'Stranger Things' Season 1 on Netflix; Winona Ryder's Role as a Mother Grieving a Lost Son – Recap and Review
Netflix's new supernatural series "Stranger Things" has captured the viewers' attention as it did a good job in bringing up the 80s' settings into life. Plus, the way the characters, most especially Winona Ryder, have displayed their acting skills made the overall show pleasing and interesting.
"Stranger Things" had its debut consisting of eight episodes last Friday, July 15. The story focuses on a young boy named Will Byers, who, on his way home from a friend's house, has suddenly gone missing due to mysterious circumstances on that particular night. He was not found in the days that followed.
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The series had earned several positive feedbacks due to its great manifestation and appeal. Aside from that, the plot series was made originally, which earned a great impression from the viewers.
While the viewers enjoy its non-derivative plot, many have also found how engaging the characters are—from Will's friends in their efforts of solving the mystery of his disappearance, to the adults, played by Winona Ryder and David Harbour, who also captured the emotions of the viewers in their portrayals.
Ryder in her role as a mom in her fragile state, and Harbour in his role that revealed a true hero in him have gotten the audience hooked. Another bonus to that was the little girl in the series named Eleven (played by Millie Brown), whose mysterious character had appealed really captivating the moment she had her first appearance on screen.
About Winona Ryder
Ryder was a young star in the 80s and her presence in the 80s-inspired Netflix series creates a nostalgic feeling to anyone who had lived in those years. Her role as Joyce Byers, the mother of Will, is said to be her best high-profile lead role so far since her shoplifting incident in 2001.
Joyce Byers had suffered different stages of grief during the loss of his son. Throughout the story, she begins to realize that her son is trying to communicate with her through the lights in their home. Ryder had displayed a great performance in her scenes, and had also perfectly depicted the character of a worried and grieving mom all though the episodes.
The Two Men behind the Series
"Stranger Things" came about from the idea of the twin brothers, Matt and Ross Duffer. The siblings based the story from the classic 80s works of Steven Spielsberg, John Carpenter, and Stephen King.
The two were big fans of the 80s films during their childhood and decided to bring back the nostalgia of living during the past decades through the television series. "When we were first starting to talk about the idea [for the show], we had talked about a paranormal-missing child story line. Then we were talking about some of the mysterious government experiments that we felt were happening at the tail end of the Cold War, right when rumored [projects] like MKUltra were ramping down," Matt said in an interview when they were asked about how did 80s works influence their concept.
