Stranger Things

If you can imagine a TV series that merges The Goonies, ET, Close Encounters and Stephen King’s IT, with a smattering of John Hughes romance and a dash of Evil Dead, you’ll have a good idea about how Stranger Things plays out.

In the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, young friends Lucas, Dustin, Mike and Will play Dungeons & Dragons in Mike’s basement. When they pack up and cycle home – on their obligatory BMXs, obviously – Will sees a strange creature in the road and falls off his bike. Fleeing in fear, he’s pursued by the creature and before you know it, he’s vanished in strange circumstances. These first few minutes brilliantly setup the main arc of the series with great tension and I was instantly hooked.

The story has plenty of tropes you’d expect from this sort of mystery: A missing girl with mysterious powers, expertly played by Millie Brown . A cynical police chief with a dependency on medication (David Harbour). There’s the mandatory government laboratory, and a creepy mad scientist (Matthew Modine). Then of course there’s Will’s distraught and panicked mother played superbly by Winona Ryder.

Finally, we can’t forget our four plucky heroes who pick up the baton from Elliot in ET and all of The Goonies. These kids are played so authentically and their chemistry so genuine, they are completely believable. Top marks to Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp for bringing this gang to convincing life: their bickering friendship is the heart of the show and lack of chemistry could have otherwise derailed the story.

Add in a dose of teen romance, bedrooms decked out with film and music posters of the time, and a synth soundtrack that could have been written by John Carpenter himself, and you have a series that’s dripping in nostalgia.

Stranger Things does an incredible job of evoking the mood and atmosphere of 80s films. The costume design, the sets, the lighting, the dialogue – everything feels incredibly authentic to the point where if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear it was filmed thirty years ago. Writer/directors Matt and Ross Duffer knew exactly the tone they wanted and have managed to craft something that pays loving homage without descending into parody.

This series unashamedly pushed my nostalgia buttons – and the cynic in me might have been annoyed by that – but it’s done with such honesty and affection that instead I fell in love with it.

I’ve avoided writing too much about the plot here, because this is the sort of mystery everyone should uncover for themselves. It skips along at a decent pace and has some genuinely scary moments. While the story itself isn’t especially original, it’s crafted so well that you won’t mind all the influences it borrows. Indeed, spotting all the little references to other stories is part of the fun, and as well as influences already mentioned, there’s clearly nods to Clive Barker’s earlier novels, X-Files, and Alien.

This is a wonderful series that really needs to be seen by anyone who loves old-school sci-fi and adventure films. For sheer fun and excitement, made with expert craftsmanship, it hits all the right notes. Highly recommended.