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San Junipero is the Film Made for Heaven on Earth

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I recently rewatched the Emmy Award winning episode of the film series Black Mirror titled San Junipero. Set in the late 80’s, San Junipero follows an unlikely couple in a futuristic artificial world used by retirement home residents. Owen Harris’ vision is a beautiful masterpiece that will grab the attention of anybody and everybody watching. No matter what your preference in genres or stories are, the film is so brilliant that you’ll appreciate it for it’s amazing cinematography, likeable characters, and “jamming” soundtrack.

In a dystopian future where the elderly are able to plug into an artificial reality that brings them back their youth and back to the time of their youth, two women fall in love in the artificial reality known as San Junipero. Yorkie, whose last name wasn't mentioned, appears in San Junipero for the first time ever where she decides to spend the night at the local popular bar, Tucker’s. As soon as she sees Kelly Booth, she is immediately captivated by the beauty of this bodacious stranger. Within seconds, Kelly approaches Yorkie to help her create a cover to get an ex-acquaintance to leave her alone. Yorkie, who is immediately close to being head over heels level in love, plays along with this excuse Kelly needs. Little does Yorkie know that this women would be the one thing she’s been looking for her whole life; the one thing she’s wanted, needed and wished for. Kelly would be caught off guard, falling in love with Yorkie. Both Kelly and Yorkie would have to decide whether they love each other so much they’d leave their entire lives behind to stay together forever in the dream reality of San Junipero.

Both lead actresses did phenomenal jobs that blew me away. Mackenzie Davis, who has been in films like Bladerunner 2049 and The Martian, played the soft-spoken sweetheart that is Yorkie. Davis showed her emotional range in playing a character that was unpredictable with her emotions. She was able to change emotions and facial expressions so fluently they seemed as well acted as possible. The same can be said for GuGu Mbatha-Raw, who played Kelly. She has starred in the live action “Beauty and the Beast” and BBC’s hit show “Doctor Who.” Mbatha-Raw played Kelly as amazing as anybody could imagine, she had amazing timing for the one-liners. Like Davis, Kelly had amazing emotional range.

The film had so many breathtaking aspects to it. It was so beautifully made, that I would not change one thing about it. It’s hard to pick a favorite feature, everything was worth the Emmys the movie won including: the beautiful aesthetic pleasing shots, the script and acting, and the characters. Everything is so beautiful, but if I had to pick a favorite thing it would have to be the relationship between Kelly and Yorkie. Not only because I love the two characters in a relationship together, but the story that was told to get these two characters together. With LGBTQ+ relationships in the media, most of the time they are not represented enough and sidelined and/or are not given enough time to develop a realistic relationship. With Kelly and Yorkie, even though their relationship was fairly unrealistic due to the sci-fi components, they have one of the best LGBTQ+ love stories I have personally ever seen, and most likely of all time. Their love felt real and not rushed even though the movie was only around an hour long. Their story was one so beautifully told that I know for a fact it is one I will never forget and neither will any other person who decides to watch this film.
One theme that can be taken from both Kelly and Yorkie’s beautiful love story and from the film in general is second chances should be taken if given the chance to take one, no matter the premeditated decisions that may contradict the second chance. Both Kelly and Yorkie were scared to spend possible eternity in San Junipero, they were given a second chance that could save them from the even scarier unknown of the afterlife. They were granted with the once-in-a-lifetime choice to live on forever experiencing everything they were never able to do.

I would recommend this masterpiece to almost everybody and anybody who is willing to listen to me. But those who I would strongly advise to watch would be anybody in the LGBTQ+ community looking for the representation and an even better love story. I would also recommend the film to those who love sci-fi and romance. Those who may not enjoy this film as much as I did are people who do not like mystery and those who need to watch movies multiple times to grasp the full meaning of something. Watching San Junipero multiple times is not a horrible thing but difficulty in understanding the entire meaning of the whole film may tell you that this film isn't for you. This film will always be one of my all time favorites, so with that said, I give it a 9 one hit wonders from the 80’s out of 10.

by Kyla W.
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