---
title: What to Watch Before Stranger Things Season 5
description: From Dream Warriors to Terminator 2, the Duffers created a syllabus of movies that inspired the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
canonical: https://time.com/7323642/stranger-things-season-5-what-to-watch/
author: Eliana Dockterman
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2025-10-16T20:52:23.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:51:21.938Z
article:section: Entertainment
og:title: What to Watch Before Stranger Things S5
og:description: The Duffer brothers created a syllabus of movies to watch before the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
og:url: https://time.com/7323642/stranger-things-season-5-what-to-watch/
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twitter:title: What to Watch Before Stranger Things S5
twitter:description: The Duffer brothers created a syllabus of movies to watch before the fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
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# The Duffer Brothers Recommend Watching These Movies Before _Stranger Things_ Season 5
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by
[Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)
## Eliana Dockterman
Correspondent
Oct 16, 2025 8:52 PM UTC
Photograph by Devin Yalkin for TIME
by
[Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)
## Eliana Dockterman
Correspondent
Oct 16, 2025 8:52 PM UTC
At its heart, _Stranger Things_ is an [homage](https://time.com/4436008/stranger-things-netflix-references/) to the iconic [Steven Spielberg movies](https://time.com/5610388/stranger-things-3-references/) and [Stephen King novels](https://time.com/4978928/stranger-things-movie-references/) that Matt and Ross Duffer devoured growing up. The twin showrunners of Netflix’s biggest series put together a document and [sizzle reel](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMdYEvPpyhx/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) referencing iconic images from ’80s pop culture to pitch the streamer a decade ago. And when I visited the Season 5 set last year for a [TIME cover story](https://time.com/7324811/stranger-things-season-5/), it felt as if I was being transported back into a world of tube socks and shoulder pads.
One way the Duffers explicitly nod to their favorite childhood movies is by casting '80s icons like [Winona Ryder](https://time.com/4380330/winona-ryder-comeback-stranger-things-netflix/), Paul Reiser, Matthew Modine, Sean Astin, and, this season, Linda Hamilton. “Everyone we have asked to do that kind of appearance or take on a role like that on the show has said yes. We’ve been very lucky,” says Matt. “We don’t want to put somebody like \[Arnold\] Schwarzenegger in. That would be too distracting. I like the idea of almost more character actors from that period who have been maybe underutilized recently...someone younger generations who are watching the show might not know of who we can introduce them to.”
Photograph by Michal Pudelka for TIME
As the show has developed its own identity it has evolved beyond a simple Easter-egg hunt for ’80s iconography. “We’re referencing stuff less and less as the show has formed its own identity,” says Matt. Yet when asked to create a syllabus for viewers of movies that inspired the fifth and final season, the Duffers rattled off an impressive list of films spanning the ’80s and beyond.
STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5\. (L to R) Jesse Gavin as Scientist, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, and Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven Courtesy Netflix
Their suggestions range from _A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors_ to _Terminator 2: Judgement Day_, alongside a few more surprising picks. “Some of this will be confusing,” Matt admits, “until people see the show.”
## _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day TriStar Pictures
_Stranger Things_ has long delighted in casting '80s icons: Cary Elwes (_The Princess Bride_) as the town’s corrupt mayor and Robert Englund (_A Nightmare on Elm Street)_ as the father of the series’ main villain. This season, Linda Hamilton will play a mysterious military figure named Dr. Kay, bringing the same gravitas that made her iconic _Terminator_ character, Sarah Connor, so unforgettable. But, according to Matt, it’s not the only reason to watch the James Cameron classic: “You should always be rewatching _Terminator 2_, regardless of our show.”
**Read More:** [_The_ Stranger Things _Creators on Why They Killed Off Four Beloved Characters_](https://time.com/7323597/stranger-things-deaths-duffer-brothers-interview/)
## **_Children of Men_**
Clive Owen in Children of Men. Universal Pictures/Everett Collection
When I visited the Duffers on the set of _Stranger Things_ in July of 2024 they were filming a complicated series of scenes designed to look like a single shot, known as a “oner.” Oners have a long cinematic history, appearing in classics like _Touch of Evil_ and _Goodfellas_ and more recently in TV shows like _The Bear_, [_Adolescence_](https://time.com/7267884/adolescence-netflix-explained/), and [_The Studio_](https://time.com/7264756/the-studio-review-seth-rogen-apple/)_._ Shawn Levy, the director of _Deadpool & Wolverine_ who also serves as executive producer on the show, had previously executed a oner involving Will, Mike, and Jonathan escaping government agents in Season 4\.
But the Season 5 oner is even more ambitious. Hawkins is under military quarantine after Vecna devastated the town last season and opened up new pathways to the Upside Down. Midway through the Season 5, a major battle erupts between the military and the creatures emerging from that parallel dimension. The sequence involves CGI Demogorgons, airborne stunt men, and nearly a hundred extras clad in military fatigues.
**Read More:** [_The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades_](https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/)
So it’s no surprise that the Duffers mention the famous oner in [Alfonso Cuarón](https://time.com/collection/time100-leadership-series/7021800/alfonso-cuaron-interview-disclaimer/)'s [_Children of Men_ ](https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6296098/children-of-men-2006/)in which Clive Owen’s jaded bureaucrat escorts a miraculously pregnant woman through a chaotic near-future Britain. The single-take shot escalates from a comfortable conversation among characters in a car into one of the most tense action sequences in film history.
## _The_ **_Lost Boys_**
THE LOST BOYS, from left, Billy Wirth, Kiefer Sutherland, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter, 1987 Warner Bros—Everett Collection
_The_ _Lost Boys_ features two boys living with their recently divorced mother, just as Will and Jonathan live with their mother Joyce (Winona Ryder). And much like Hawkins, the fictional town of Santa Clara, where _Lost Boys_ takes place, is actually a haven for spooky creatures—in this case, vampires. When one of the brothers comes under their influence, the other is determined to save him from a grim fate, serving as a parallel to Jonathan and Will’s journey after Will gets taken into the Upside Down in Season 1.
**Read More:** [_What It's Like to Grow Up on the Set of_ Stranger Things](https://time.com/7324785/stranger-things-5-cast-growing-up/)
## **_Poltergeist_**
Poltergeist Everett Collection
The beloved horror movie is about an average suburban California family that turns out not to be so average after all. The youngest daughter [communes with ghosts through the television set](https://entertainment.time.com/2011/09/30/top-10-haunted-house-movies/slide/poltergeist-1982/) and eventually goes missing. (Will, too, seems to have some connection with the Upside Down since his hair stands on end whenever Vecna is around.) The film blends jump scares with complex family dynamics, a balance that _Stranger Things_ aspires to achieve as well.
## **_The Cell_**
THE CELL, Jennifer Lopez, 2000 New Line Cinema—Everett Collection
The cult classic _The Cell_, starring Jennifer Lopez, centers on a psychologist who uses newfangled technology to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer. She hopes to suss out the location of his latest victim. Much like _Dream Warriors_, _The Cell_ features confrontations within what are essentially dreamscapes, paralleling the way that Vecna enters in the minds of his victims in the fourth season of _Stranger Things_. At the end of Season 4, Eleven battled Vecna within Max’s mind.
## **_Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_**
Kate Winslet Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004. Focus Features
Much of Season 4 took place inside the head of Max and other victims of Vecna as he manipulated their perception of reality. [_Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_](https://time.com/3833891/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-movie-review/) takes place inside the memories of the two main characters, much like in _Dream Warriors_ and _The Cell_.
## **_A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors_**
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors US 1987 ROBERT ENGLUND AS FREDDY KRUEGER Date 1987 Mary Evans—Ronald Grant Archive/Everett Collection
Another iconic movie in which battles are fought inside the minds—well, dreams—of its main characters. [Frank Darabont](https://time.com/archive/6911195/the-shawshank-redemptions-frank-darabont-on-his-new-tv-show-the-walking-dead/), the legendary writer-director who is helming two episodes of _Stranger Things_ this season, also wrote this movie. The Duffers have been paying homage to Darabont for nearly a decade, and now they have joined forces with another one of their icons.
**Read More:** [_Everything We Learned on Our Visit to the_ Stranger Things _Season 5 Set_](https://time.com/7324779/stranger-things-season-5-set-visit/)
## _The_ **_Shawshank Redemption_** **,** **_The Green Mile_** **, and** **_The Mist_**
The film is based on a Stephen King short story called "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," which was published in the book Different Seasons. Other stories in that collection included the stories later made into the films Stand By Me and Apt Pupil. Columbia
Darabont is also known for his film adaptations of Stephen King novels, so the Duffers recommend you revisit Darabont's King adaptations like _The Shawshank Redemption_, _The Green Mile_, and _The Mist_. “He may even make a cameo appearance in the show,” says Ross.
## **_Back to the Future_**
Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future' MCA/Universal Pictures
There is a scene in the [Season 5 trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKZyYdwS3Wg) in which Steve drives a car through the membrane of the Upside Down that feels straight out of [_Back to the Future_](https://time.com/3928368/review-1985-back-to-the-future/). Also, remember, the Upside Down is “stuck” on the day in 1983 when Will Byers was first taken. So while there probably won’t be explicit time travel on the show, the characters do sort of travel backward when they visit the Upside Down.
## **_The Great Escape_**
THE GREAT ESCAPE, Steve McQueen, 1963 Courtesy Everett Collection
Another movie with an iconic chase scene: _The Great Escape_. Steve McQueen’s WWII POW jumps a section of barbed-wire on a motorcycle in an epic stunt. It’s easy to imagine one or more of the kids on their bikes channeling McQueen as they escape the government agents, monsters—or both.
## **_Home Alone_**
Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone Don Metzer—20th Century Fox
This recommendation may feel a little lighter in tone than the rest of the movies on the list. When I pressed the Duffers on it, they cited Kevin McCallister’s methodology for deterring bad guys in the beloved Christmas movie. “_Home Alone_ specifically for booby traps,” they said. We will have to wait and see whether they are setting those booby traps for Vecna, the evil-seeming Dr. Kay, or someone else entirely.
What to Watch Before Stranger Things Season 5
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