Loch Henry's Ending Explained: Biggest Black Mirror Season 6 Twist
'Loch Henry' is not just a double true crime story. It is a commentary on exploitative filmmaking.
'I can't really do another true crime,' a character in Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 1 says as he chooses what to watch for the evening. Loch Henry is the title of the series the character refused to watch — and that's how the Netflix hit gives away the name and the meaning of the season's second episode before you even turn in.
'Loch Henry' follows two young filmmakers, Pia and Davis, who come to Davis' hometown to meet his mother and make a movie about Iain Adair, the ruthless serial killer who lived there a couple of decades ago. For many fans, this compelling fictional tale masquerading as true crime proved to be the most suspenseful and twist-filled episode of the season.
But 'Loch Henry' has a second layer to the story, which is actually very Black Mirror-worthy, despite some viewers' claims to the contrary.
The story doesn't end with the big twist about Davis' parents being involved in the Iain Adair murders and Pia's death upon learning this. Actually, the Black Mirror stuff starts right after Davis' mother kills herself, leaving her son a bunch of horrifying Polaroids and snuff videos she and her late husband, Davis' father, made over the years.
Though grieving over the death of his girlfriend and mother, Davis allows filmmakers to turn his story into a documentary, a true crime that becomes a hit and wins a BAFTA. Praised on screen and in print, Davis finds himself in a world where his feelings mean nothing. The logic of this world is simple — the more heartbreaking and shocking a story is, the more it will appeal to the public and the more money it will make.
'Loch Henry' is a clear nod to the true-crime shows that haven't lost their relevance in years and have become even more popular lately with the rise of Netflix's Making a Murderer and The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which many have called exploitative filmmaking.
While Davis sees the mask his mother wore while murdering people in his BAFTA award, visitors to his hometown dance in copies of that mask, and network executives continue to make money off his tragedy. Nothing he wouldn't do himself — if it didn't affect him directly.