Black Mirror season 7 Hotel Reverie explained - Does Brandy return to the real world?

All five episodes of Black Mirror season 7 were released on Netflix on April 10, 2025. While each episode of the dystopian science fiction anthology series has received considerable acclaim, episode 3, titled Hotel Reverie, has been particularly praised by both critics and audiences.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Black Mirror season 7, Hotel Reverie. Reader discretion is advised.

Black Mirror season 7's Hotel Reverie features Issa Rae as Brandy, a celebrated actress who takes on an experimental role amid growing concerns about being typecast in her career. To carry out this experiment, she must access a simulated world with characters from one of her favorite period dramas, Hotel Reverie.

Although the characters in the world are not real, Brandy, who enters the world, is quite real. That said, to get the end credits to roll and leave the world, she has to say the last line of the project, which is "yours forevermore." Brandy does finally say these words at the end and can leave the online world, but the conditions under which this occurs are not favorable.

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Black Mirror season 7 episode 3 Hotel Reverie: Brandy returns to the real world

Brandy makes her way out of the online world in Black Mirror season 7 Hotel Reverie (Image via Netflix)

When Brandy enters the online world in Black Mirror season 7 to be part of the Hotel Reverie rendition, she does so without any expectations. She delivers her lines smoothly for the first few minutes, following instructions from Awkwafina's character, Kimmy. However, after a while, she falters when she starts going off script and forgets her lines.

While this happens, a mishap occurs in the control room where the simulated world is being controlled. After an employee drops coffee on the equipment, it glitches, causing a loss of contact between Kimmy and Brandy.

During the time Brandy is cut off from the system, she takes the initiative to speak to Clara (Emma Corrin), her romantic interest in the film, and tells her how none of the things they were experiencing were real. Clara then goes on a journey of self-exploration, where she realizes that what Brandy was saying was the truth.

With that information, Brandy and Clara develop a romantic bond. However, their happiness is short-lived, as Kimmy manages to make contact with Brandy and urges her to deliver the last line so that she can exit the online world of Hotel Reverie. Brandy, initially reluctant to do so, eventually agrees and makes it to the real world.

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Clara dies when Brandy exits from the Hotel Reverie online world in Black Mirror season 7

Clara does not survive in Black Mirror season 7 Hotel Reverie (Image via Netflix)

Due to a shift in circumstances, as previously highlighted, several things in the online world of Hotel Reverie do not go as planned in Black Mirror season 7. While both Brandy and Clara miss their lines, their characters also go through developments that are different than planned.

After Kimmy manages to make contact with Brandy, she is told that she can only exit the simulated world of Hotel Reverie after she has delivered the last line. The inability to do so would result in her being trapped in the online world forever and would result in her death in the real world.

After hearing that, Brandy makes efforts to set the story on the correct path, delivering the lines and acting in ways that are expected of her. However, things go off-path when she confronts Clara's husband, Claude, and the former ends up killing the latter to save Brandy.

Things escalate further when the authorities arrive and Clara is shot dead, dying in Brandy's arms. With Brandy overwhelmed with the emotion of losing her lover, Brandy urges her to say the last lines. She eventually utters them and wakes up from her sleep in the real world as the film's end credits roll on the screen in front of her.

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All episodes of Black Mirror season 7 are currently streaming on Netflix.