The moment the theme music started playing, I knew that Netflix’s “Stranger Things” will be a special show; the glowing red neon lettering with the 80s music threw me back to a nostalgic time where things were simpler, yet shrouded in a blanket of mystery that never truly gets resolved.
Having been spoiled by ultra high production values, I didn’t know what to expect from “Stranger Things”. I could see the 80s influences in the trailers, but the paint of coat was “new” yet still not entirely what you’d expect from a 2016 production. What I was greeted with was a juxtaposition of past and present, much like Netflix’s take on “Wet Hot American Summer”, where you’re transported back in time through sentimental production values. Though “Wet Hot American Summer” was a comedy, “Stranger Things” — much like the inspirational source material — is anything but. The closest to “Stranger Things” in recent memory is “Super 8”, albeit without the explosions but with all the mystery and intrigue of the film and everything that came before it.
And much like “Super 8” and Spielberg fashion, the heroes in “Stranger Things” come in preset, predictable stereotypes that we have grown to love and adore. Your hero group of bike-riding, pre-teen kids (with the idealist, the funny guy, and the angry one) encounter a supernatural phenomena that takes place in, obviously, a small, rural, quiet country side town. Your mother in distress, played by Winona Ryder, spends most of the eight episodes wailing and sounding like a desperate and degenerate mother who has lost everything she holds dear. The town’s valiant Sheriff is, in typical fashion, quiet, calculated, and initially skeptical with a mysterious past. The support cast is a group of teenagers who provide the cheesy, hormonal dialogue, cringe-worthy love triangle, and are almost exclusively reserved as the prey for the monsters that lurk in the shadows. Then there is some government entity which is conducting some experiments nearby this sleepy little town with the colourful ensemble of a cast just when something goes wrong and hell breaks loose. And amidst the monsters and the pre-teens and the teens and the government stands your mysterious girl – code named Eleven – with “gifts” that are triggered and unraveled only when the plot demands it to for its convenience and storytelling.
The story in “Stranger Things” follows a very predictable path, and while in no way this is a fault, a small part of you wishes that there is a major plot twist that turns everything around and leaves you completely flabbergasted. However, the plot follows a tried and true path, right down to a semi-rushed finale that leaves you with plenty of unresolved mystery and loose ends to let your imagination flow, true to the 80s, leaving just enough room for a second season but can hold its own if there isn’t. In fact, I personally find these loose ends are what made the show successful; you never truly understand the motives as to why everything happened – though you do enjoy the journey – yet, at the same time, part of me yearns for a big picture, a second season that takes us to the depths of the alternate world.
And that alternate world is, frankly, quite mysterious. How did that world come to be? Who lives there? Where did the residents go? Who is that demon? Is there more than one? You’d never know. The parallel universe reminded me of “Silent Hill”, a movie let down by relying too much on its video game symbolism yet has a setting that is well worth the imagination invested in it. “Stranger Things” opens the door for you to Narnia, but only lets you take a couple of steps in before throwing you back into the real world. I *so* wanted to know and explore more of that world, but we never truly do.
There are some set-pieces in particular that have given me goosebumps. The scenes where Eleven is surrounded by utter emptiness as she transcends between both worlds are undeniably intense. The flickering Christmas lights and the thought that one is trapped in a darker, colder dimension that is identical to the real world – and still able to faintly communicate – is crushingly claustrophobic and brutally terrifying.
STRANGER THINGS is pure fun. A+. Don't miss it. Winona Ryder shines.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 18, 2016
When you watch “Stranger Things”, it’s hard not to compare it with everything that has come before it. It’s certainly a love letter to the past, and doesn’t really take chances in experimenting with something new – yet, somehow, it still holds its own with a memorable setting, a strong cast of characters, a human story, and truly exceptional sense of wonder that never gets fully satiated. The biggest fault in “Stranger Things” is that it sticks too close to the formula – and, ironically, it’s also the selling point of the show.
