The Duffer Brothers' Nightmare Film Before Their 'Stranger Things' Dream
Long before they created a cultural phenomenon, the Duffer Brothers directed a film that turned into a Hollywood horror story. Their dream project quickly soured, leaving them to question their entire future in filmmaking. What went so wrong behind the scenes of their debut?
In the last twenty years, television has increasingly become the go-to medium for telling sophisticated, character-driven stories. Provocative narratives that once would have been Oscar contenders are now found on TV in shows like Succession or Severance, while movie theaters are largely reserved for big-spectacle events. This shift is even more pronounced now that massive, world-building franchises with dedicated fanbases have found a home on the small screen, with Stranger Things leading the charge. The masterminds behind this Netflix sensation, Matt and Ross Duffer, have earned acclaim for their creative vision, which has propelled the series to record-breaking viewership. But while a new season of their show is now a major cultural event, the brothers once admitted to being “a little delusional” when they made their first movie a decade ago.
From Dream to Disaster
According to an interview with The LAist, the Duffers penned the script for their psychological thriller, The Hidden, while still in college. Warner Bros. eventually acquired it. “It sold in this dream scenario for someone recently out of college,” Ross recalled. “There was a bidding war between studios, and it felt like we suddenly went from being unemployed to being in Entourage or something. It felt like this amazing dream come true.” The film is set in the wake of a devastating apocalyptic event in the United States and follows two parents, played by Alexander Skarsgård and Andrea Riseborough, as they journey with their daughter (Emily Alyn Lind) in search of safety.
However, the excitement of landing a studio film at just 26 years old quickly faded. Matt described the constant pressure and stress of having “studio executives yelling” at them throughout the process. His brother echoed the sentiment. “It was unbelievable to us at the time, and then that ended up going from a dream experience to crashing and burning,” Ross explained.
A Career on the Brink
The difficult production left them feeling lost and uncertain about their future. “We didn’t know what the hell else we were going to do with our lives; this is all we knew how to do. We felt like we’d been preparing to do this since we were little kids,” Ross said. Despite earning positive reviews from critics The Hidden received an extremely limited release, essentially burying the film. This outcome led Matt to describe himself and his brother as being “a little delusional,” since they “had no other skills”. Ross even joked they worried that they “couldn’t even get a job at Starbucks”.
The Return to the Big Screen
Remarkably, just one year after this professional low point, Stranger Things debuted and became an instant hit. The show is now considered a prime example of a monocultural television event, capturing the attention of a massive global audience. Yet, the Duffers have now set their sights back on cinema. They recently inked a deal with Paramount Pictures to create movies with guaranteed theatrical windows, a commitment they couldn't secure at Netflix. Hopefully, their next foray into feature filmmaking will be free of the pressures and anxieties that plagued the making of The Hidden.