Imagine, if you will, Steven Spielberg has sex with a Moog Synthesizer, and it gets pregnant. Nine sine waves later Stephanie Spielmoog is born. She grows up watching 80s movies and goes on to become a director. This is the kinda thing she would make. Let me explain ...
1 - It’s weird as Hell.
Combining eerie synth music with an intense sense of bourgeois suburbia, the Duffer Brothers have created the perfect storm; A town so sheltered and introspective that bizarre supernatural events are the last thing anyone would expect. And bizarre it certainly is. No hard science here, but you won't care. It's a wonderfully far fetched mindfuck.
2 - It’s all your favourite 80s movies and TV shows put together
Think: The Goonies meets Stand By Me meets Twin Peaks.
Sprinkle with some E.T, and maybe even a little Akira!
This is pure, unadulterated homage, and it's perfect.
3 - Every single frame looks like a carefully considered photograph
Photographers and cinematography nerds will be blown away by the sheer beauty in every shot, in every scene. Stranger Things is a visual masterpiece. A gift to the craft of cinematography.
4 - The Characters Are Brilliant
The casting is perfect, hitting no bum notes through dozens of characters. Even the secondary characters have dept and believability. In saying that, one character in particular deserves a special mention ....
5 - Eleven
Number five is Eleven. I mean, the character, "Eleven". Playing the part of mystery girl, Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown goes beyond intense, beyond venerable, beyond mysterious, at every turn. This is a kid taking on the most bizarre role imaginable, and nailing it. We have parallel dimensions, government conspiracies, strange beings and unexplained deaths, yet it's the little girl with the shaved head that steals the show.