Those that are big fans of the theater are likely going to adore Inside No. 9, with every episode more or less functioning as a stage play thanks to its claustrophobic, self-contained structure each week. Bottle episodes still might be a relative rarity within television, but a recent influx of films along the likes of The Room, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Free Fire, It Comes at Night, and the upcoming Murder on the Orient Express suggest that there is definitely a resurgence of self-contained stories that are more minimalist in nature. Inside No. 9 is able to tap into that energy and deliver it on a week-to-week basis. When comparing Inside No. 9 to something like Black Mirror, it’s easy to see how the latter tends to focus more on story and concept rather than style, whereas Inside No. 9 prioritizes aesthetic and technique, but never at the expense of the story. If anything, the series somehow finds opportunities where ambitious structural deviations actually strengthen the premise at hand.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, the people responsible for Inside No. 9, came into the program hot off the heels of their previous series, Psychoville, a darkly comic subversion of horror tropes where both Shearsmith and Pemberton were each playing upwards of five distinct characters. The brilliance of these two, as well as confirming their status as chameleons, was previously seen in their disturbing sketch series, The League of Gentlemen, which broke boundaries by having the duo portray over 30 separate characters apiece, introducing nightmare fuel like Papa Lazarou to audiences, but also by efficiently transforming itself in its final season from random sketch comedy into a serialized sitcom. Imagine how Kroll Show seamlessly combined sketch comedy with sitcom serialization or how Saturday Night Live would semi-regularly spin-off its more popular characters into feature films. Shearsmith and Pemberton were already playing with all of this, making them uniquely qualified to approach anthology television in a radical new way. The duo had already pulled off an impressive single-take episode of Psychoville that acted as a stunning tribute to Hitchcock’s Rope. The pair were now ready to get even crazier. In many ways Inside No. 9 feels like the perfect synthesis of Shearsmith and Pemberton’s previous work.

Are you a fan of Black Mirror or American Horror Story? You’ll like Inside No. 9.

Basically, if you’re a fan of Black Mirror and the increasing trend towards anthology shows, you’re going to enjoy Inside No. 9. Not just because it’s expertly plotted and as pitch black a comedy as you can get, but that the series also goes above and beyond in order to impress its audience in some aesthetically astounding way. Sure, Black Mirror has made you drop your jaw in fascination, but has it ever done an episode that was entirely devoid of dialogue? What about an entry that’s filmed entirely on a bunch of stationary CCTV security cameras? Or an entry that’s presented as an audio commentary that’s being recorded on a lost piece of footage? Inside No. 9 truly pushes the boundaries in ways that other series don’t even dream of. Black Mirror might have a world leader copulating with a farm animal, but Inside No. 9 is going to blow your mind in even crazier ways.

Inside No. 9 also regularly pulls off the sorts of feats that have made audiences collectively go nuts on other shows. For instance, last year people praised BoJack Horseman’s silent installment, “Fish Out of Water,” as one of the best pieces of television that year. Inside No. 9 pulls off the same incredible task in their season two episode, “A Quiet Night In,” where two cat burglars attempt to rob someone’s home. Even more obscure anthology series like Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories or Netflix’s Easy that connect the best when they’re doing tone poems of sorts get outperformed here, too.

Inside No. 9 offers up bigger twists than Black Mirror and while it might be inherently lacking the scope of some season-long anthology programs like American Crime Story or Channel Zero, its ability to move on and not hammer an idea into the ground is deeply helpful. That being said, if the series ever decided to return to one of its respective “number nines,” albeit from a different character or vantage point, there’s no reason why the same excitement that’s generated from American Horror Story returning to established continuity couldn’t be done here. The thing is, Inside No. 9 seems less interested in retreading ground than American Horror Story does.

Are you a fan of offbeat prestige TV like Legion or Twin Peaks? You’ll love Inside No. 9.