Stranger Things: Season 1 Review

Stranger Things: Season 1 Review

Episodes : 8
Released on Netflix

Mixing up Stand By Me, Poltergeist, Spielberg, Stephen King and a dash of horror, the 8 episode series Stranger Things is a nostalgic blast of addictive mystery.

Set in 1983, it's the story of four kids who find one of their number go missing in middle America. As the search begins, a mysterious and relatively mute little girl is found - and a shadowy government agency comes looking...

Nicely paced, this mystery series works well and is cleverly constructed by the Duffer Brothers. Pulling in genres of the time, mixing in some spookier elements and providing a chapter narrative works brilliantly for Stranger Things.

It also works as it's generational; choosing to concentrate on three groups - the young kids, the teens and romances thereof and the grieving mother (played by Winona Ryder) and damaged policeman (David Harbour) - works well and when all three sides intersect, it feels naturalistic and in keeping with what's already passed.

Ultimately, Strange Things is a show that's worthy of a binge and worthy of sticking with. It remains to be seen whether season 2 of Stranger Things will still hold the attention for as long and or whether it'll benefit as an American Horror Story style anthology; but for now, this original Netflix series is up there with the best the small screen has to offer.