Netflix Pick – Stranger Things
This week’s Netflix Pick should already be on your radar, that doesn’t matter. This isn’t a deep cut or a hidden gem. This show is pure genius and is very upfront and center. Stranger Things is nothing short of brilliant. The execution is perfect. The horror/sci-fi/drama has a bit of everything pop culture entertainment should and it fires on all cylinders at all times. This write up will be spoiler free, so read on without fear. If you haven’t started this series yet you will after reading this.
Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will (Noah Schnapp) are four inseparable best friends. The type of pure friendship and loyalty reserved for middle school aged boys. For the era these kids are considered geeks. They love Dungeons and Dragons and endlessly reference The Lord of the Rings. After a long campaign in Mike’s basement the boys go their separate ways. Will never makes it home. The story wastes no time picking up at this point as the search for the missing child escalates the town into a frenzy. The boy’s find another missing child, designated as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). Eleven is a broken girl of about twelve years. As Eleven learns about friendship and a world better than the one she was held in she begins to exhibit some serious powers.
The synopsis is so light compared to the depth the show goes through in a mere eight episodes. The kids do a fantastic job carrying the core story but every ancillary character is equally as strong and well developed. Winona Ryder is arguably the biggest name in the series. She plays Will’s mother, Joyce. Her performance of a woman teetering on the edge, believing in the impossible as the rest of the town doubts her, is masterful. Charlie Heaton stars as Jonathan Byers, the missing boy’s older brother. His role is one of determination and stability. He is the rock his cracking mother needs to lean on and despite the whole town looking down on him is instrumental in the plot. The local sheriff, Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is introduced as something of a low life drunk. As the story unfolds and the characters develop Hopper has the biggest change with some of the best acting in the series.
I could write four or five more pages picking out every fantastic performance in the film. There isn’t a single weak link in the cast. You’re going to have to watch the show and see for yourself, you should. Even the characters who are little more than background players have some level of depth to them. No detail was overlooked as far as characterization and development. For a story dealing with the impossible there is a very real world human element to it.
The tone of Stranger Things is the best thing about it. The story is set in small town 1983 and has such an authentic feel not only on the screen, but one that reverberates through you. Like JJ Abrams 2011 masterpiece Super 8, you feel like you did as a child watching Spielberg films, The Goonies, or dipping your toe into the world of Stephen King. Spielberg and King is exactly what this series is. It’s as if these two creative geniuses got together in the late 70’s and made a masterpiece so fitting with the time but so far ahead of it they waited a few decades for the right release.
The Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, who created Stranger Things are career writers who don’t have the longest resume. The biggest credit aside from Stranger Things are some episodes for Wayward Pines. Pines first season was very similar in tone to Stranger Things but even at its best never came close to the feelings and intensity that Stranger Things delivers.
The effects in Stranger Things also deserve a mention. While the series is wholly and purely 80’s in its heart the use of modern technology enhances the story. Like any great monster movie The Duffer brothers display a very clear understanding that less is more. The strange goings on are referenced, implied, punctuated with music, tonally perfect, and understated. Your imagination is far scarier than any computer generated or practical effect can ever be and the scripts of Things knows that. That isn’t to say when we are inevitably introduced to the larger world surrounding the protagonists we are let down. Things never takes that step across the line so many modern horror movies lose their way at. It remains strong, even perfect, from beginning to end.
I finished the entire 8 episode first season in four days and am already planning a rewatch. This series is an instant classic and the textbook way that thrillers should be made. If you aren’t watching this already, get on it.
