Stranger Things

Stranger Things (2016) 

Stranger Things is undoubtedly a pleasant surprise and a random revelation in today's glut of TV series and miniseries. In my case, I can't speak of a certain nostalgic return to the 80s, as I didn’t experienced them and secondly I am not as familiar with the scifi-horror filmography of the time as others (however, I have seen The Thing and The Evil Dead, which are referenced more than once here, alongside numerous mentions of “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit”, which I also enjoyed, even if I've never read the books). In the first place, I have to praise the idea and the story itself, as I was really tense from the first minutes about how everything was going to unfold, and the tension eased (though not completely) only at the end of the last episode. Another plus point is the believably built up atmosphere of the 80s, from the clothes, to the cars, to the music to the overall mood and "feel", which managed to bring me very well closer to this (unseen by me) era. The cast was generally well chosen – I personally didn't mind Winona Ryder's acting too much, I was more focused on the child actors who played their roles very well, and even managed to evoke emotions when the characters interacted – anger or indignation at the bullies, smiling at the boys' humorous discussions, or sadness at someone's death. At the moment, I can't think of anything else to highlight about the series, as I'd be repeating myself a lot with other reviews here (which I've already violated above, then). In short, a decently made genre series that grabs you in its clutches right at the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end, so definitely both thumbs up from me. (03.09.2016)