Stranger Things (Season 1) - Review: A Nostalgia-Bomb for '80s Kids, a Sci-Fi Adventure for Modern Times, and a Lovable, Heartfelt Ride for All of Us
Release date (US): June 15th, 2016
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Mathew Modine
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Mathew Modine
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any effect on your opinion. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. If there is something you happen to disagree with, I absolutely respect your point of view if you will respect mine. Please keep this in mind.
The Review
Yes, this review is coming four years too late. Yes, the show was an instant fan-favorite the second it hit Netflix. Yes, I hadn't seen it until now. But, better late than never. Because this show, even four years later, is still one of the best pieces of cinema, movie or television, I've ever seen.
The first season, which is eight episodes long, each about fifty minutes, begins on a very ominous note. We enter Hawkins Lab, and are immediately introduced, albeit through shadow and sudden cuts, to our monster for the season as it wreaks havoc throughout the laboratory. Right away, we are introduced to one of the many tones that will permeate throughout the series.
What this show does so well compared to others is switch tones. The showrunners, the Duffer brothers, are able to switch tones from lovable 80s middle school, to straight horror, to adult drama, back to jokes on a dime. With television, since the length of the overall season is much longer than a film, you have time to draw out each separate tone and give it an arc. For example, when we're with our main characters, Mike (Wolfhard), El (Bobby Brown), Dustin (Matarazzo), and Lucas (McLaughlin), it's like peering back into childhood through the simpler lens of the 80s. They're young adolescents playing Dungeons and Dragons like many of the "nerds" watching the show would have done.
And then we switch back to the Hawkins Lab and suddenly we're back into horror, like nothing had ever happened. And then we switch to Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve (Dyer, Heaton, Keery), which turns into a coming-of-age series. It is impeccable.
But not only are they able to create these characters and the different tones and moods the series brings, but they're able to bring them all together at the very end. We see all of the arcs converging into one, and the last episode of the series if one of the most gut-wrenching, tense, emotional pieces of film I've ever seen.
All facets of this show work on so many different levels, and that includes our child performers, with the aforementioned Wolfhard leading the charge amongst the boys. Yes, at times the performances are a little goofy and over the top. But the amount of realism this show is able to draw from their child performers is unbelievable. They are able to convey real terror, real anxiety, and real fear when they need o.
The show is anchored by the two adult leads, Winona Ryder playing Joyce Byers and David Harbour playing Chief Jim Hopper. Both are excellent in their respective roles and help to ground the show in the real world and give it a sense of grit and realism that it needs.
But let's not kid ourselves; the real star of this season is Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven. Brown's performance is easily the best out of anyone's as she's able to convey, with such little dialogue, true raw emotion that most adult actors are not even capable of. Her performance is so convincing that you legitimately believe this child has superpowers and can move things with her mind.
No piece of art is without fault however. Easily the worst part of the season was the villain character, played by Matthew Modine. Modine's performance was not the problem; he played the character with a suitable air of arrogance and aloofness that was required of the character. But every time the character is brought back into the spotlight, the story revelations and motivations that are presented to the audience feel rather flat and lack weight.
But that's a minor quibble. Compared to the excellent pacing and strong chemistry between the groups (which are the two highlights of the season), Stranger Things is a breath of fresh air in the TV space. It's no wonder that it's become so unbelievably popular and will continue to be for a long time to come.
The first season, which is eight episodes long, each about fifty minutes, begins on a very ominous note. We enter Hawkins Lab, and are immediately introduced, albeit through shadow and sudden cuts, to our monster for the season as it wreaks havoc throughout the laboratory. Right away, we are introduced to one of the many tones that will permeate throughout the series.
What this show does so well compared to others is switch tones. The showrunners, the Duffer brothers, are able to switch tones from lovable 80s middle school, to straight horror, to adult drama, back to jokes on a dime. With television, since the length of the overall season is much longer than a film, you have time to draw out each separate tone and give it an arc. For example, when we're with our main characters, Mike (Wolfhard), El (Bobby Brown), Dustin (Matarazzo), and Lucas (McLaughlin), it's like peering back into childhood through the simpler lens of the 80s. They're young adolescents playing Dungeons and Dragons like many of the "nerds" watching the show would have done.
And then we switch back to the Hawkins Lab and suddenly we're back into horror, like nothing had ever happened. And then we switch to Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve (Dyer, Heaton, Keery), which turns into a coming-of-age series. It is impeccable.
But not only are they able to create these characters and the different tones and moods the series brings, but they're able to bring them all together at the very end. We see all of the arcs converging into one, and the last episode of the series if one of the most gut-wrenching, tense, emotional pieces of film I've ever seen.
All facets of this show work on so many different levels, and that includes our child performers, with the aforementioned Wolfhard leading the charge amongst the boys. Yes, at times the performances are a little goofy and over the top. But the amount of realism this show is able to draw from their child performers is unbelievable. They are able to convey real terror, real anxiety, and real fear when they need o.
The show is anchored by the two adult leads, Winona Ryder playing Joyce Byers and David Harbour playing Chief Jim Hopper. Both are excellent in their respective roles and help to ground the show in the real world and give it a sense of grit and realism that it needs.
But let's not kid ourselves; the real star of this season is Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven. Brown's performance is easily the best out of anyone's as she's able to convey, with such little dialogue, true raw emotion that most adult actors are not even capable of. Her performance is so convincing that you legitimately believe this child has superpowers and can move things with her mind.
No piece of art is without fault however. Easily the worst part of the season was the villain character, played by Matthew Modine. Modine's performance was not the problem; he played the character with a suitable air of arrogance and aloofness that was required of the character. But every time the character is brought back into the spotlight, the story revelations and motivations that are presented to the audience feel rather flat and lack weight.
But that's a minor quibble. Compared to the excellent pacing and strong chemistry between the groups (which are the two highlights of the season), Stranger Things is a breath of fresh air in the TV space. It's no wonder that it's become so unbelievably popular and will continue to be for a long time to come.
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