Stranger Things 4 ★★★★
The Duffer Brothers
Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp
It’s time! Stranger Things 4 dropped on Netflix back in May 2022 and the team at Focus Film have still been processing...well, everything since the final episodes aired on July 1st.
With Kate Bush back in the music charts and viral scenes trending on TikTok for weeks, the fourth series of the Netflix hit original series has unsurprisingly become the second Netflix show ever to surpass a billion hours viewed.
The plot takes place in 1980's Indiana, where a group of young friends witness supernatural forces and secret government exploits. As they begin searching for answers, the children unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries.
Stranger Things has been known for its use of TV and movie parallels with the first three seasons seeing pastiche like similarities to Ghostbusters, The Exorcist and E.T. The latest season is no different. Not only does the series see a Game of Thrones ‘Night King’ style of villain meet iconic thriller movies such as Silence of the Lambs and teen sitcom That 70s Show, but Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund also stepped in to play the supporting role of Victor Creel in season four.
It's clear where the The Duffer Brothers have got their 80s and genre inspiration from, and it has now become a well-executed easter egg for fans hidden within the Hawkins town narrative.
We see the same familiar cast of friends, siblings and parents throughout the 9-part season, with newcomer Eddie Munson (Jospeh Quinn) adding a refreshing yet comfortable personality to the group of thrill-chasers.
It’s clear that this season was a big hit among old and new fans, creating the perfect cliff hanger of an ending to keep audiences in high anticipation. And with a long time to wait until this story comes to an end, there is plenty of time to watch the series again from start to finish and find hidden plots within the story that may help make some of the ground-breaking discoveries in series four make more sense. An awful lot happens over these nine episodes let alone the four series together, so it is hard to keep on top of all the important breakthroughs and discoveries at hand.
That being said, the thrill of the genre and the standout performances from cast members such as Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Sadie Sink (Max) and Joe Keery (Steve) is enough to give this the review it deserves. The cast remain a strong force to be reckoned with, however I am slightly pleased with the fact only one more season is to come. The innocence and naivety in the first couple of seasons is slightly lost as the cast grow older and the narrative becomes darker and more complicated.
Back to the positives: pineapple definitely belongs on a pizza and I am doing everything with my non-Eleven powers to learn how to piggyback from a pizza dough freezer. It seems pretty fun!
Stranger Things available now on Netflix