• Paul Giamatti breaks down the emotional ending of his Black Mirror episode "Eulogy."
• The Oscar nominee tells EW the episode resonated with him for its hotter tone.
• He additionally explains how he pushed himself to cry so laborious within the episode's ultimate scene.

On occasion, Black Mirror rolls out an emotionally arresting episode that soothes the soul as a substitute of 1 that instigates anxiousness. Whereas Paul Giamatti's season 7 installment "Eulogy" may dabble within the irreversible, weepy aftermath of grief, it additionally finds plain magnificence within the ache, as its star explains to Leisure Weekly.

"I believed it felt totally different. Now and again, there's a Black Mirror episode that type of, the identical means that Twilight Zone did, has these episodes with a distinct really feel to them, and I favored that," Giamatti says of the emotional episode, which follows a lonely man, Philip (Giamatti), who receives an surprising name from a girl representing an organization referred to as Eulogy.

The voice on the opposite finish tells him {that a} long-lost lover from his youth, Carol, has died, and that, forward of her funeral, the Eulogy service will curate an "immersive memorial" for her utilizing reminiscences from those that knew her. Philip reluctantly agrees, as he reveals that he and Carol had a traumatic breakup that ruined his life, and he's stewed in anger for many years.

He's then despatched a package (with a Nubbin gadget) with directions from a feminine voice information (Patsy Ferran) who asks him to consider Carol to calibrate his reminiscences, however he can't bear in mind her face. The pair then traverse Philip's reminiscences utilizing photographs he minimize her face out of in a match of rage following their breakup, and the gadget transports Philip into the world of the pictures to hunt out his forgotten reminiscences of the lady he as soon as beloved.

By way of this, Philip rediscovers Carol's love for the cello, which she gave as much as play the keyboard in a band they began collectively over the course of their three-year relationship. Finally, Carol acquired a gig enjoying within the orchestra for a manufacturing of The Phantom of the Opera in London, placing a long-distance pressure on their relationship — which leads Philip to discover entanglements with one other lady.

Philip then remembers when he visited Carol in London with the intention of proposing, however she went silent and walked out of the restaurant. The information grills him on contemplating Carol's emotions within the second, and it's revealed that the Eulogy consultant he's been interacting with is definitely a digital recreation of Carol's daughter, with whom Carol was pregnant on the time of the proposal, and her father was a member of the orchestra.

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Distraught, Philip finds in storage a disposable digital camera he had with him that evening, and discovers a photograph taken inside his lodge room that reveals a letter on the ground addressed to "Philly," which is what Carol referred to as him. He finds the decades-old letter in a storage field, reads it, and discovers that she'd apologized, and requested him to satisfy her on the stage door if he needed to proceed seeing her. However, he by no means confirmed up, they usually by no means spoke once more.

Nonetheless, "it's a happier ending than I believed," Giamatti tells EW of the conclusion, which sees Philip lastly bear in mind Carol's face whereas inside a reminiscence conjured by {a photograph} of his youthful self watching her play the cello of their house. Tears stream down his face as he watches Carol with pleasure.

"Once I first learn it, I believed it was a kind of bittersweet ending, type of actually. However I believed it was ambiguous. Once we had been taking pictures, we had conversations, like, is that this good for this man? Is that this good expertise? Is it serving to individuals?" Giamatti asks, noting that Philip is put "via the ringer" by Eulogy, however it helps him ultimately. "He's discovered this individual and lets her go on the similar time, so it’s therapeutic and constructive. A contented ending? As joyful as certainly one of these reveals might be, however he results in a greater place than he was in."

Giamatti feels that Philip is "caught previously, but doesn't need to cope with the previous," so seeing Carol ultimately "kind of releases him from it" to the purpose the place "perhaps he'll transfer on" from his trauma.

Upon seeing Carol, Giamatti feels that Philip's gazing upon her on the finish conjures each heat and somber emotions, however communicates that, "I can reside with you once more and transfer on," and that "getting that again releases him from" the ache he carried.

He additionally says that taking pictures the episode was a bit creepy, in a means, as a result of the scenes the place the digital camera takes viewers inside numerous pictures was largely achieved with sensible results and staging a bunch of dancers and mimes in held positions, whereas lining up the digital camera excellent to make it seem as if all contributors had been in a flat, 2-D {photograph}.

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As spectacular as its building is likely to be, the episode is a hauntingly stunning one due to the uncooked emotion Giamatti — a two-time Oscar nominee — brings to Philip's face in its closing moments.

"I used to be so joyful to see her, so joyful to lastly see her face and bear in mind how stunning she was and what a stunning presence she was," Giamatti remembers of his inspiration for the scene. "However, it was additionally heartbreaking to see her once more, as a result of she's gone. She wasn't actually there. The stress between, 'I don't need to give it some thought' and 'I do need to give it some thought' lastly will get reconciled. I can give it some thought, however it's gone. That second of lastly having the ability to seize it, it goes away, too. It's intense."

Black Mirror season 7 episode guide: All about the cast, plot details, and more

Black Mirror season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.

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