Forget Stranger Things—this other Netflix sci-fi thriller is smarter and darker

Even after some divided reviews of the first batch of its insanely anticipated fifth and final season, Netflix' s crown jewel, Stranger Things , is still a cultural phenomenon. The iconic thriller/sci-fi series' latest season sits at around 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. For fans who've been along for the ride since 2016, its mix of big coming-of-age emotions and even bigger monsters, all dripping with '80s nostalgia, is like comfort viewing at this point.

But if you're like me and have been underwhelmed by Eleven and the gang's latest, I recently returned to another thrilling sci-fi gem on Netflix that's a smarter, darker, and better watch. Dark , a German time-twisting saga loved by both critics and audiences, trades Dungeons & Dragons and raging teen hormones for something bleaker and more ambitious. It's like Stranger Things for grown-ups, and you should totally watch it.

Meet Dark, Netflix's time-travel thriller masterpiece

I first watched Dark when it arrived on Netflix in 2017. It enthralled me then, and even more on my recent second viewing. Like Stranger Things , Dark feels familiar—it begins in the small German town of Winden, where children keep going missing, dead birds rain down from the sky, and everyone has skeletons in their closet. But there are no Ghostbusters costumes, bloody noses, or Eggo waffles here. In Winden, there's a nuclear power plant that's hiding something unsettling, and a deep, mysterious cave in the woods that's a portal across time.

Spanning three seasons and 26 episodes, Dark unfurls across Winden's past, present, and future. At the center are four families whose lives are intertwined across timelines. And as some of them move around inside this closed loop, their actions across the decades snowball in an endless cycle of cause and effect.

Netflix's first German original, Dark is part time-loop , part sci-fi thriller, and part psychological drama that burns slow, but has an extraordinary payoff. With a perfectly cast group of actors, young and old, its three seasons are intense, yes, and you do have to pay attention. But when it's over, it's over —no spinoffs, no movies, no lunchboxes. And it totally sticks the landing.

However, if you're the type that looks for critics' ratings for a nudge, then Dark actually has Stranger Things beat there, too, with an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% (with a 100% season two) across all seasons, compared to ST 's 90% . You should just watch it.

Darker, denser, scarier–why Dark is better than Stranger Things

While both Dark and Stranger Things have many of the same elements—small town, missing children, mysterious government plots, timeline nostalgia—they couldn't hit more differently.

Stranger Things leans way harder on '80s nostalgia (season 5 is overdone, if you ask me), where Masters of the Universe bedsheets, old-school tech, Walkmans, boom boxes, and big hairdos are mashed up with the Spielbergian charm of a group of kids riding bikes on an adventure. It features genuine scares delivered by some of the most gruesomely impressive monster effects on TV, and terrifying antagonists like Vecna and his demogorgons to deliver the horror.

But it's also heavier on the adolescent high school drama, and as one Variety reviewer opined , the show has not aged well with its cast. "The truth is that Stranger Things itself has not reflected its stars' obvious maturation with an accompanying complexity. All of Stranger Things is an exercise in nostalgia," they wrote. And I agree.

Dark , on the other hand, is, well, darker. Upside Down monster horror is replaced by the existential dread of wondering if we're all doomed to make the same predetermined choices in a locked, never-ending cycle across time. It asks mind-bending questions like, "What if my girlfriend's little brother, who disappeared two weeks ago, went back in time and is actually my dad?"

Dark 's time travel element makes it a rich, dense, and terrifying mindbender. But it's that trade-off that also makes it more demanding than Stranger Things— you can let Dustin and Steve "The Hair" Harrington bicker in the background while you make popcorn. You can't do that with Dark. It demands your attention, or you'll get lost.

But that's also why its impact is so much more potent. As you put the puzzle pieces together and the family timelines get filled in across time, the end result is highbrow sci-fi perfection.

If Stranger Things is E.T. , then Dark is Arrival .

How to watch Dark without getting completely lost

If I've convinced you to give Dark a try while you wait for Stranger Things to wrap up, as I mentioned above, it is fair to say that it can be intimidating if you've never seen it. I'm halfway through my second watch, and I'm still learning new things, and I like that. With that being said, here are some tips for not getting lost in the Dark loop.

1. Watch it in German with subtitles on

I feel the same way about any foreign-language content I watch; it's always better in its native tongue . Dark 's German dialogue and emotional delivery is so effective at drawing you into the story, and combined with its rain-soaked locale, looming nuclear towers, and eerie score, it's a dish best served auf Deutsch.

2. Don't feel bad about using a family tree

Take it from me: keeping track of multiple generations of the four main families and characters in Dark across multiple timelines is tricky business, even the second time. But as I did with Game of Thrones , there's no shame in either grabbing a pen and paper and making a family tree, or heading online for a spoiler-free family tree to steer you straight. Netflix even has a cool official Dark guide you can use.

3. Don't watch it alone—it's fun to figure out with someone

Sharing a good show with someone is always more fun, but with Dark , pausing the action for a quick detective moment where you're both making revelations about who's related to who, and who's the older version of so-and-so, is awesome. Giving each other a quick recap before each episode helps, too, so choose your wingman and get watching.

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I'll end by saying that you don't have to pick a side in this weird war between two of the best sci-fi thriller series of the last decade—there's room for Hawkins and Winden on your watchlist . But maybe while you wait for Stranger Things ' final curtain, scroll down a bit on your Netflix and give Dark 's winding, tangled knot a try.