Playtest 

An American traveler short on cash signs up to test a revolutionary new gaming system, but soon can't tell where the hot game ends and reality begins.

Director:

Dan Trachtenberg

Writer:

Charlie Brooker

Stars:

Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Wunmi Mosaku

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Wyatt Russell	...	Cooper Redfield
Hannah John-Kamen	...	Sonja
Wunmi Mosaku	...	Katie
Ken Yamamura	...	Shou Saito
Elizabeth Moynihan	...	Cooper's Mum
Jamie Paul	...	Rick Peters
Jessica Neil	...	Scared Girl on Plane (as Jessica Nell)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alessandro Neri	...	Tourist

Storyline

An American traveler short on cash signs up to test a revolutionary new gaming system, but soon can't tell where the hot game ends and reality begins.

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Plot Keywords:

stabbed in the back | reference to indiana jones | reference to 'indiana jones and the temple of doom' 1984 | reference to star trek | sneaking out | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point, Cooper (Wyatt Russell) is seen reading The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, who was famous for writing in unreliable narrative, the same way this episode was written.

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Goofs

In the end credits, the character of "Josh Peters" is incorrectly listed as "Rick Peters".

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Quotes

Katie: We're going to commence with deactivation.
Cooper: Oh, that's great news.
Katie: We need you to follow instructions and make it to the access point.
Cooper: The access point? Great. Where the fuck's the access point?... Oh, fuck! More stairs? Come on!

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Connections

References Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

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Soundtracks

Mama Liked The Roses
Written by John L. Christopher
Performed by Elvis Presley

User Reviews

The devil's in the detail.

I won't repeat what other top-rated reviewers wrote.

As a gamer, I took a pause at the shot when Cooper went through Sonja's video game collection. I was impressed that most games there are classic horror games like Dead Space, ranging from last-gen to current-gen consoles. I've seen many films where games were just meaningless items in the living room. But clearly the crew here did their homework or are gamers themselves. The scene was around the initial buildup and is a clue to whomever pays attention, and therefore convinced me to watch on.

The other convincing aspect: In many other horror films, the characters are plain stupid and don't know when to quit. They touch things that look obviously dangerous, stay in danger when it's time to bail, and finally die with zero sympathy from the audience because they are just way too stupid to be real. The protagonist here knows the technology, has basic logic, and reacts to events the way that an average person would do. The most impressive part is that the reactions develop from event to event; the acting in lots of other horror films fails to deliver this and so easily falls flat by cloning the same level of excitement throughout.

Compared to the X-Files Season 7 episode "First Person Shooter" almost 20 years ago, this episode shows what the similar concept could be delivered if a more serious angle is taken, the research done right, and the production details attended to.

The only reason why I didn't give it a 10 star is Sonja. I feel that this character didn't receive a full closure.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 2016 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Englefield House, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

House Of Tomorrow

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1