Hi! Were you having a pleasant Valentine's Day with your significant other? Black Mirror's new dating app is here to reveal just how many more of those you get.
If you watched the season 4 Black Mirror episode "Hang the DJ," you're already familiar with this particular dating scenario. This episode of the technology-focused series revolves around Frank (Joe Cole) and Amy (Georgina Campbell), a pair who, upon meeting one night via a dating app, fall for one another. Unfortunately, thanks to "The System" that everyone in their universe is forced to participate in, their romance is not long-lasting: Their "relationship expiration date," which dictates when they must part in order to find their "ultimate match," merely gives them 12 hours together.
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Throughout the episode, we see Amy and Frank embark on other relationships — some which last years, and others which last mere hours. They're miserable, until they are able to reunite — and decide they'd rather not learn how much time they have left. Unfortunately, Frank can't handle not knowing how things will end, and decides to learn the truth without Amy's permission. That leads to the app going haywire, and counting down their clock at a rapid pace.
You, too, can join the fun via Black Mirror's new "Hang the DJ"-inspired site. Head to Coach.dating, and you'll find a link which you must copy and paste to the partner you wish to "play" with. (My boyfriend was at his job where he doesn't get to test out faux-dating apps, so I had a friend participate.) After my friend joined the site, the clock ticked down. The first time, neither of us clicked to reveal when our "romance" would end — and we ended up being one another's "ultimate match" because of it.
However, when I did click the "reveal" option during my second attempt, something different happened. The clock gave us 14 years, but then started ticking down — until we had only a measly 10 minutes left of our relationship before we had to say our goodbyes.
So, if you want to test out this pretty sad version of reality with your own boo, why not give it a go? A discussion of this chilling dating reality might just be the perfect companion for your pre-fixed Valentine's Day meal.