A very Happy 2018 Everyone.

I know it’s a tad bit late to wish someone happy new year but in my defense, for me, the new year legitimately starts in February since January is the month to recover from the bombardment of new year wishes, broken resolutions and trying to find the motivation for the new year.

We went on a fun family trip to New Orleans and since we came back on the 30th, we were too tired to do anything for New Year. So we spent the start of 2018 in pajamas gobbling comfort food the whole day.

And of course watching Stranger Things.

              (Google) 

I am sure a lot of you out there must have already watched this series. I unfortunately am a bit late to the party. I knew about it since it came out in 2016 but for some reason, never felt the urge to watch it. In fact initially I didn’t even know what was the excitement all about, until now.

As I had binge watched all my shows and had nothing new to watch, I decided to give the series a try.

1 episode only….

That’s what I thought I will be watching….

But

I could not stop. So much and so that I had to watch the second season too.

Much of my ramblings….lets get on with the review.

Set in the fictional town of Hawkings, Indiana in the 1980’s, Stranger Things is the sci-fi horror series on Netflix.

The story is rather simple. A young boy disappears and the Police Chief, his mom and a couple of his friends fight evil dark forces to get him back. Although it sounds like your typical multi-times watched movie/tv show concept, it is nothing like it.

The way the boy disappears to the way a girl with psychokinetic abilities appears is really spooky. On top of that we are introduced to Hawkins National Lab who conduct paranormal tests on the humans and how they have opened a portal into another dimension which is called “Upside-Down”.

The series is heavily influenced by Stephan King and we see glimpses of Spielberg, Super 8 and E.T throughout the show.

On a side note, my 10 year old got really scared after the first episode so make sure to keep it ages 14 and above.

In a nutshell here are the main reasons not to miss this show.

• CASTING AND PERFORMANCE: Actors have given amazing performance and one feels like the role was specially written for them. Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Matthew Modine all have given stellar performance but for the me the real gems are the kids. The gang of boys are awesome, my favourite being Dustin played by Gaten Matarazzo but the best part was to see the girls to be real bad-ass. Eleven, Kali, Joyce, Nancy all have strong roles and are not your clichéd female characters.

• SOUNDTRACK: Haunting and soulful is how I will describe the soundtrack. I guess I was one of the few people who did not skip the intro as I loved listening to the eerie opening which has been composed by the Texas-based, indie-rock band SURVIVE. Imagine if so much effort is put in the opening title, how much effort would have been in conceiving the series.

• NOSTALGIA: If you miss your childhood and those care-free days, then this series will be a sheer treat. From arcade games to riding bikes to secretly doing things you know you could get punished for, this will bring back childhood memories. Also the 80’s vibe takes you back in time.

• HUMOR AND HORROR: Though technically a horror sci-fi, the show has plenty of laughs here and there which balances out the bouts of scare. It is one series which has a decent balance of jokes, frights, family drama and romance.

• ORIGINALITY: Lastly, and the most important reason to binge-watch this series is for its originality. Though the plot might sound boring and clichéd it is nothing like it. From the soundtrack to the character development to drama, horror, romance and humor with the perfect 80’s vibe to glue it all together, it is definitely one show not to be missed.

Here is the trailer of the first season.

Enjoy!

(Netflix)