Duffer Brothers say Villeneuve’s Prisoners inspired Stranger Things

Collider reports that the Duffer Brothers have credited Denis Villeneuve’s film Prisoners as the creative spark for Stranger Things, pointing to the missing-child premise that opens their Netflix series. In 2016, while promoting Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer told Rolling Stone they had just watched Prisoners; Matt said, "We thought, 'Wouldnt that movie have been even better in eight hours on HBO or Netflix?'" and Ross said they wanted to make the idea their own: "It was taking that idea of a missing child and combining it with the more childlike sensibilities that we have.

You know, can we put a monster in there that eats people?" In a 2025 interview with Variety, Ross recalled walking down the street the day after seeing Prisoners and discussing how to expand the idea, saying they "combined those discussions with an old idea we had which involves monsters, and the supernatural, and government experiments." The brothers reportedly pitched the series to HBO and 15–20 other studios and were rejected by all before Netflix signed on.

Prisoners, set in Conyers, Pennsylvania and centered on two little girls who go missing, was released September 20, 2013, runs 153 minutes, was directed by Denis Villeneuve, lists Aaron Guzikowski and Jake Gyllenhaal as writers, and received an Oscar nomination for Roger A. Deakins' cinematography; it is available to rent or buy on VOD services in the U.S.

Key Topics

Culture, Duffer Brothers, Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners, Stranger Things, Netflix