Advertisement

Archive 81: The scary new Netflix series you’ll want to immediately add to your watchlist

Netflix has just released a new under-the-radar show that could prove to be its next big hit.

While subscribers have been looking forward to watching the new seasons of After Life and Ozark, one show has been added to the streaming service that is hoping to breakthrough in a similar vein to Squid Game.

That show is called Archive 81 – and it will excite horror fans, especially.

Archive 81 is a loose podcast adaptation that’s been developed for TV by Rebecca Sonnenshine, with the help of Saw and The Conjuring director James Wan.

The series follows restoration expert Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), who is offered a job by a rich man named Virgil Davenport (Martin Donovan).

ADVERTISEMENT

The job is to restore a collection of damaged video cassettes from the 1990s – however, Dan’s only able to do this at Virgil’s isolated compound as the tapes are so fragile.

It turns out that these tapes contain footage of a grad student (Dina Shihabi) as she researches a strange apartment complex that was burnt down in a mysterious fire.

Dan soon becomes obsessed with the footage, which leads to the discovery of an eerie cult.

Early word on the eight-episode series has been positive, with the show racking up a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92 per cent.

Mamoudou Athie in ‘spooky’ new Netflix series ‘Archive 81’ (Netflix)
Mamoudou Athie in ‘spooky’ new Netflix series ‘Archive 81’ (Netflix)

Horror fans will delight at The Guardian’s description of the show: “Archive 81 ladles out generous portions – if perhaps sometimes at too stately a pace – of conspiracy theories, jump scares, corridor stalkings, things that go bump in the night, resurrected figures from the past, hallucinations.”

The show also features references to films including The Shining, The Blair With Project and Rosemary’s Baby.

AV Club says that the show “demands patience”, but says it’s a “surprisingly satisfactory investment” and that its “spooky strength lies in this growing sense of dread”.

Fan reactions has also been positive, with many hyping up the show’s scares on Twitter.

“Watching Archive 81 immediately before going to bed may not have been the wisest choice,” one viewer wrote, with another adding: “Watching Archive 81 rn and I love this eerie feeling.”

Archive 81 is available to stream on Netflix now.