15 Movies Like Stranger Things

Movies Like Stranger Things

Are you searching for other movies like Stranger Things after the fourth season aired?

Interestingly, based on data, it was this Summer’s most-watched television program, breaking previous records for Netflix’s English-language TV programming while introducing Kate Bush’s running up that hill and Metallica to a new generation of young viewers. 

However, as we all wait on the release of the fifth and final season, which would most likely take a couple of years before being released, we are left in an off-season that can be filled with some movies like Stranger things.

While the precise time until the fifth Season of Stranger Things is back is unknown, we’ve compiled a list of shows and movies like Stranger Things to watch in the interim. 

1. Twin Peaks (1990)

  • Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Richard Beymer, Lara Flynn Boyle.
  • Runtime: 45-60 Minutes

The first on our list of movies like Stranger Things is Twin Peaks.

Due to a breach in the line separating the dimensions, strange things happen in the community of Twin Peaks, Washington. 

The Upside Down draws inspiration from Twin Peaks’ Black Lodge. Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship is very similar to Donna and James’ as they fall in love while working together to solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance.

Additionally, the two movies have a similar sense of humor.

2. Russian Doll (2019)

  • Cast: Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Cécile de France, Kelly Reilly, Kevin Bishop, Evgenia Obraztsova
  • Runtime: 125 Minutes

The plot unveils the film as a movie like Stranger Things. It is about Nadia, a young woman who just turned 36.

She invites a man to her home, and after meeting with him, she promptly sends him away and embarks on a journey to a neighboring store in search of her missing cat.

She finds it in the park and, when she approaches, gets struck down by a car.

Furthermore, she awakens and discovers that she is still at the party she had left a while back, and this moment keeps running on a loop.

3. The Society (2019)

  • Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella
  • Runtime: 120 Minutes

Here is another thriller on our list of movies like Stranger Things. Some high school students are temporarily removed from the little hamlet of West Ham due to an intolerable stink.

Upon coming back that evening, they discovered nobody was left there.

The occupants’ parents, relatives, and other family members appear to have vanished completely. 

An unending woodland suddenly engulfs the city. Telephone usage is limited to the boundaries of the town.

The harsh reality is that youngsters must establish new ground rules for coexistence to survive.

4. Outer Range (2022)

  • Cast: Josh Brolin, Lili Taylor, Tamara Podemski, Tom Pelphrey, Imogen Poots, Lewis Pullman.
  • Runtime: 43-62 Minutes

Outer Range focuses on the paranormal. Josh Brolin plays a Wyoming rancher who stumbles on a perfectly circular hole in the far corners of his pasture.

When he enters it, he emerges on the other side in a different location. 

Even if there are no monsters, the number of scientists trying to figure out this mysterious hole will make you think of Upside Down.

In case you are deeply in search of movies like Stranger Things, you’ve met a match.

5. Silverpoint (2022)

  • Cast: Jordan Adene, Aoife Hughes, Katy Byrne, Scarlett Rayner, Oliver Cunliffe 
  • Runtime: 22 Minutes

Silverpoint is definitely among those movies like Stranger Things. The show centers on a group of teenagers at a summer camp who discover that two decades earlier, four children had vanished.

They embark on a mission to try to figure out the events surrounding this disappearance in ways so similar to moments in Stranger Things.

Although, you can expect less bloodshed, the use of languages that’ll make Samuel J look like a saint, and expensive special effects in the sci-fi adventure series, probably because it was aired on a kiddie channel.

In the same vein, keep an eye out for striking similarities to those things that make Stranger Things unique.

6. The Adam Project (2022)

  • Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener, Zoe Saldaña
  • Runtime: 106 Minutes

Thanks to its thrilling sci-fi premise, amusing punch lines, and sequence of events, this tech adventure became a success on Netflix.

The Adam Project refers to some unforgettable sci-fi films, portraying it as the perfect movie for those looking for other inexplicable movies like Stranger Things. 

The film features Ryan Reynolds’s hilarious remarks, making it a great mix of everything excellent.

Bearing in mind that you can’t possibly go wrong if you are on the lookout for a good laugh.

7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

  • Cast: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore
  • Runtime: 114 Minutes

This tale of the little extraterrestrial descended to Earth can be said to be one of the foundations of Stranger Things, thereby finding its way onto our list of movies like Stranger Things.

The storyline is complete with frightening government personnel dressed in biohazard suits like in your regular alien invasion movies, all portrayed in a suburban setting that has gone odd, etc.

It may have had less of a direct impact on Stranger Things’ superficial horror-film look than other movies, but it has touched the viewers more than its more overtly terrifying counterparts. It is a must-watch.

8.  I Am Not Okay With This (2020)

  • Cast: Sophia Lillis, Sydney Novak, Wyatt Oleff, Stanley Barber, Sofia Bryant Dina, Kathleen Rose Perkins.
  • Runtime: 19-28 Minutes

Next on our list of movies like Stranger Things is this incredible movie, I Am Not Okay With This, which has the same producers as Stranger Things.

They also didn’t forget to throw in a heroine with telekinetic abilities while they were at it.

Bobby is a fan favorite, and you can see similar roles playing out in this movie.

The film, which is set in the Rust Belt, centers on Sydney, a teenager who is juggling the difficulties of high school, her father’s recent suicide, and her newfound sexual awareness.

Sydney is also dealing with knowing how to control her recently discovered abilities, like we saw the Kent boy and many others before and after him.

Based on Charles Forsman’s comic book of the same name, the television program is far more expansive and lighter in tone than its inspiration, making it much more palatable to viewers.

9. Dark (2017 – 2020)

  • Cast: Louis Hofmann, Oliver Masucci, Julika Jenkins, Andreas Pietschmann, Maja Schöne, Lisa Vicari, Lisa Kreuzer.
  • Runtime: 44-73 Minutes

Here comes another one of those movies like Stranger Things. It is similar because Dark and Stranger Things kicked off with some missing children.

When Dark premiered Internationally in 2017, this was one of the leading conversations.

However, Stranger Things’ plot leaned more toward monsters and the paranormal, while Dark finally veered towards hard sci-fi and time travel.

Even so, if you enjoy Stranger Things, the show is also worth seeing.

10. Eerie, Indiana (1991)

  • Cast: Omri Katz, Justin Shenkarow, Mary-Margaret Humes, Francis Guinan, Julie Condra, Jason Marsden.
  • Runtime: 40 Minutes

The one-season NBC series featured 19 episodes. It followed a young adolescent and his friend as they looked into abnormalities and oddities in their little Indiana town, including haunted libraries, magical ATMs, and unidentified flying objects.

Although “Eerie, Indiana” has a lighter tone than Stranger Things, they both possess that endearing feeling of wonder and delight that can only be seen through children’s eyes. Additionally, they are both set in Indiana.

11. The Lost Boys (1987)

  • Cast: Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Dianne Wiest.
  • Runtime: 98 Minutes

Undoubtedly, The Lost Boys was one of the best vampire films of the 1980s and is not far-fetched in semblance to movies like Stranger Things.

This slick horror comedy is about a group of bohemian California vampires who band together to put an end to their terror.

This “teens vs. monsters” movie may be the most entertaining in any collection of vintage cinema pieces. It is available on Amazon and iTunes, so why waste time?

12. Glow (2017 – 2019)

  • Cast: Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, Marc Maron, Britt Baron, Kate Nash, Gayle Rankin, Kia Stevens.
  • Runtime: 26-46 Minutes

With Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin as its main cast, GLOW is a comedy about the off-brand Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling from the 1980s.

Nothing does it better than being another entertaining show produced in the late 2010s about the mid-1980s, even though it is sonically and aesthetically completely distinct from Stranger Things.

Although it tows a different path from Stranger Things, its dramatic buildup can be compared to movies like Stranger Things. Delve in and get blown away almost immediately.

13. The OA (2016 – 2019)

  • Cast: Brit Marling, Emory Cohen, Scott Wilson, Phyllis Smith, Alice Krige, Patrick Gibson, Brendan Meyer.
  • Runtime: 31-71 Minutes

The OA on Netflix by Brit Marling may be the craziest program available, yet it has some similarities to the Duffer Brothers’ popular series.

It can be ranked on the list of movies like Stranger Things. The premise of The OA is about a young, blind woman named Prairie, who reappears after missing for seven years with her sight unimpaired.

However, the plot quickly deviates into a bizarre realm of interpretive dance, do-it-yourself science experiments, and interdimensional and trans universal traveling, among other stranger events.

Particularly in the first season, Prairie collaborates with several high school students to share her experience and help them recognize that there is much more to the world than what is commonly believed, just like the children in Stranger Things.

14. Stand By Me (1986 – 

  • Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland.
  • Runtime: 89 Minutes

Stand By Me is considered to be one of the movies like Stranger Things, and this might be due to similar themes and plot twists.

Some words on the street are that it had a big impact on the direction of the Duffer series.

Although it doesn’t feature a story displaying extraterrestrial monsters and government ops, it still has a great storyline with a fantastic cast bringing some superb acting and touching moments to our screens.

The Body by Stephen King served as a major inspiration for the movie.

15. The Twilight Zone(1959)

  • Cast: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts, Vaughn Taylor, Cyril Delevanti.
  • Runtime: 23 Minutes

The Twilight Zone, the TV series that made its debut on screens in 2019, with its final season airing in 2020, is one of the movies like Stranger Things.

This is probably mainly due to the fact that S.T credits the directors of The Twilight Zone for its directions.

There might be several significant similarities between Stranger Things and the Twilight Zone of the streaming era.

For instance, it leans heavily towards sci-fi elements and has a lot of eerie occurrences, vintage settings, and parallel universes.

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