Dark is being celebrated seven years after it debuted on Netflix (Picture: Netflix)
Netflix thriller series Dark celebrated its seventh anniversary today – and fans of the show have admitted they’re still perplexed by it.
The German-language series, which started in 2017, follows the lives of the dysfunctional characters living in Winden, a fictional German town.
When a child disappears from Winden, four estranged families find themselves connected by the mystery, which reveals a time-travel wormhole hidden in a nearby forest.
From there, the series explores generational trauma and the effects of time on human life, with some plots taking place across multiple timelines.
The Netflix original series still has a 95% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes while viewers have given it a 94% rating – making Dark one of the highest-rated shows on the platform.
Fans of the series have spent its seventh anniversary saying they wish they could erase the show from their memories in order to start it all over again.
Dark is ‘one of the best thought out and planned shows’ (Picture: Netflix)
Feukorv said on Reddit: ‘One of the best thought out and planned shows. Everything makes sense and everything is connected. If you pay attention to what you are watching.’
Meanwhile, WinstonMikey commented: ‘Everyone complains about Netflix cancelling shows, but doesn’t give them credit for shows like Dark which couldn’t exist on regular broadcast TV.’
Urat went one step further than the person asking whether Dark was ‘one of’ the greatest shows of all time, arguing, ‘Not one of the best shows ever. THE best show ever.’
Four families are connected by a time travel plot (Picture: Netflix)
On X, The Cineprism described Dark as ‘the best sci-fi thriller series of all time’ and @ImDipy responded by saying, ‘Just to think of the idea and concept is brilliant in itself. To bring it into reality and another level! Fab show!’
However, its complex plot did prove to be too much for some viewers, who called the series ‘boring’ and ‘too confusing’, among other criticisms.
The series stars German actors Louis Hoffman, Maja Schone, Lisa Vicari, Moritz Jahn, and Oliver Masucci, although numerous characters are played by different actors once the time-travel elements enter the plot.
The series spawned a spin-off in 2023, called 1899 (Picture: Netflix)
At the time of its release, the child disappearance plot and alternate universe premise saw many people compare it to Stranger Things.
Things quickly changed, however, when the show forged its own path.
Kelly Luegenbiehl, VP of international originals for Netflix at the time said: ‘When we first heard about Dark, we realised very early on that we hadn’t seen anything like this show before.
‘Dark is a testament that great storytelling transcends geography. We’re excited that our members around the globe are captivated by the mysterious world of Winden.’
Dark had a spin-off series commissioned by Netflix in 2022, eventually airing in 2023 – the series was given the name 1899.
Set on a boat, the series ran for just eight episodes and followed the story of a group of European immigrants travelling to America in the year 1899.
The series was positively received but Netflix cancelled it after just one season as a result of low ratings, instead choosing to invest in other projects.
Dark is available to stream on Netflix.
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