Netflix is increasingly becoming the new way to watch television. Shows that are produced and aired on the streaming website tend to generate mass amounts of popularity and controversy; or incentive for popcorn and binge watching. With great original Netflix series like Orange is the New Black, Riverdale, House of Cards, and most recently the haunting, Stranger Things, television lovers are typically in for a treat when word spreads that there will be yet another show airing soon. This is evident for Netflix’s new, seemingly chilling series, Dark. Premiering December 1st with a ten episode line up, Dark already has TV watchers, Netflix bingers, and students talking.
Welcome to the Upside Down. In this mystery it is not about the who. It is not about the where. It is not about the why or the how. This drama searches desperately for the when. And the endless abyss of possibilities within this realm of when that will leave the audience with a gut wrenching desire to know more. At least this is what the eerie trailer conveyed, released by the German Netflix twitter account.
The story develops in the small German town of Winden after the apparent disappearance of two young boys, Mikkel Nielsen and Erik Oberndorf. The families of the children are disheveled and the town itself is in utter disarray. With cryptic symbols and thought provoking, interesting mixed messages, this trailer seems to naturally draw in the audience. The ending scene goes quiet as previously the sneak peak was filled with a disembodied hum that whispered “tick tock,” conveying the constant bully of time, regarding the infamous “when.” The camera shows a TV with a clear different time period on the screen, possibility the 1980s. Then the evocative depiction of one of the boys strapped to a chair with a device put forcefully around his head comes to light. A mysterious coated man is also portrayed with a sense of fear and foreboding; trapped in time? This begs comparisons to the beloved and popular, Stranger Things. However, these comparisons are welcomed and encouraged.
Dark’s creators, Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar are excited about the growing talk of their plot and look forward to gaining Stranger Thing’s fans as Dark fans.
“It’s really exciting because if all those people who watched Stranger Things will at least think about watching Dark, I think that’s a great opportunity for us,” Friese told Hollywood’s Deadline.
This will be the first show that is completely filmed and produced in Germany and acted by German locals. America seems to already be taking interest to Dark.
“I am excited and I think it looked really interesting,” University freshman Emily Latshaw said. “It only gave you tiny clips of the show and it was very suspenseful. I want to know more so I’ll definitely be watching.”
However, some students like Carlos Sanchez don’t appreciate comparing this new show to Stranger Things and did not find the trailer all that tempting.
“I’m afraid to be disappointed just because of how good Stranger Things was,” Sanchez said. “The trailer was too mysterious and it didn’t draw me in, I’ve seen so many other trailers like that. Same old same old.”
Sharing similarities with Stranger Things, this show seems to have a mantra to live up to. However, Dark is its own show with a seemingly twisted plot and an entity of time itself. Now the question remains, “when?”
Photo courtesy of Film School Rejects
