The missing children, flickering lights, the shadowy local job-center, a (partial) 80s setting, another dimension... Netflix's new sci-fi drama, Dark, was marketed as a "German Stranger Things". However, following its debut, most reviewers seem to be playing down that comparison in favor of other media. Here are ten shows or films that came to mind as I was watching Dark.
Forbrydelsen
This Danish show - later Americanized to become 'The Killing' - featured a missing teen, a community in crisis, and the dark and dour feel that defines the 'Nordic Noir' genre.
Donnie Darko
One music cue and costume combo from Dark seems to be a direct reference to this cult-favorite movie. They also share a few overarching elements, like time travel and a teen lead with a questionable grasp on reality.
Twin Peaks
Dark shares a gloomy town, a forest hotel, and a small-town cast of characters - including one senior citizen who seems to know more about a recent death than they can verbalize - with this David Lynch series.
The X-Files
British Columbia's perpetual fog and drizzle became a character of its own in the 90s Sci-Fi series, but the show's true charm was the human drama between the two leads as they unraveled mysteries about aliens and government conspiracies.
True Detective
A dying town, curious corpses, and low-key Satanic panic? It's bleak, man. The director of Dark, Baran bo Odar, took inspiration from Cary Fukunaga and directed Dark's ten-episode run himself.
Les Revenants
People coming back from the dead provided the slowly unraveling central mystery in this French drama. Yet again, the familial relationships and sense of claustrophobia prove Europe has a firm handle on small-town dread, especially of the supernatural variety.
IT
A town infested with a recurring evil, a yellow raincoat, an 80s setting, and a subterranean world into which children disappear? Check, check, check, and check.
La Jetée
Later used as a spinning-off point for the movie 12 Monkeys, this classic French short explored the inevitability of fate in relation to time travel, across three different eras.
Don't Blink (Doctor Who)
Before Doctor Who ruined one of their better villains with overexposure, the idea of getting transported to another time in which you're forced to live out the rest of your life was frankly terrifying.
Lost
The two shows share strange, loud, industrial noises immediately preceding disappearances, but the end of season one of Dark also leaves viewers with as many questions as answers. If Netflix renews the show, fans are hoping the creators have a solid plan mapped out... unlike certain other dramas.
Sources: Me + 123
If you've already watched Dark, what else did it remind you of? Also, dub or subtitles?