Black Mirror’s Common People Repeats A Disturbing Element From This 94% RT Horror Hit From 2025

Black Mirror season 7 starts strong with the episode “Common People”, and though it features technology new to the show, it repeats a disturbing element from one of 2025’s most successful horror movies so far: Companion. Black Mirror season 7 has a darker style than previous seasons, more reminiscent of its first seasons, and “Common People” is a great example of this. Staying true to the show’s style, “Common People” sees new technologies supposed to improve the quality of life of many, but with a very disturbing dark side.

“Common People” follows married couple Amanda (Rashida Jones) and Mike (Chris O’Dowd), whose lives take a turn when Amanda has a medical emergency due to a brain tumor. Mike is offered an experimental treatment named RiverMind that will save Amanda but at a big price, as it’s essentially a self-streaming service. Mike accepts, but as time passes, they are unable to keep up with the treatment’s tiers and upgrades – and one of the latter is reminiscent of one of the most disturbing elements in Companion.

Common People’s RiverMind Lux Has Features Like Those In Companion

Companion’s Iris Included Some Features Amanda Could Only Have With RiverMind Lux

At the beginning of her subscription to RiverMind, Amanda is able to function normally, with just some extra hours of sleep, but the company soon starts making changes and introducing tiers. First, they run ads through Amanda, forcing her and Mike to upgrade to RiverMind Plus, but later, Amanda starts sleeping more, so much so that it interferes with her job. They’re then introduced to the next tier, RiverMind Lux, which would allow her to have a more normal life but at a much higher price. A special feature of RiverMind Lux is the control of emotions and sensations through an app.

Mike buys a 12-hour RiverMind Lux booster for Amanda and increases her pleasure, and a year later, as a final anniversary gift, he gives her a 30-minute booster, with which he increases her serenity. This specific feature took me back to Companion, as Iris (Sophie Thatcher) has pretty much the same one. Written and directed by Drew Hancock, Companion follows a young man named Josh (Jack Quaid) and his girlfriend and companion android Iris. Iris is programmed to be loyal to Josh and keep him safe, but he hacks into her system to make other adjustments.

Josh could control Iris’ emotions, traits, and even her physical appearance on his tablet and phone. Iris uses this to increase her intelligence so she can escape from Josh, and he later uses it to decrease it to zero so he can make her “kill” herself. Empathix and RiverMind had the same idea for their programs, but one is a lot more disturbing than the other.

Why Black Mirror’s Common People Is Scarier Than Companion

One Detail In Common People Makes This Worse Than Companion

The big difference between this feature in “Common People” and in Companion is the user. Companion’s Iris is an android, and while at the end of the movie she’s implied to blend with humans and live as one, she’s still an android with an entire programming that makes her who she is. Amanda in “Common People”, on the other hand, is a real person, and while part of her consciousness is being streamed due to the surgery she went through, she’s still a living person.

RiverMind Lux is a lot crueler too, as it plays with the lives and quality of life of its clients, and is more focused on money than the well-being of its patients. Controlling emotions and traits through an app could be useful in specific cases, such as during Amanda’s last day, as she deserved to feel serenity, but in general, it’s a very disturbing concept, very fitting with Black Mirror.