‘Black Mirror’ is Now a Ride, For Some Reason

You’d think that a TV show that began with a politician being coerced into having sex with a pig on live television wouldn’t necessarily spawn an attraction at a family theme park … and yet here we are. We’ve already gotten The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge; naturally, the next fictional universe we all want replicated at a theme park is goddamn Black Mirror. Yes, the Black Mirror Labyrinth opened at Thorpe Park in the U.K. this week, melding the existential hell of our technology-dependent future with the existential hell of taking your kids on vacation.

Instead of making a version of The Pirates of the Caribbean ride where all the robots are your dead loved ones, or a twist on It’s a Small World in which you float for what feels like an eternity through an empty white void thus simulating the slavish nightmare life an artificial intelligence program, the new attraction is a maze. Well, it’s not just a maze; there’s a whole story involving an evil Lawnmower Man-esque A.I. trying to delete you from existence or something while you’re guided to safety by a mysterious hoodie-clad hacker. 

They also make sure to snap a photo of you at the start of the maze and employ a very on-brand invasion of privacy throughout the experience, ratcheting up the dystopian anxiety. So, yeah, it looks like a fun interpretation of the show’s themes for those who want to experience the creepiness of the Black Mirror universe and somehow haven’t noticed that our current universe is pretty much there already. 

The same park is also the home of some other not so family friendly-themed rides, like Saw - The Ride, The Walking Dead: The Ride, and Zodiac, which from the looks of it is just a typical spinning ride but, based on all of the other grisly subject matter at this park, we’re guessing is secretly named after the famed ‘70s serial killer. 

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Top Image: ThorpePark.com