Completely Captured by ‘Stranger Things’

I was apprehensive about watching Stranger Things. Although my social network was beginning to buzz about how great it was, the whispers I was hearing didn’t seem like it would be my thing. I’m not a Goonies fan (sorry!) and I don’t have the love of 80’s culture that some of my peers do.

But none of that mattered. Stranger Things is a delightfully creepy, suspenseful ride that appears on Netflix. It has an amazing cast, as well as excellent editing and great use of film language. This eight-episode season is a true work of art.

The Story
The plot revolves around the disappearance of a boy named Will. As more suspicious things begin to happen in this small town, it becomes clear that the truth is something out of this world.

The story certainly keeps you interested, but in a different way than you might think. This series tends to give the audience more information than the characters, leaving you knowing the secrets before they do. While in some films or television shows, knowing the “secret” the characters are searching for ahead of time means that the writers tipped their hand too early, leaving you to wait for the characters to figure out what you did 10 minutes ago. But this is not the case with Stranger Things. The story becomes less about what is going on and more about how the characters will be able to put all the pieces together and and deal with it. It’s a great concept — making you care more about the welfare of the characters rather than the answer to the questions the plot presents.

The Cast
Good writing will fall flat when handed off to bad actors. Good actors will wither under poor direction (I’m looking at you, Natalie Portman and George Lucas!). Thankfully Stranger Things has no shortage of acting or directing talent. Which is critical in a story that relies so heavily on child actors.

I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to kids on television. I realize that sometimes, it’s probably completely necessary to feed some of the lines to young actors and have them repeat, or to be accept relatively flat acting by younger actors. But then young stars like Millie Bobby Brown show up and blow all of that out of the water. Playing the mysterious young girl who is the lynch pin to the plot, she has a burden that actresses twice her age could find daunting. Add to that the fact that her character barely speaks, and people who have been acting longer than Brown has been alive could have difficulty shining in that role. Millie Bobby Brown pulls you in like no one else on the show — which is saying a good deal considering the talent on board. Her eyes speak volumes that her character just wouldn’t have the courage to say. And when she does speak, her words count.

But she is not the only one that won this reviewer over. Even characters that I thought I wouldn’t care about — or actively wouldn’t like — had me rooting for them, sometimes well before the end of the season. When we are first introduced to Chief Jim Hopper, I pretty quickly assumed I would not like the guy. I figured I knew what I was in for, and would have to put up with him for the rest of the series. Not so. Even though his back story is not terribly original, it is handled so beautifully in the script and via David Harbour’s performance that I did a complete reversal of my views. I feel like the same character in less competent hands would not have given me that. There are many more great performances that I just don’t have the time to go into much detail about here. Winona Ryder is standout as Joyce, Will’s mom; Natalia Dyer’s teenage Nancy stays with me as I write this, days after finishing the show.

Like the truth about what happened to Will, there is so much more to Stranger Things. The editing and cinematography are excellent. I hope to discuss the way the film uses imagery to reinforce the story, but that will need to be in a later, spoiler-heavy article. For now, suffice it to say, that Stranger Things is absolutely worth your time. It’s suspenseful, eerie, and full of characters that make you care. I’m very excited to see what happens next in this not-so-sleepy little town.