The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things.
Limitation breeds creativity, and in the age of COVID-19, limitation lurks the halls of every entertainment company’s headquarters like an anxious Demogorgon. Live music is on hiatus, movie theaters are considered safety hazards, and entire theme parks are just barely opening to the public after a year of inactivity. In absence of these culturally crowded traditions, a vacuum for recreational fun has been left behind, and a few attempts have been made to fill the void.
One such attempt is Netflix and Secret Cinema’s Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience, a unique vehicular attraction based on the streaming service’s mega-popular 1980’s sci-fi horror series. Located in Los Angeles, CA, and operating from October 2020 to April 2021, the hour-long D.I.Y. dark ride is one-of-a-kind, embodying the COVID-cautious era in which it was created.
Not unlike most multimedia franchises lately, it’s been a weird time for Stranger Things. Following the Kronenbergian climax that closed out Season 3 in July 2019, Netflix enticed hungry fans with a brief tease of Stranger Things 4 in February 2020, which included a whopping revelation stacked with its own set of questions. Not even a month later, the COVID-19 outbreak reached the US, putting most major film and television productions, including Stranger Things 4, on pause. During that time, the only concrete information fans received was the title of the season’s premiere episode, “The Hellfire Club,” in June. Unbeknownst to its creators, cast, and huge audience, Stranger Things was on a bit of a mandatory extended break.
It was from this unplanned hiatus - and Netflix’s need to keep its signature show’s relevance in circulation - that The Drive-Into Experience emerged. Unfortunately for lore-hunters, the ride lacks any clues to the Siberian escapades ahead. It’s instead a three-part scenic trip down memory lane, piled with clips of seasons past and built around a simple scenario heavily inspired by Season 3’s biggest beats.
Upon arriving at the event’s base of operations - stationed in Downtown Los Angeles’s ROW commercial district - attendees are immediately immersed in the Stranger Things universe. Akin to the best indoor rides at a Disney theme park, in-universe branding reigns supreme: banners and boards for Starcourt Mall, the third season’s central location, are lined up at the entrance, bringing audiences into the tiny town of Hawkins and its not-so-tiny opulent shopping center. The branding goes beyond simple sights and sounds: by using an app, guests can order ice cream delivery from the comfort of their car, courtesy of Scoops Ahoy, fan-favorite characters Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley’s place of employment.
After getting their tickets scanned at the entrance, customers arrive in a mass of metal and motor, as rows of cars carefully creep towards the main event, Starcourt’s neon signage towering above. Accentuating the preamble, guests are given an FM frequency to listen in on the Hawkins Middle A/V Club’s shenanigans up ahead: actors playing Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Maxine Mayfield, and even lovable schoolteacher Scott Clarke all entertain a patient audience, the aforementioned Mr. Clarke as a makeshift DJ. Brilliantly, the experience uses an in-universe “chemical leak” to handwave the actors' face masks, keeping it real with COVID safety and covering up any immediate differences to the show’s cast.
Once guests reach the front of the line, Drive-Into employees direct them to a different FM frequency, which at first appears to be the same as the previous; that is until the transmission is interrupted by the show’s resident investigator Murray Bauman, who alerts listeners to a Russian conspiracy beneath Hawkins (his wording is ironic considering the actual ride takes place in a large parking lot that guests ascend). Once drivers climb enough floors, they're brought to a halt as the main event begins.
Above its many unique accomplishments, The Drive-Into Experience’s true claim to fame is the physical design of its first act: with cars driving up the lot in a line, there’s no way for most guests to watch a single reenactment traditionally. To circumvent this challenge, multiple actors playing the same characters are relegated to different parts of the floor, allowing all guests to watch a chase scene with Steve, Robin, Dustin, and a gaggle of Russian agents play out. Dialogue is transmitted through the radio, and with the actors all wearing masks as previously mentioned, there are no lip-syncing or volume control problems to finagle. Instead of approaching a parking lot as an inherent disadvantage to blocking and staging, the Drive-Into provides a genius workaround, in turn individualizing the experience.
Although the following two acts are fun, they don’t carry the same ambition. What begins as a simple retelling of Season 3’s climax tumbles into an abstract mishmash of scenes and setpieces from throughout the show, bridged with Murray’s agitated instructions and stretches of music best described as “royalty-free Philip Glass.” The experience culminates on the parking lot’s top floor, as the show’s characters do battle with body-suit Demogorgons and body-snatched citizens, featuring projections of protagonist Eleven’s standout moments draped below an artificially-fogged night sky. The staging previewed in the first section reaches its natural conclusion, as five Elevens dance with a full team of Jim Hoppers while another is suspended in midair to face off against the Demogorgon in the first season’s grand finale.
It may not exactly evoke narrative comprehension and its vision of an in-person Stranger Things visit doesn’t hold onto its suspension of disbelief entirely (the Demogorgon’s petaled facial features can’t stop flapping about), Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience will be remembered as one of the most fascinating byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix and Secret Cinema dared to work within ridiculous restrictions not confronted in generations, delivering a compelling creature of an experience. Hopefully, this is only the first glimpse into a brand-new kind of theatrical entertainment.