One Last Adventure: Stranger Things 5: Behind the Scenes: A Documentary That Comes Full Circle?

From the very first moments, the tones that define the identity of this documentary directed by Martina Radwan are clear. It presents itself as a heartfelt farewell to a cultural phenomenon that has shaped an entire generation, accompanying us over the last decade in the adventures of Eleven & Co. After the hypotheses regarding a phantom episode 9 obviously proved unfounded, Netflix gives all orphaned and already nostalgic fans of the series a bonus whose title says it all: One Last Adventure: Stranger Things 5: Behind the Scenes.

Released in the catalog on January 12, 2026, just days after the conclusion of the fifth and final season, the two hours of viewing aim, or at least would like to, to be the definitive chronicle of the creative and production process that led to the realization of the Duffer brothers' series finale. An operation explicitly designed for the fanbase, in an attempt to revive the tradition of physical media special features, which is increasingly rare in the streaming era.

Either Too Much or Too Little

The director spent an entire year on the set of the final episodes, documenting the various phases of production. We discover how the Duffers tried to bring back to the screen the feelings that inspired them as kids, when from a small town in North Carolina they dreamed of Hollywood, devouring films by John Woo, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Raimi, and many others.

No one, starting with them, expected such success: Stranger Things was initially conceived as a self-contained series, only to transform into a global phenomenon, an instant cult capable of attracting millions of viewers worldwide. While great attention is paid to the creators' vision – their background and their thoughts, which emerge on several occasions – One Last Adventure: Stranger Things 5: Behind the Scenes risks disappointing those looking for broader cast involvement. The space given to the actors is in fact limited, with few interventions and a presence mostly functional to the filming.

The operation stems from a laudable ambition that clashes with some questionable narrative choices, ultimately prioritizing technical and production aspects at the expense of the emotional depth one would expect from a definitive farewell to iconic places and figures of contemporary seriality. The structure alternates sequences in the writers' room – where the Duffers and their team animatedly discuss crucial decisions to be made – with long sections dedicated to the more technical aspects of production. We thus discover that the crew began work without a definitive script for the final episode, a risky admission that conveys the monumental stress associated with closing a mass cultural phenomenon.

Jolts and Lacks to Say Goodbye to Stranger Things

Ample space is dedicated to the final sequence of episode four, described as "the largest and most challenging ever made" for the series. Its staging required the construction of an enormous outdoor set – a reconstruction of downtown Hawkins around the portal to the Upside Down – and six weeks of preparation. The scene includes what appears to be a long single shot during the Demogorgon attack, actually composed of five shots edited together to achieve a breathtaking sense of continuity.

The collaborative work emerges from set designers, production designers, sculptors, painters, costume designers, makeup artists, camera operators, stuntmen, and visual effects artists, engaged in what is defined as the equivalent of "eight films" in terms of production effort. But, as mentioned, the time dedicated to the actors is surprisingly limited. Key figures like David Harbour and Winona Ryder are almost entirely absent, and even those present on set have little space to reflect on what it meant to close such an important chapter of their lives. In the end, a bit of bitterness remains: that nostalgia effect so carefully calibrated in the final minutes of the final season seems almost entirely lost here.