Russians filmed a copy of 'Stranger Things'. Part of the scenes were filmed in Vileyka and Svetlogorsk

Photo: frame from the trailer

The Russian streaming service Okko filmed 'Radar' based on the novella 'Chief Meridian' by Soviet writer Alexander Mirer. This is a story about how, in a 1960s Soviet town, two teenagers encounter unusual adult behavior, and later learn that the reason for this is an alien invasion.

For 'Radar', the action was moved to the late 1980s, and the number of teenagers was increased to three. These boys — Lyosha, Tolya, and Syoma — ride their bicycles around a Soviet town, near which a huge radar stands in the forest, and one of the teenagers disappears into the forest in the very first episode. There's also Zhenya, the school's sex symbol, who is in the senior grades, and his curly-haired girlfriend Vika, and Andrei Timofeevich — an adult who works at the school and tries to help the children in their search for the truth.

Павялічыць

Photo: frame from the trailer

In their free time from aliens, those children listen to forbidden music and dream of 'Artek'. One of the boys writes a fantasy novel, his older brother's curly-haired girlfriend wants to go to Elbrus. All of them, in their free time from searching for the truth, experience various trifles that make up growing up: building first relationships, suffering from bullying at school, trying to deal with teachers and parents. And, of course, the Cold War adds its own characteristics to the world of the series.

Doesn't it remind you of anything?

'Radar' looks very similar to 'Stranger Things' — the cult series from Netflix. The difference is in the details. In the town of Hawkins, where the events of 'Stranger Things' take place, there are four main characters, not three, the adult characters are slightly different, and at the center of the story are not aliens, but a mysterious laboratory and its 'graduate' Eleven. But there is so much similarity that there is no doubt: the creators of 'Radar' were inspired by the Netflix project.

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Syoma from 'Radar' and Dustin from 'Stranger Things'. Photo: frames from the trailers

Into this story, they wove several characters who could not have been in 'Stranger Things'. For example, Olga Svyatoslavovna (Viktoria Isakova), the head of the city executive committee and mother of one of the heroines, a tough and firm woman. Or Tolya's father, played by Belarusian Anatoly Kot, a Soviet colonel and useful prey for aliens.

The series was partially filmed in Belarus. They used the pavilions of 'Belarusfilm', and also filmed in Svetlogorsk, Vileyka, and the town of Myshkovichi, which is in the Mogilev region. In both Vileyka and Myshkovichi, filmmakers were mostly attracted by private houses and typical Soviet-era buildings, and in Vileyka, they also recruited many Belarusians for extras.

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Vika from 'Radar' and Nancy from 'Stranger Things'. Photo: frames from the series

The series turned out dynamic, but it has a characteristic in which it hopelessly loses to 'Stranger Things'. The American project became cult-favorite largely through feelings. At its heart is a childhood friendship that the boys and girls from Hawkins carry through their entire adolescence, first love, the unconditional love of parents for their children, and the immense courage with which ordinary Americans defend their town from monsters from another world.

Павялічыць

Anatoly Kot in 'Radar'. Photo: radar_okko / Instagram

Over the three episodes of 'Radar' that are already available, its characters have not shown feelings. Perhaps the script is to blame for this, as the first two episodes are dedicated to a slow prologue to the story, and 'Radar' simply needs time.

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