‘Black Mirror’ star Awkwafina explains the ending of ‘Hotel Reverie’

The third episode of “Black Mirror” Season 7, titled “Hotel Reverie,” begs the question whether consciousness supersedes physical reality.

The episode starts when Kimmy (Awkwafina), the head of a movie production company that uses new technology, pitches a revival of a 1940s romance, “Hotel Reverie.”

To her surprise, A-list celebrity Brandy Friday, played by Issa Rae, is interested in taking on the leading male role in the remake. When she arrives on set, Brandy is met with new technology in movie-making.

The film crew transports Brandy’s consciousness from her physical body onto the set of the original “Hotel Reverie,” where she plays her role alongside AI versions of the 1940s actors. All she has to do is follow the movie’s original plot.

But the setting feels too real. Unexpectedly, Brandy ends up falling for her counterpart, actor Dorothy, played by Emma Corrin. The major complication? Dorothy believes that she’s truly the part she plays in the film, Clara.

When technical difficulties in the real world cause Brandy to be trapped in the film, she uses the time to tell Dorothy that she’s unknowingly an AI version of a 1940s actor. Dorothy then begins to gain consciousness and awareness of her predicament.

Giving up on finding any way out of the movie set, Brandy and Dorothy fall in love and embrace a short-lived but passionate romance.

What happens at the end of the ‘Hotel Reverie’ episode of ‘Black Mirror’?

The only way Brandy can leave the movie set is by finishing the narrative arc and saying her character’s famous last line. Otherwise she will be trapped in the movie and her body will die.

When the film’s technology is once again functioning, Kimmy tells Brandy she’ll finally be able to finish shooting and return to her real-life body.

In order to proceed to the end of the film, the crew would have to go back in time to where they left off. By doing so, Dorothy would forget everything that happened when she was trapped with Brandy, including their romance.

Brandy has to decide whether she wants to return to her physical reality or stay in the movie.

Brandy proceeds to subtly change the storyline in hopes to pivot away from the ending and potentially remain in her artificial world, which sends the film crew into a panic.

When they realize the depth of Brandy’s feelings for Dorothy, the crew equally seems drawn into the conflict of whether to pull her out of the film.

“There’s a moment where Kimmy is understanding that Brandy is being a little lost in there and the harrowing reality that maybe she might prefer to be in there,” Awkwafina tells TODAY.com.

When asked if Kimmy ever considered letting Brandy stay in the alternate reality, Awkwafina says, “I don’t think she would allow it to happen. That would be bad.”

Because of Brandy’s subtle pulls to sabotage the story to stay on set longer, the plot diverts severely from the original film and results in the death of Dorothy’s character, Clara.

Holding Dorothy in her arms, Brandy is faced with whether or not to recite her final line and return to the real world.

Ultimately, she chooses to say the line, the key to bring her back to reality. She tells Dorothy through tears that she will be “forever yours.”

Brandy is immediately brought back to her physical reality, waking up to the entire crew teary-eyed.

At the very end of the film, Brandy receives a special package from the film company. The gift contained an video of Dorothy doing a screen test back in the 1940s.

During the screen test, Dorothy must take a fake phone call, but jokes about how difficult it is when there’s no one on the other line. Suddenly, Brandy digs further through the package to find a telephone.

The episode concludes with Brandy rekindling her spark with Dorothy, as the two share a heartwarming conversation through the phone.

When asked if the ending suggests the movie company could let Brandy revisit that alternate reality and rekindle her romance with Dorothy, Awkwafina tells TODAY.com, “I think probably not, but that’s something that I even wonder too.”

The actor points to another “Black Mirror” episode from Season 4, “San Junipero,” as being related to “Hotel Reverie.” Both are queer romances that feature characters finding havens in alternate consciousnesses.

“The realities that you choose to live in are really subjective if your consciousness is there. You might prefer different realities if you can live in them,” Awkwafina says, adding, “It’s like a weird, scary kind of idea, but true.”