Netflix’s Stranger Things is a great homage to supernatural movies of the 80s

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the supernatural coming-of-age movies of the 80s, boy does Netflix have the perfect remedy. Released this week, a new trailer for Stranger Things showcases kids on bikes, flickering lights, muted colors, and a mysterious group in Hazmat suits. Yep, this looks exactly like something Steven Spielberg would make.

Here’s the show’s official synopsis, offered by Netflix:

Set in Hawkins, Indiana in the 1980s, Stranger Things chronicles the search for a young boy who vanishes into thin air under highly suspicious circumstances. His mother (Wynona Ryder) opens an investigation into the boy’s disappearance with local authorities that unravels a series of mysteries involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl. A love letter to the ubiquitous cult classics of the 80s, Strange Things is also a coming of age story for the boy’s three closest friends that draws them into a world where mysteries lurk beneath the surface.

So it’s not even trying to hide the fact that it’s copying movies like E.T. Frankly, I’m glad it’s being so gung-ho about where it’s finding inspiration. For anyone who grew up watching 80s sci-fi movies, Stranger Things should offer a good dose of nostalgia and intrigue. With other shows such as Preacher and Outcast, it seems people still have plenty of stories to tell in the world of the supernatural.

Strange Things hits Netflix on July 15.