I had previously seen the artwork of Simon Stalenhag before but never explored beyond noting its future-techno/slightly-dystopian landscapes. On a whim I gave the Amazon Prime series of the same name a try. I binged all eight one-hour episodes over the weekend because it was such a wonderfully deep story that relies more on subtle unspoken moments than the slightly retro-future technologies the inhabitants of Mercer Ohio interact with. Given some of the technologies in this world I had a hard time at first understanding in what era the story was placed. It seemed to be from an older era than some other recent sci-fi-esque series like Severance , which also feature mixed retro-future technology. I spotted many old school CRT monitors, no references to wireless digital networking technologies and at least one 5 1/4” floppy disk based 1980s era IBM desktop computer. Watching the series lead to a wonderful rabbit-hole of YouTube reflection and explainer videos. After watching the trailer, I’d suggest doing the series than maybe listening to the Music from the Loop in video below and THEN the explainer YouTube videos listed in the Sources section below. Links to the original art books that inspired the series are also listed below.
Tales from the Loop is being streamed on Prime Video.
Enjoy.
Sources:
- Tales From the Loop | Official Trailer by Prime Video (2020-02-27), https://youtu.be/1htuNZp82Ck?si=Jxxb3XChc-Or3J7W, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- Tales from the Loop streaming on Prime Video (2020), https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08BYYJHRP/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
- Relaxing Music To Help You Study | Tales From the Loop | Prime Video by Amazon Prime Video UK (2020-04-04), https://youtu.be/xdnMBp1WnkA?si=1QzhhiVuN8oGM0Uo, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- The Haunting Beauty of ‘Tales from the Loop’ by Curious Archive (2022-10-14), https://youtu.be/Iyni_oAfOoA?si=gbbIoIderjNusuda, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- What Tales From The Loop Does Better Than Stranger Things by IGN (2020-04-03), https://youtu.be/Hd4ibNVN0bA?si=BY39iKNnn8lazTFp, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- Tales from the Loop Ending Explained! By Think Story (2020-04-05), https://youtu.be/fjLebLpB-TU?si=rzmPGs0l0B6EFpP_, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- Tales from the Loop (Hardcover) by Simon Stalenhag (2020), https://amzn.to/3F1hOVj, retrieved on 2023-10-02.
- Things from the Flood (Hardcover) by Simon Stalenhag (2020), https://amzn.to/46CBlYd, retrieved on 2023-10-02.