David, in Cliff's replica, begins crying and Lana embraces him. At Lana's suggestion, Cliff lets David use his replica to walk through the forest. Restricted to the spaceship, David falls silent in grief and shows signs of suicidality. They tie David up he watches as they kill his family and destroy his replica. The four intruders-led by Kappa ( Rory Culkin)-comprise a cult that oppose artificial humans. They are interrupted by an alert: David is needed to supervise Cliff's spacewalk for an unplanned repair.Īt night, David hears intruders and approaches with a baseball bat. He dances to ' La Mer' with Jessica and fondles her. David goes to the movies with his son, daughter and wife Jessica ( Auden Thornton) for his son's birthday. They can transfer their consciousness to artificial replicas of their bodies on Earth when not needed on the ship for routine checks and exercise.Īs Cliff and his wife Lana ( Kate Mara) recently moved to the countryside with their son Henry, Lana suggests a garden party to meet neighbours, but Cliff rejects the idea. In an alternate history 1969, Cliff Stanfield ( Aaron Paul) and David Ross ( Josh Hartnett) are astronauts two years into a six-year mission. Overall, many critics considered it the best episode of the sixth series. The acting was widely praised by reviewers, as was the episode's emotional, contemplative tone, although the plot and pacing garnered a mixed reaction. The masculinity of each character is explored, as is Lana's experience of isolation. He had agreed to a cameo in the previous episode ' USS Callister' under the condition that he could appear in the series again.Ĭritics identified the episode as character-driven: Cliff is more strict and uptight than David. Aaron Paul, a fan of Black Mirror, plays both Cliff and David inhabiting Cliff's replica. Filming took place for three weeks in Whitstable, England, in summer 2022, as well as in London and Spain. The title comes from an English version of ' La Mer', a song prominent in the episode. It was influenced by the Manson Family cult active in the 1960s. After David's family are killed on Earth, he begins to use Cliff's replica and grows closer to Cliff's wife Lana ( Kate Mara).īrooker conceived of the episode as a story about working from home.

Set in a retrofuturistic 1969, it follows two astronauts, Cliff ( Aaron Paul) and David ( Josh Hartnett), who inhabit replicas of their bodies on Earth. Alongside the rest of the sixth series, it premiered on Netflix on 15 June 2023. It was written by the series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by John Crowley. ' Beyond the Sea' is the third episode of the sixth series of the anthology series Black Mirror.

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