8 Years Later, This 95% Rotten Tomatoes Netflix Mystery Thriller Is a Must-Watch for Horror Fan

Eight years ago, Netflix delivered one of its best original series with Dark. It immediately grabbed viewers’ attention due to its complex mystery that spanned generations and its evolution throughout three seasons. At first, Dark starts like any crime procedural: in the small town of Winden, a child disappears, which spills into a twisted web involving time travel and the apocalypse. Yes, you read that right, this is a show that snowballs into apocalyptic territory. But what makes Dark such a standout show is how it’s able to build upon its central mystery, layering in details that are easy to catch. As a result, Dark is a television show that demands a second watch to fully appreciate its intricacies.

Everything From the Dialogue to the Visuals Is an Important Part of ‘Dark’

Upon watching Dark, it becomes fairly clear that series creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese intended to blow their audience’s mind. As the series progresses, it’s split across three different timelines, each featuring a different generation of characters. Each ot these timelines features a connection to the other, whether it’s characters, imagery, or even lines of dialogue. bo Odar and Friese also deserve credit for the casting, as they not only manage to balance a massive ensemble but cast actors who look like their eitehr related to each other or could be the future versions of a character. The time travel element takes a fairly dark turn, since the future timeline of 2020 is home to an apocalypse; unsurprisingly, this lent a fairly dark parallel to current events when the third and final season premiered in the actual year of 2020. But just in case fans or casual viewers actually got lost watching Dark, Netflix launched an official website to keep track of characters and events across the timelines. It wasn’t the first time that a science fiction series had its own website, but it was Netflix’s first attempt to connect with a show’s fanbase. Dark would even influence the streamer’s approach to marketing certain shows.

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‘Dark’ Serves as One of the Gold Standards for Netflix Originals

Dark was a major critical success, earning a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes across its three-season run. Most of the praise was due to how the show handled its labyrinthine plot, while others loved how everything was brought full circle. To say how Dark ends would spoil the surprise, but in an era where most TV finales have either fallen short of expectations or strayed far, far away from what made them great, it was a welcome surprise. Dark even impacted Netflix’s approach to its original television series, as it proved that a foreign language series could be just as compelling over the years; as a result, Netflix has crafted original series that became hits in their own rights, most notably with Squid Game (which becaome a massive success in its own right). The streamer even started to target more science-fiction and fantasy fans with its marketing, including “Geeked Week” which is dedicated to pop culture programming, and “Tudum”, which is both a companion site to give Netflix users information on their favorite shows and a global event to promote upcoming Netflix originals. In a way, Dark‘s success helped pave the way for Netflix’s larger goals. Dark is a series that’s worth the watch, even eight years after its inception. Sci-fi fans will love its unique approach to time travel, horror fans will love its disturbing imagery, and fans of Stranger Things or The Witcher will definitely have found their next big binge.