“One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5” is a polished but fairly conventional behind‑the‑scenes documentary that will satisfy franchise devotees more than casual viewers, offering scale, craft, and some mild controversy rather than shocking new revelations.

What the documentary actually is

  • The film is a feature‑length making‑of doc that tracks the production of “Stranger Things” season 5 from table reads through late‑stage filming, with some flashbacks to earlier seasons to frame how massive the final run became.
  • It focuses far more on process (sets, stunts, writing, makeup) than on fandom or lore, so it plays like a classic DVD bonus feature scaled up to Netflix size.

The good: scale, craft, nostalgia

  • The strongest material shows the sheer scale of the final season: 12 film stages, a built‑out replica of downtown Hawkins, and large practical sets like Vecna’s tendril‑covered lair and melting office environments.
  • Craftspeople and technicians get rare spotlight time, from gory prosthetics on Karen Wheeler’s big Demogorgon sequence to intricate stunt choreography, which gives the doc a nostalgic “old‑school making‑of” vibe that many streaming shows now lack.

The mixed: writing room and fan criticism

  • The writing‑room footage is compelling but also exposes pressure points: the team is shown wrestling with episode eight “The Rightside Up,” especially how far to push Eleven’s fate and how to let the kids finally move on from childhood.
  • One hotly discussed moment is a debate over including Demogorgons in the finale; a writer warns that omitting them would feel “insane,” but the room ultimately leans on “demo fatigue,” a choice that has reignited fan anger now that viewers can see the disagreement on camera.

How fans and critics are reacting

  • Early critical takes describe the doc as informative yet surprisingly low‑key, “about as far as you can get from a secret episode,” meaning it rarely challenges the show’s mythology or reframes the divisive ending in a major way.
  • In fan spaces, reactions skew split: production nerds love the access and emotional closure, while those still upset about the finale see the documentary as Netflix doubling down, especially amid ongoing backlash, petitions for cut scenes, and social chatter dissecting the writers’ decisions.

Quick Scoop (SEO‑style mini sections)

Is it worth watching?

  • For dedicated Stranger Things fans who enjoy process, yes: it’s a solid, sometimes moving look at how the last season was physically and emotionally built.
  • If you wanted “secret scenes” or a radical reframing of the controversial finale, it will likely feel tame, even frustrating, because it rarely questions the core creative choices.

Latest news & trending chatter

  • The documentary itself has become a new flashpoint in the wider “Stranger Things” endgame discourse, from TikTok breakdowns of the writers’ room clips to renewed debates about missing Demogorgons and unused material.
  • As of mid‑January 2026, the phrase “Stranger Things documentary review” is tightly intertwined with conversations about fan backlash, petitions, and whether Netflix misjudged how raw the fandom still feels about the finale.

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