Before Stranger Things became one of Netflix’s most recognisable series — the kind that sparked holiday-light memes and revived decades-old songs — it began with a simple creative question from its creators, Matt and Ross Duffer:
What if a story with the emotional intensity of Prisoners could unfold over many hours instead of just two That idea became the starting point for Hawkins, Indiana.
The Duffer Brothers have often been open about the films and authors that influenced Stranger Things: Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, and H.P. Lovecraft. But a less frequently mentioned influence sits alongside those genre staples — Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 film Prisoners, a grounded, psychological thriller about a father searching for his missing daughter.
When the brothers first saw the film, they were struck by its emotional weight. They later said they felt Prisoners “was too short,” not because the film lacked anything, but because its themes could support a longer, more layered story. The moral tension, the desperation of a parent, and the emotional fallout of a missing child all resonated with them. They wondered what it would look like to explore those feelings in a longer format.
That impulse became central to the development of Stranger Things Season 1. At its heart, the story begins with a child disappearing and a parent refusing to give up. Joyce Byers, played by Winona Ryder, channels much of the same intensity the brothers admired in Prisoners: a parent who pushes through disbelief, indifference, and fear in order to find the truth.
While Prisoners keeps its focus on human conflict, the Duffers expanded their story into the supernatural. They wanted the emotional grounding of a missing-child narrative but placed it within a broader world of psychic abilities, government experiments, and an alternate dimension — the Upside Down. In their view, the supernatural elements allowed them to heighten the emotions they were interested in, not replace them.
This is where Eleven entered the picture. Millie Bobby Brown’s character became the emotional link between the familiar world of Hawkins and the strange forces surrounding it. She represented lost childhood, control, trauma, and resilience — themes the Duffers felt could support longer storytelling.
Alongside these darker elements, the creators balanced the show with influences from 1980s adventure and coming-of-age films like E.T., Stand By Me, The Goonies, and Firestarter. These weren’t added simply for nostalgia; they gave the series a sense of warmth and recognisable tone that contrasted with the tension at its core. The Duffers have often said they wanted the show to combine “childlike sensibilities” with darker, more mature themes. Blending these tones became a defining feature of the series.
Music played a similar role. The synth soundtrack by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein helped create a mood that felt both retro and emotionally grounded. It supported the show’s blend of mystery, fear, and youth-driven adventure.
Over its seasons, Stranger Things grew far beyond that original spark, but the emotional foundation remained consistent: ordinary people dealing with extraordinary loss and fear. Even as later seasons expanded the scale of the threats and the mythology behind the Upside Down, the story continued to focus on relationships, resilience, and the very human responses to crisis.
The connection to Prisoners isn’t a strict blueprint, but rather an early creative influence — a reminder of the kind of emotional depth the Duffers wanted to explore. It shaped their approach to character, tension, and moral complexity, providing the grounding for a series that eventually became a global phenomenon.
