Dark is the German Stranger Things

What if everything that came from the past was actually influenced by the future?

That’s the main premise in Netflix’s sci-fi horror series “Dark,” which has been deemed “the German ‘Stranger Things.’”

While the two shows are entirely different beasts, it’s an easy comparison to make. “Dark” involves a cast of talented misfit teens, there is plenty of ’80s nostalgia, and a boy vanishes from thin air. But in place of a demented lab, there’s a Chernobyl-esque nuclear power plant adjacent to a winding tunnel of caves.

And chances are, if you liked “Stranger Things,” you’ll love “Dark.” But the similarities end there. “Dark,” frankly, is darker. There isn’t a comedic relief. There aren’t any punch lines. And the horror extends way further than the high school.

Netflix’s first German-language series, cocreated by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, opens in Winden in 2019 as Jonas (Louis Hofmann) deals with the suicide of his father and the sudden disappearance of his friend Erik. When he and his friends go hunting in the woods for Erik’s drug stash, Mikkel (Daan Lennard Liebrenz), the 12-year-old son of police officer Ulrich Nielsen, also goes missing.

This feels all too familiar for Ulrich (Oliver Masucci), whose younger brother went missing under the same circumstances exactly 33 years earlier. Soon, the rest of the town is stricken with the same case of déjà vu.

Which brings us back to the series’ overall theme — time travel. The question isn’t where is Mikkel. It’s when.

As the search for Mikkel becomes more intense, so do the lengths four families go through to keep their secrets and double lives from coming to light. Each of the 10 episodes reveals a new overlapping relationship, tangling an already intricate web of lies.

“Dark” is one of those shows that stays with you long after you’ve finished watching. It will make you question just how much free will you have over your life and what role fate plays. And thankfully, our burning questions could soon be answered. The series has been green-lit for a second season.