"Shut Up and Dance"-A Review

"Shut Up and Dance," directed by James Watkins, is an episode in one of Netflix's popular sci-fi and thriller anthology series called Black Mirror. In spite of Black Mirror's characteristic dark, satirical tone that recurs throughout the series, "Shut Up and Dance" takes it to another level of dark. This particular episode of the series encaptures the audience through its fantastically dark and gut-wrenching plot, noteworthy performance, gloomy aesthetic, and depressing, bleak tone.

The story starts off with Kenny, a meek, socially-awkward 19-year old teenager, finding his laptop accidentally infected with malware by his sister. Annoyed, Kenny quickly installs a rather sketchy anti-malware program. Later that evening, through the laptop's webcam, we see Kenny carefully lock the door, sit down in front of his laptop, reach for tissues, and drop down his pants (The rest is up to your imagination). After the deed, his laptop suddenly dings with a new email from an anonymous account; it reads: "WE SAW WHAT YOU DID." Attached to the mail is a video of him taking off his pants and doing the taboo act. Horrified, Kenny desperately surrenders to the hacker, following whatever his orders are.

Along the course of the story, Kenny meets Hector, a middle-aged father of two children, and other people in the same situation as him. However, we discover that everybody that is being threatened by the anonymous figure is guilty of committing a crime, a sin, or shameful deed. As the story progresses, Kenny has to perform more severe tasks, even though it means his life is on line. The episode touches upon important themes, such human morality, shame, anonymity behind screens, manipulation, and the dangers of technology in the 21st century. The film asks the audience, how far would you go to protect your deepest, darkest, most horrifying secret from uncovering?

The film has received great acclaim from various critics; an 8.5/10 from IMDb, 5/5 stars by Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph, 4/5 stars by Pat Stacey of The Irish Independent, and more. Robbie Collin, a British film critic who studied aesthetics and the philosophy of film at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and has been the chief film critic at The Daily Telegraph since 2011, described the episode as the "most nihilistic" Black Mirror episode. He commented that its "vision of humanity" is "uncompromisingly negative", which in turn, leaves an "acrid aftertaste" for the viewers. Alex Mullane on Digital Spy stated that keeping the identity of the hacker hidden was a superb choice, as they are "effectively a stand-in for The Internet: all-seeing, all-knowing, and extremely dangerous," which I wholly agree with.

The gloomy British setting, the grey-blue hues, and cramped, claustrophobic camera shots contributed to the unique aesthetic of the film. The film's ending, accompanied with Radiohead's song,'Exit Music (For a Film),' excellently summed up the bleak mood of the piece and Kenny's desolation after going through extreme torment and control. Of course, like all films, "Shut Up and Dance" does have some minor flaws. The film's sinister, somber themes and dark humor is definitely not for all audiences. Some argue that the events in the plot were stretched and predictable. However, I disagree because the focus in the film was weighed more on the desperate plight of Kenny and the increasing severity of the tasks, rather than the specific actions themselves.

The performances that the actors gave were spectacular. Jerome Flynn, who acts as Hector, did a great job portraying the desperate and suitably sleazy character. However, Alex Lawther's performance as Kenny was beyond outstanding. Alex Lawther, well known for his role as James in The End of the F***ing World and the young Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, perfectly captures Kenny's pathetic, desperate, and socially anxious character, his suffocating breakdowns, and his vulnerability. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter even describes it as "one of the best things of 2016." Lawther's acting helped me truly sympathize and feel for the endearing character, and made me want to help him out of his horrible, horrible situation.

I can definitely say that "Shut Up and Dance" is one of the only, if not the only, film that has left me with such strong and conflicting feelings. The film made me feel sick to the stomach without including any gory elements, while simultaneously leaving me in awe for how good it was. Seriously, the film gave me a moral crisis. As good as this movie is, I only recommend it to those above the ages of 12-13 or those that enjoy bleak, yet intriguing films because the film is quite dark and straining. Overall, Black Mirror's "Shut Up and Dance" is an excellently-made, intriguing, and thought-provoking film that is worthy of a watch. I promise—you're in for a dark, delightful surprise.