Netflix's 'Stranger Things' is the most bingeable show of the summer

Great summer sci-fi/horror

Many odd things happen in Netflix's new offering Stranger Things, as the title would suggest. But something eerie might happen to you as you watch the 1980s sci-fi/horror pastiche: You'll turn on the first episode and mysteriously find yourself sitting in the same spot on your couch eight episodes later, never having moved an inch. It's made to be binged, not just because each episode ends with a chilling cliff-hanger, but because it's like watching an extended Spielberg movie, and what's summer without a little Steven?

A mysterious girl - her name is Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) - escapes from one of those shady government facilities that only seem to exist in '80s movies, and very bad things start happening to a small Indiana town. A boy goes missing, prompting his mother, the great Winona Ryder, to teeter on the verge of a breakdown. Meanwhile, the boy's friends go on their own quest to find their lost pal.

Stranger Things has its flaws - there's a plot about teenagers that I could not have cared less about, among other things - but there's a joy hidden in the horror, especially the ragtag group of Dungeons & Dragons-playing nerds who decide to become heroes to save their friend, and in the PG-13 scares that are clever enough to keep the show interesting, but not scary enough that non-horror fans will be turned off.

But the best part of Stranger Things is a throwback to a different time: Ryder herself. She has played bit parts here and there since her 2001 arrest for shoplifting, but this is her first major role. She's fantastic, imbuing her performance as a terrified mother with the same fierce vulnerability that she brought to her best work in the 1980s and '90s. Welcome back, Winona, we missed you. - Molly Eichel

Where to stream it: Netflix.

Like this? Binge these: For something creepy, Twin Peaks (Netflix) is a must; for a love letter to the '80s, Freaks and Geeks (Netflix) is it.