Described as a love letter to the 80s and homage to the great storytellers of that era, Stranger Things deserves its status as the great US summer hit of 2016.
As a long-time subscriber to Netflix, I’m kicking myself that I’d glossed over this menu option on countless occasions. What I didn’t realise is that behind that thumbnail was an incredible sci-fi, coming of age horror web television series that was going to simultaneously fright and delight.
The 8-part Netflix original series, written and directed by Matt and Ross Duffer, is about the search for 12-year-old Will Dyer who went missing while riding his BMX home following an all-day session of Dungeons and Dragons with his best mates Mike, Lucas and Dustin.
After his single mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) and older son Jonathon realise he is missing the next morning, she raises the alarm – and if it wasn’t already weird when you see young Will meet his fate, shit just gets weirder.
The series has it all. The characters are well developed and the actors are given the space to breath yet keep the storyline moving along.
The series borrows from a raft of 80s classics – complete with a sleepy town, a creepy scientist running dodgy experiments, a kid with teleketic powers who has only ever known life inside a laboratory, and an alien-like beast roaming obligatory scary woods and preying on unsuspecting victims.
It’s also a coming of age story and we see school yard bullying – the cliché science nerds getting picked on – there’s also the quintessential outcast, a pretty, smart girl and an arrogant spunky jock and his yes friends, a good dose of experimentation with sex and alcohol and some sneaking around behind the parents back. In this series, the kids are the ones driving the story.
Two of my favourite tribute to the 80s moments are definitely when the strange young girl El is found and hidden and taught about her “new” world, just like in ET, or when the boys are all riding their BMX’s in a pack (hello ET and Goonies) and then when Joyce starts getting strange signs and transforms her home to try to communicate via lights (hello Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
As a music fan the synth intro and effects, channeling Kraftwerk at their peak, and the pop soundtrack add to the flavour of this 80s period piece.
There’s also walkie talkies and a home phones with rotary dials. So retro.
If you’re still on holidays and wanting something fresh and yet so old, then look no further. The second season can’t come soon enough.