The Stranger Things animated spin-off, Tales From ‘85, has been met with negative reviews from critics, who criticised the show’s listless storytelling and lack of purpose.
The series is set between the events of the second and third seasons of Stranger Things, and depicts the central group of friends – Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin, and Max – as they find new monsters emerging from the Upside Down. The show attempts to capture the feel of an ‘80s Saturday morning cartoon.
The show premiered today (April 23), but reviews have largely not been positive. Variety’s Alison Herman called it “a depressing, cynical retread”, writing: “Tales From ‘85 winds back the clock to tell the exact same story as Stranger Things proper, with the exact same characters, in the exact same archetypal small town of Hawkins, Indiana.” She concludes that the animated format means the series can keep going as long as possible, something she calls: “as creepy and unsettling an idea as this horror-adjacent franchise has produced in years.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han described the show as “the same, only less”, writing: “Tales From ’85 indicates very little interest in rocking the Stranger Things boat, narratively or tonally or any other-ly.” Regarding its appeal to current fans, she said: “I suspect viewers content to settle for a diet version of Stranger Things…will find little to object to in the spin-off’s faithful if watered-down recreation of the original’s appeal. But I can’t imagine most of them finding much to adore about it, either.”
The Independent’s Louis Chilton wrote that the show’s similarities to the original “only calls attention to what’s missing: the people. The idiosyncrasies of those original, well-liked cast members. To put it as glibly as possible: the real Stranger Things was the friends we made along the way. And if this franchise refuses to stop going, it’ll have to reckon with the fact that those friends are no longer around.”
On the plus side, The Guardian’s Jack Seale felt that the stagnant nature of the narrative will appeal to those who were disappointed with how the show ended. “Not really going anywhere, however, is what we want from Tales from ’85,” he explained, “to cleanse the memory of Stranger Things having ended up far too far away from the innocent paradise it created. Future seasons could use a little more invention, but not too much: it would be cool to be stuck in 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana indefinitely.”
Recently, it announced that Stranger Things would be embarking on an immersive concert tour.