Stranger Things

Netflix Review: Stranger Things

It was a little more than a year ago when I first heard Netflix was developing a new series starring Winona Ryder which was then called “Montauk.” After 12 months of anticipation not only from me but from every other fan of science-fiction out there, the series, now called “Stranger Things,” debuted last weekend and I can honestly say that not only has it been worth the wait but it is also the best thing you will see all summer.

After a night out with his friends, Will Byers is riding his bike home when he stumbles upon something horrifying and disappears without a trace. Refusing to believe he’s dead like everyone insists, his mother, Joyce (Ryder giving her best performance since “Girl Interrupted”), and the town sheriff (David Harbour) ban together to try and find him. While they search frantically for Will, Will’s older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and the girl from down the road, Nancy (Natalie Dyer), hunt for a mysterious creature that is lurking through the woods. At the same time, Will’s three best friends Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) discover a girl named Eleven (Millie Brown), who not only has a mysterious gift but may also be the key in discovering Will before it’s too late.

I don’t even know where to begin with this show. I can tell you that I absolutely loved every minute of it and stayed up until six in the morning watching it because I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Before I dive into what will more than likely be my love letter towards this show, I guess I should discuss the ONE thing that bothered me about this show which was the character of Eleven who kept it from getting a 10/10 and instead has to settle with a 9.9999999999/10.

Now I want to make it clear that I didn’t hate her. In fact, by the end of the show she had grown on me quite a bit and I ended up really enjoying her. My problem with her though was the fact that when she’s first introduced to us she is incredibly frustrating and extremely unlikable. Aside from using her gift to help the boys out every so often and help them discover that Will is still alive (for the moment), she does nothing but cause problems for those she interacts with and does nothing to try and resolve them. Instead of helping and being useful, she instead chooses to stare off into space, cry and refuses to try and communicate any type of information to them. We learn in flashbacks that she does in fact know how to speak so it bothered me that she insisted on staying silent and instead of telling the boys why she was afraid of certain things or where exactly Will is, she chooses to just stare at them and shake her head. Now to be fair, we also learn through flashbacks about why she is the way she is which I won’t spoil for you. Even still, I felt like for as strong a character as they were making her out to be she spends a lot of time being completely useless. The entire series is only eight episodes long and it isn’t until episode six when she finally begins to be a useful member of the group and I finally started to care about her. I really wish they would have started to give her more of a personality earlier in the series rather than later because then I think I would have cared about her a lot more than I did while watching. I somewhat feel like a jerk saying all this because she’s only twelve years old and does have a traumatic backstory but even still, when you see the things that she can do it seems silly that she acts the way she does for so long.

Now I have that rant out of the way, I can finish by praising just how brilliant this series was. There are so many things that made this show so great but if I had to pick just a couple to write about the first thing I’d have to give credit to is the wonderful performances given by the cast. I’ve always been a fan of  Ryder for as long as I can remember. I think she’s a brilliant actress but ever since she got involved in that shoplifting scandal years ago her career kind of hit a standstill. Since then, she’s slowly been building herself back up and it’s so nice to see her back in the spotlight where she belongs. As a grief stricken mother, she really hits you in all the right places and can have you tearing up one moment and then laughing hysterically in the next. There are a number of “supernatural” moments that should come off as cheesy and lame but with her performance, they wind up coming off as a true work of art that remind us all how talented she is.

I was also impressed with just how good actors each of the children were. Each of the four boys have their own individual moments to shine and they don’t disappoint in the slightest. They really make you believe that they’ve been best friends long before we meet them and are easily the greatest group of onscreen childhood friends since perhaps “The Goonies” or “Boy Meets World.” As frustrating as I found Eleven, the actress behind her, Brown, knocks it out the park with her performance and stands out above the rest of the children and even some of the adults. I’d have to say the only reason I ended up growing to care for her was because once Eleven starts to grow a personality, the young actress really starts to deliver a performance that will not only entice you but also move you. It’s amazing that the creators of this show were able to find such talented young children to work with and deliver performances just as good as actors who have been acting since before I was born.  I could go on and on about everyone involved in the cast but let me just tell you that every single actor involved in this series stepped up to the plate and really brought the house down.

The best thing about this series is the what the creators of this show, Matt and Ross Duffer, brought to life on screen. Their story is nothing original but they present it in such a fun and fresh way that we forget that there are about a billion other science fiction stories out there with the same exact plot. The show is set in the 1980’s and you actually FEEL like you’re watching something that was made from that time period. The entire time I was watching this series I felt like I was watching an eight hour Stephen Spielberg film which is probably why I liked this show so much. I’m also really happy that they decided to keep the show only eight episodes because it never once felt like they were just dragging the story along. Each episode has a point and leads into the next one and doesn’t try to prolong the story simply for the sake of having a longer season. It moves at a steady pace and never goes too fast or too slow. It has quite a bit of action moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat but when it slows down and focuses more on its story, you’re never bored. It keeps you just as interested, perhaps even more so, than when you see the monster appear on screen stalking its next victim.

At times, “Stranger Things” is rather scary and will send shivers down your spine and make your skin crawl. At the same time though, it will also make you laugh and perhaps even cry just a little. The final episode really wraps things up nicely and definitely sets things up for a second season which I full-heartily welcome but I hope this show doesn’t go on beyond three seasons at the most. Otherwise, I fear it will start to lose its magic. I don’t know how long they plan to go on with this show but for now, just do yourself a favor and enjoy its brilliantly made first season.

The bottom line, “Stranger Things” is a series that is funny, scary, touching, and as I said earlier, the best thing that you will see all summer. If you have Netflix, drop everything you’re doing this weekend and watch this series and if you don’t have it, then I highly recommend signing up for the free month trial simply so you can enjoy the show that I have a feeling many will be talking about all summer long.

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