Emotionally Shattering: 'Eulogy' Black Mirror, Season 7, Episode 5

Black Mirror Season 7

Episode Five Review

S7 EP05 | Eulogy 

One of the more powerful episodes from this season, Eulogy takes us on a journey of love, loss, grief and regret. 

We meet Phillip played by Paul Giamatti who is approached by a funeral company in search for memories of the deceased. The person who has passed is Phillip’s first love but we soon realise he has gone to great expense to erase her from his memory. We follow as he attempts to remember her through the minimal photographs he has of their relationship. 

The episode takes us on an emotion journey through Phillip’s life, we see as he struggles to recollect moments and he fights with himself to forget her. Phillip wants to forget but as he is forced to remember we piece together the whole picture, not just Phillip’s side of the story. 

This is a very intelligent episode, the use of technology to remember someone after they’ve died is beyond powerful and meaningful. Being able to remember a loved one through the eyes of someone else is moving and heartbreaking at the same time. 

This episode felt reminiscent of ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, a film in which the lead characters erase one another from their memory. Phillip attempted to do this but he is forced to face reality and forced to look at their relationship from all sides. 

Like all Black Mirror episodes, Eulogy felt reality adjacent, as though this could become reality one day. This episode became my favourite from season seven for that reason alone, it had enough emotional impact, believability and heart to keep me attached emotionally to the characters whilst interjecting the technology element into the humanity. Charlie Brooker gives us an equal balance of humanity vs technology in this episode and it resonated with me. 

Aside from the obvious emotional attachment surrounding death and grief, this episode shined a light on technology needing humans. Technology needs us, the tech in this episode couldn’t miraculously make Phillip remember but instead it needed to work with him to accomplish its goal. Without humans, technology is stuck, unable to advance and move forward. Somewhat like Phillip and his attachment to his past relationship, he was unable to move forward through his pain and instead let it fester like a disease - darkening his mind and his memories. 

Patsy Ferran played the role of The Guide in this episode, her voice was so incredibly soothing and relaxing. I thought she had a strong character development and grew into a forceful and strong willed character. Especially alongside powerhouse performer Paul Giamatti, they had a good chemistry on screen. 

Essentially, Eulogy is the deconstruction and evolution of a narcissist. Phillip is a narcissist at the beginning of this episode and chooses to remember his past a certain way - his way, despite it being incorrect but by the end of the episode we see Phillip transition. Phillip adapts to his new found knowledge and recollection, by remembering his past he is set free to move on and enjoy his future. This episode allows us to understand when we might be wrong and try to analyse the bigger picture (the episode quite literally did this as Phillip stepped inside his photographs and explored the bigger picture - I found this to be incredibly poetic and intelligent). 

Eulogy is the strongest episode in season 7, easily and without a doubt. 

Probe Points

★★★★★