Netflix’s hit blend of sci-fi, horror and big-hair nostalgia adds John Hughes-style teenage romance and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” to its recipe.
In addition to a portal to a bleak alternate dimension dubbed The Upside Down from which terrifying monsters try to break into our world, the semirural town of Hawkins, Ind., now has a new mall in which much of the season’s action takes place. The parameters of the Duffers’ movie love shift accordingly — where Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” was the guiding spirit of the first two seasons, Season 3 pays tribute to the ultimate mall movie, Amy Heckerling’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” (The Duffers, always generous in their acknowledgments, make an explicit “Fast Times” reference, in case the Phoebe Cates jokes and a major character’s Spicoli haircut didn’t clue you in.)
- NY Times
