The wait is almost over for Black Mirror‘s sixth season, with Netflix today revealing a release date of June 15, along with an official trailer teasing ‘five new nightmares’.
The latest in the Charlie Brooker-created anthology series boasts a massive cast of impressive names including Aaron Paul, Salma Hayek Pinault, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Michael Cera, Paapa Essiedu, Rob Delaney, Rory Culkin and Zazie Beetz.
All five new episodes (referred to as ‘five new films’ in the trailer) are written by Brooker, with a variety of directors taking on what looks to be all kinds of dystopian flavored subject matter. Here’s the full rundown of episodes, as well as cast and filming details:
JOAN IS AWFUL
An average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life — in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek.
Cast: Annie Murphy, Ben Barnes, Himesh Patel, Michael Cera, Rob Delaney, Salma Hayek Pinault
Director: Ally Pankiw
Written by: Charlie Brooker
Filmed in: UK
LOCH HENRY
A young couple travel to a sleepy Scottish town to start work on a genteel nature documentary – but find themselves drawn to a juicy local story involving shocking events of the past.
Cast: Daniel Portman, John Hannah, Monica Dolan, Myha’la Herrold, Samuel Blenkin
Director: Sam Miller
Written by: Charlie Brooker
Filmed in: UK (Scotland)
BEYOND THE SEA
In an alternative 1969, two men on a perilous high-tech mission wrestle with the consequences of an unimaginable tragedy.
Cast: Aaron Paul, Auden Thornton, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Rory Culkin
Director: John Crowley
Written by: Charlie Brooker
Filmed in: UK and Spain
MAZEY DAY
A troubled starlet is dogged by invasive paparazzi while dealing with the consequences of a hit-and-run incident.
Cast: Clara Rugaard, Danny Ramirez, Zazie Beetz
Director: Uta Briesewitz
Written by: Charlie Brooker
Filmed in: Spain
DEMON 79
Northern England, 1979. A meek sales assistant is told she must commit terrible acts to prevent disaster.
Cast: Anjana Vasan, Paapa Essiedu
Director: Toby Haynes
Written by: Charlie Brooker & Bisha K Ali
Filmed in: UK
Since hitting screens back in 2011, Black Mirror (which was based on the classic series The Twilight Zone) has explored the collective anxieties and unease of 21st-century living, as we delve deeper and deeper into the darker aspects of technology. Scarily, it only seems to become even more relevant with each passing year.
Brooker has previously teased that the new series will “stretch the parameters of what ‘a Black Mirror episode’ even is” and that he began this season by deliberately “upending some of my own core assumptions about what to expect.” So, while we’re probably set to get a hefty dose of those classic Black Mirror tropes we’ve come to know and love, it also sounds like the sixth season will be delivering some new twists and turns that will keep us on our toes.
Check out the trailer below and don’t forget to mark your digital diary for June 15!
