'Stranger Things' Fans Are Debating If the Show's Guilty of Bad Acting

Fans of the hit TV show Stranger Things were excited about the season 5 premiere on the day before Thanksgiving, but they quickly began criticizing the show for what they say is the "bad acting" of the child stars who've now grown up.

Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder as a single mother of two boys, and her youngest son, Will (played by Noah Schnapp), disappears after playing with his friends in their hometown of Hawkins, Ind. Actor David Harbour also stars as the chief of police in Hawkins.

As Will's friends search for him, they witness supernatural activity and secret government experiments. They eventually meet Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown), a girl born with special psychokinetic abilities after the government conducted experiments on her mother while pregnant.

The kids were about 12 when the show began, but they are adults now, and folks can't stop talking about their "bad acting" chops (or lack thereof) on social media.

Fans of Stranger Things on Netflix were very excited waiting for Season 5 of the show to debut, but after the first four episodes dropped on November 26, 2025, they couldn't stop talking about the show's child stars-turned adults and their alleged "bad acting."

On Reddit, several people left negative comments about Millie's acting abilities, and they were not kind.

One fan brought up the Daily Mail article that claimed Millie filed harassment and bullying claims against David, although Millie told Deadline that she and David "have a great relationship."

"David and I have a great relationship," she said. "We work really closely together in the scenes and in preparing for the scenes. ...Of course, I felt safe. We’ve worked together for 10 years. I feel safe with everyone on that set. Naturally, we’ve been doing it for so long."

"I don’t know if it’s the bad acting or the fact she’s a grown woman who has had work done on her face, playing a little girl, but I just start laughing every time she’s on screen," wrote the fan. "If David Harbour really did snap at her, I get it because it seems like she stopped trying, and their emotional scenes together are really bad."

Noah also caught some flak online about his acting. "I think he’s fine in like super intense or emotional scenes, but he seems to struggle delivering his lines in more conventional and casual scenes," wrote one fan.

However, many fans are still in love with the show and don't agree with the negative Nellies about the "bad acting."

"I've been watching the new season of Stranger Things and greatly enjoying it," wrote one fan. "But anytime I see anyone talking about it on Reddit, it's all negative. Almost all of the comments on r/Netflix is about how bad the show is, how terrible the acting and storyline is, or how the actors aren't kids anymore. I didn't get the impression of any of that. ...I don't get it. If anything, it's been a 10/10 so far, so what's with the hate? Are people just being contrarian because it's so popular?"

The first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 are currently available on Netflix. Season 5 Part 2 premieres on December 25, 2025.