Rating: A+
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has gone missing, his mother Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is certain he is still alive and is determined to find him. Will’s brother Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) is devastated—watching his mother seemingly lose her mind in her desperation to communicate with her son. The jaded local chief of police Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is skeptical. Will’s friends Mike, Lucas and Dustin (Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo) are sneaking out and searching for him at night, and wind up meeting a young girl by the name of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) with extraordinary abilities, who has escaped from “bad men”. Meanwhile, a government facility conducting questionable experiments and operating in the background of this small town appears to have been involved in the disappearance of Will. As the community and families search for him, mysteries are slowly uncovered and intrigue abounds.
Netflix’s Stranger Things is influenced by both Stephen King and Steven Spielberg and this ‘80s set science fiction meets thriller meets drama draws you in quickly. There are elements of Freaks and Geeks coming through in the two core families affected and the school life of Will’s friends. The characters are believable, the situation and emotions are palpable, the story is exciting, tragic, has moments of hilarity, and manages to be interesting the entire way through.
The child actors in this show, who play a predominant role throughout the eight 45 minute to an hour long episodes, are fantastic. Winona Ryder is totally amazing as an anxious yet determined mother. The music is completely on point, dishing out some well timed and natural feeling ‘80s classics, while synth builds tension and sets the tone for the majority of the episodes. Absolutely a binge-worthy show. You won’t regret investing around eight hours of your precious study time into Stranger Things.