorothy- I thought that was intentional for viewers to be more emotionally/ humanly attached to Dorothy. The seemingly out-of-touch vibe that Brandy had went so well with this episode, given that she was actually the only person who was ‘out of this world’. Some people say that this was how Issa Rae usually acts, then I’d like to give credits to the casting dept. for casting the right person.

When Dorothy dies I was bawling out, then I thought it so strange that I was crying for an ai character. That was the moment when I felt this was another superb episode, because it showed in a relatively short amount of time how Brandy was feeling, and more broadly how people tend to personify and be emotionally vested in non-living things.

There’s a lot more I want to say about this episode, but I wanted to give my two cents on the cast since that seems to be one of the major turn off for a lot of folks.

This episode seems to have the entire community split right now, either you love it or you hate it. Personally, I cried twice when watching it and it's one of my favourite episodes. (San Junipero is still better though). The 'bad acting' from Issa to me just seemed like her character, like she was awkward, and that didn't take too much away from it all for me. I genuinely felt for them and it crushed me when they got reset. Sure, there's illogical plot holes but every episode has them, some honestly have more than this one IMO, I feel like people just want an excuse to hate on something because I didn't even know people hated it until I checked the subreddit. Anyone what are your thoughts?

I really did not like this episode I’m gonna be honest. One of the worst episodes of black mirror I’ve seen.

1. I felt like there were too many coincidences, firstly with the fact that the flashdrive explaining the AI thing coincidentally fell out of the package that Brandy got in the mail. Then later on, the coffee cup “accidentally” spilled on the computer powering the AI. Now, while you guys might think “2 coincidences isn’t a lot” it definitely felt like a lot for black mirror cause’ their episode plots are usually amazing and flow super well so I’m not sure what happened with this one.

2. I’m gonna be honest I really didn’t like the actress they chose to play Brandy, I don’t think she embodied the two roles at all. Basically as you know, in the episode the main actress is playing Brandy, and Brandy is playing Alex, so she’s basically playing two roles at once, and it didn’t feel like that at all. It felt like she was just playing Brandy the whole time and it genuinely bothers me because here’s the thing I understand that even for a seasoned actor it can be hard to switch between roles just like that, but in this specific case it was actually quite easy because all Brandy had to do was put on a transatlantic accent. I also feel like she could’ve delivered certain lines in a way more romantic-sounding way. Like I felt like not only did she not put effort into showcasing Alex as a character by changing her accent, but she also didn’t deliver her lines in a romantic way so it was very confusing when Dorothy fell in love with her. Like you wouldn’t really get feelings for someone who has this confused/“what’s going on” kind of undertone to everything they say. Also there is a point in the episode where she has a bit of a breakdown and ends up going off on Dorothy by saying “I’M NOT ALEX AND NONE OF THIS IS REAL” and I truly feel like this was a missed opportunity because had Brandy been portraying Alex with the accent/charm, then it would’ve made her breakdown so much more powerful and we would’ve gotten to actually see it in real time. But we didn’t. I will add, just to make this review not seem as negative, I felt like the the actress who played Brandy did a phenomenal job in that last scene where she was holding Dorothy in her arms as she was dying, like that was genuinely such a beautiful scene and she delivered there for sure. I also loved the actress who played Dorothy, she killed that role.

Feel free to let me know what you guys think about my critiques, but try to keep it respectful. If you saw the episode and really liked it then that’s fine. Me disliking it is not an attack on you, it’s just my opinion.

This episode was so emotional. I really enjoyed it. Emma and Issa did a fabulous job.