Black Mirror: "Common People"

Black Mirror: "Common People." Season 7, episode 1. Netflix premiere 10 April 2025.

Satiric SF, with some Horror.

From Wikipedia summary — in the near future, Rivermind Technologies:

can remove the tumor and replace [... Amanda, the female protagonist's] excised brain tissue with synthetic tissue powered by their servers. While the surgery is free, the couple agree to pay a monthly subscription fee to give Amanda a chance at living a normal life [...].

Initially, the service seems to help Amanda, but as time passes they find it has several limitations that can only be bypassed by subscribing to the costlier "Plus" tier. Unbeknownst to her, Amanda begins interjecting brief advertisements into her daily speech, threatening her job and their financial security. Mike secretly pays for the upgrade by raising funds on "Dum Dummies", a livestreaming site where users take requests from paying viewers to perform humiliating tasks. [...].

[...] When Mike mentions that they're trying for a baby, [the Rivermind agent] Gaynor explains they would be charged an additional fee if Amanda were to become pregnant, leading Mike to get furious and the couple dejectedly leaves the office.

One year later, Mike sells the unused crib. Amanda has returned to the basic Rivermind service, sleeping 16 hours a day and spouting ads when she is awake. Mike pays for 30 minutes of the premium Lux service, using it to boost Amanda's serenity, allowing her to calmly request that he end her life when she's "not here". As the time runs out, Mike suffocates Amanda as she blacks out to run an ad. Mike then walks into another room with Dum Dummies streaming live on his laptop, holding a box cutter in his hand.[1]

Aside from allusions to real-world references clear to most of the audience in April 2025, see for a variation on the theme of brain implants, as with the works listed here.[2] In addition to the bodily intrusion, note intrusive ads, with a technique several steps beyond The Space Merchants (1952/53).

RDE, with thanks to Lynn Ryder, finishing, 14Ap25