Episodes 01

“Joan Is Awful”

Joan, a tech CEO, finds that the events of her life are being retold in near-real time by streaming app Streamberry, which has produced a show titled Joan Is Awful starring Salma Hayek. Joan learns from her lawyer that she technically consented to Streamberry’s usage of her personal data upon signing the app’s terms and conditions, and that the company is using a quantum computer to produce the entire show in CGI based on data collected from their personal devices. Blaming Hayek, Joan rebelliously decides to defecate in a church; Hayek visits her after the act is captured in the show and reveals that she too inadvertently signed the rights over her own image to Streamberry. The two decide to break into Streamberry’s offices to destroy the computer, only to learn that they themselves are in a simulated reality, with “Joan” being played by actress Annie Murphy. Joan nevertheless destroys the computer, reverting reality to its source level, where the real Joan is now a young coffee shop owner who, alongside Murphy, is placed on house arrest for breaking into Streamberry’s offices.

Episodes 02

“Loch Henry”

Couple Davis and Pia, film students, visit Davis’s mother Janet in the countryside town of Loch Henry, where they learn about Iain Adair, a notorious serial killer who tortured tourists. Pia proposes making a true crime documentary about Adair instead of their initial nature film, aiming to bring some attention to the town. During the shooting, they find out that old VCR tapes of the TV series Bergerac stored by Janet were actually disguising footage of Adair’s crimes, revealing Adair to in fact be the accomplice of Davis’ parents. Pia discovers the evidence of Janet’s involvement and tries to escape, but suffers a fatal fall while crossing a river. Janet, fearing exposure, leaves the VCR tapes for Davis with a note and commits suicide. Years later, the documentary is successfully released on Streamberry, winning a BAFTA. This delights the town, but traumatizes Davis, who after the ceremony, alone in a hotel room, re-reads his mother’s suicide note: “For your film. Mum”.

Episodes 03

“Beyond the Sea”

In an alternate-history 1969, astronauts Cliff and David have embarked on a six-year deep space mission, during which they inhabit mechanical replicas of their bodies on Earth to spend time with their wives and children. David becomes trapped aboard the ship when his replica along with his family are murdered by a cult, and becomes reclusive and catatonic. Cliff and his wife Lana decide to let David return to Earth in Cliff’s replica body; David finds the experience therapeutic, but quickly becomes attracted to Lana, who rejects his advances and wants his visits to stop after he hits their son for defiling his painting of Cliff’s family home. Cliff discovers David’s nude drawings of Lana; both deny having an affair, but assert that Cliff does not appreciate his family enough. Cliff tells David that Lana is disgusted by him and bars him from using his replica; David sends Cliff on an emergency spacewalk repair and uses his tag to return to Earth and murder Cliff’s family, which Cliff discovers. A horrified Cliff returns to the ship, where David is waiting for him and offers him a seat.

Episodes 04

“Mazey Day”

In the mid-2000s, Bo, an amoral paparazzi photographer drives a television actor to suicide after selling photos of the star and his secret male lover to a magazine. Feeling guilty for the scandal, she decides to quit selling photos. Weeks later while working at a new, low-paying job, Bo is offered $30,000 if she can get photos of actress Mazey Day, who went missing after a hit-and-run incident in the Czech Republic. The paparazzi ultimately find the actress at a remote “rehab” facility and discover that she was bitten by a werewolf; she is hiding out of fear of hurting other people. The paparazzi break into Day’s room and begin taking invasive photos of her as she starts transforming into a werewolf herself. Day attacks several paparazzi before chasing two to a local diner. Day briefly turns back to a human and begs Bo to kill her, but Bo instead encourages the actress to do it herself. Day then kills herself as Bo stands over her, shamelessly taking a photo of her committing suicide.

Episodes 05

“Demon 79”

Set in 1979 and referred to in the opening credits as a “Red Mirror” episode. Nida is a sales assistant at a department store and faces discrimination and racism from her coworkers and boss. However, she discovers a talisman that unleashes a demon-in-training named Gaap. Gaap, dressed from Boney M, tells Nida to kill three people in the next few days to prevent the threat of a nuclear apocalypse. She is coerced into killing a bystander when Gaap reveals he sexually assaults his daughter however becomes frightened by her actions and refuses. However, she continues on the spree nonetheless, killing a man found guilty of murdering his wife and brother however does not fulfil the prophecy and turns her target to Michael Smart, a far-right Conservative politician. She runs him off the road but is apprehended by police before she can kill him and is arrested. While alone in the interrogation room, Gaap persuades her to join him in damnation together which she accepts while nuclear missiles land and detonate the world.