Culture Crash: Dark

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture – what’s new and old in entertainment.

Foreign language media is not most of our bread-and-butter. Every year at the Oscars or Emmys, most of us watch the reel of movies or shows from other countries unaware of any of the titles flashing across the screen.

Netflix is trying to change that, at least slightly, with their latest blockbuster series, Dark. Dark is a fascinating sci-fi mind-bender. It is probably mis-served a little by the easy comparisons to Stranger Things—both shows feature disappearing children and kids riding bikes into forests.

But that’s really where the similarities stop-where Stranger Things would lovably reference Risky Business or ET, Dark opts to instead deal with heavier fare- like what our place is in the world and whether we have free will.

Dark is a masterpiece of atmospheric dread, the music and cinematography give it incredible production value and the show manages to cross, pollinate time travel with local-gossip and generations-old grudges in a really compelling way.

If you love shows that make you think, and media that provide no easy answers, Dark may be the show for you.

Its German-language origins do mean you’ll have to rely on subtitles or an English dubbed version that is far from perfect.

Some people prefer to watch it in its original German with English subtitles, I opted to use both the English dubbed track and the English subtitles, helping me keep track of exactly what is being said.

While the subtitles and dubbing can be a little bit of a distraction, Dark is so good that you quickly forget about all that because you’re just so absorbed in the drama.

Season one of Dark is now streaming on Netflix. A second season has already been confirmed.

I’m Evan Rook.