Cliff Notes – Black Mirror star praised for ‘best piece of TV ever’ in most heartbreaking episode
- Fans of Black Mirror have expressed overwhelming emotional responses to the show’s seventh season, particularly the episode “Eulogy,” featuring Paul Giamatti, which has been hailed as ‘peak cinema.’
- Viewers have praised Giamatti’s performance and the episode’s poignant themes, with many declaring it their favourite and one of the best pieces of television ever produced.
Black Mirror star praised for ‘best piece of TV ever’ in most heartbreaking episode
Black Mirror fans have been ‘crying uncontrollably’ over what they have declared as ‘peak cinema.’
Viewers have had an indelible mark left on them since Charlie Brooker’s dystopian Netflix drama returned for a seventh season earlier this month.
They have been bawling at harrowing scenes covering alarming world events from broken healthcare systems to the growth of big tech.
But one Black Mirror episode – described as ‘one of the singular best pieces of TV ever’ – has particularly resonated with audiences.
And that is the season’s fifth instalment, Eulogy, starring an incomparable Paul Giamatti, 57.
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In Paul’s character, Phillip, is asked by a tech company to revisit his memories of his late former girlfriend to send to her family.
On Reddit, Black Mirror viewers hailed Eulogy as their ‘favourite’ episode.
Among them was WildBlueYonder01, who said: ‘I just finished Eulogy and it has to be one of the singular best pieces of TV I have ever seen.’
Swole_Monkey replied: ‘100% agreed. This was peak cinema/ Actually made me cry uncontrollably and that almost never happens when watching shows/movies.’
Echoing their sentiment, Connor997 commented: ‘Phenomenal acting from Paul Giamatti. Some of the best in the series.’
Redzjiujitsu shared: ‘I actually loved this episode, it was probably my favourite for this season.’
Crazy_Tomatillo18 also added: ‘This was my favourite episode; it was so sad. We’ve seen 4 episodes. The dinner scene when he’s describing the event, god he’s such a good actor.’
Eulogy is not the only Black Mirror season seven episode to be acclaimed; others have left viewers feeling like ‘they’ve been shot’, as well as ‘haunted.’
Many have said this is Brooker’s return to form after previous middling series on Netflix. There had been growing complaints that the drama had ‘lost its British charm’ from its early days on Channel 4.
In an interview with Metro, Brooker admitted he had heard that criticism ‘a lot.’
He explained: ‘When we first did the Netflix season it was a conscious decision from me to do episodes like San Junipero which were evocative and romantic, sort of epic, cinematic feeling, sort of story.
‘That said, I think that we consistently continue doing episodes like Plaything, Loch Henry, Demon 79. These are very, very British stories, which I don’t think anyone would say are charm offensive.
‘So I feel like that is slightly received wisdom when people say that. I get where they’re coming from but I think if you look overall in the season we do balance the big, slightly more epic stories with gritty ones where people are having a terrible time with terrible teeth.’
‘I think there’s a good balance.’
The only grumblings over Black Mirror’s seventh outing have been viewers ‘feeling like they’re going mad’ after being shown two different versions of the Bête Noire episode.
Black Mirror is available to stream on Netflix.