Stranger Things Season 4 cast gather around an open book.Image via Netflix
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Jasneet Singh
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Jasneet Singh is a writer who finally has a platform to indulge in long rants about small moments on TV and film in overwhelming detail. With a literature background, she is drawn to the narrative aspect of cinema and will happily rave about her favorite characters. She is also waiting for the Ranger's Apprentice novels to be adapted... but the cycle of hope and disappointment every two years is getting too painful to bear.
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Stranger Things has long been hailed as one of Netflix's most successful sci-fi shows, and rightly so. The epic series finally returned for Season 5 after being off the air since 2022, surely becoming everyone's priority this weekend. But there is another Netflix sci-fi series lurking on the streaming platform that is worthy of your attention.
The Rain cannot be more different from Stranger Things on the surface; it's a post-apocalyptic Danish series set in the present day, in which the biggest threat arises in the form of water. But like Stranger Things, this series is threaded with meaningful coming-of-age tales that are executed beautifully through storytelling and performances. It's less about the mind-bending dangers that constantly threaten the main group of characters and more about whether it is possible to remain human in the most extreme of circumstances. Or to return to being human after losing your morality. One thing is for certain: The Rain is the perfect weekend binge for sci-fi fans.
What Is Netflix's Sci-Fi Series 'The Rain' About?
Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen walks in the woods in The RainImage via Netflix
The Rain opens up in Scandinavia, where a seemingly average family hurriedly packs their bags and drives away. We hear smatterings of news reports about a mysterious rain that carries a highly contagious virus. In their attempt to outrun the rain, the family hides in a bunker, but after a series of unfortunate events, the father goes missing, and the mother is caught in the precipitation, where she doubles over in pain, projectile vomits, and then promptly dies. After this harrowing day, we are left with Simone (Alba August) and her younger brother Rasmus (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen), who would go on to live in the pristine (albeit claustrophobic) bunker for six years. During this time, the only information we learn about the viral rain is that it has something to do with their father's work and Rasmus' previous illness.
At the end of six years, the siblings' food supply is running low, and they resolve to exit the bunker the next day. But that night, their air supply is cut out, and, for the first time, they leave the bunker and see the outside world. Their respite is short-lived as a group comes barreling in and ransacks their bunker for any food. When they can't find any, Simone offers to show them the location of another bunker in order to secure her and her brother's survival. Thus, they band together, leading us on a journey through post-apocalyptic Scandinavia, where water is deadly, and the people are deadlier.
Netflix's Overlooked Sci-Fi Series 'The Rain' Puts a New Twist on the Apocalypse
Close up of Lucas Lynggaard as Rasmus in The Rain.Image via Netflix
We've seen plenty of iterations of an apocalypse, from the traditional zombies to more creative kinds of viruses or natural disasters. The Rain adds another dash of creativity to this apocalyptic oeuvre and not only because it takes something as benign and essential as water and turns it into a nightmare, but also because of how it approaches its storytelling. Rather than showing us the progression of people losing their humanity, we are tossed six years into the apocalypse with two characters who have been sheltered from the outside tribulations of survival. We get an exciting and surreal mix of jaded characters and these more naive, optimistic ones and their interactions bring about interesting narratives and themes.
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Posts 1 By Christine Persaud May 27, 2025One such theme that sets The Rain apart from most apocalyptic shows is the overt question of whether people are able to go back to being humans able to care again. We watch the outside group commit murder without blinking an eye, hardened by years of survival, while Simone and Rasmus become beacons of hope that try to get the others to feel or empathize again. As such, Simone and Rasmus' presence in the group allows for moments of levity and carefree fun that the death, disease, and destruction of the world robbed from the outside group. It becomes a coming-of-age tale not only for the naive characters but for the ones who believed becoming inhumane was the only way to survive. The amalgamation of serious and light-hearted storytelling makes the more traditional post-apocalyptic thrills of The Rain even more immersive, and thus the ideal weekend binge.
The Best Parts of 'The Rain' Are the Brilliant Performances
Among the debris of the post-apocalyptic landscape are the characters who are so full of heart and depth that they make The Rain a compelling watch. Simone and Rasmus' sibling relationship is at the forefront of the show, where their lived-in performances make their bond feel so relatable, despite the circumstances. Throughout their six years in the bunker, the simmering tension of being trapped while not quite knowing what the world outside was like was only broken by heartfelt moments of sibling love, like dancing manically to pass the time or Simone helping Rasmus to shave as he grew up. When they become a part of the larger group, Simone's protective streak is constantly tested while Rasmus slowly connects with the other characters.
But in this series, every character makes their impact on the narrative and the audience, each contributing to the post-apocalyptic coming-of-age atmosphere in their own way. The show's storytelling seamlessly weaves in their backstories to the characters we see today, creating dynamic narratives and interconnected relationships that add substance to the series. In doing so, The Rain ensures that each character has redeemable traits, even those who are seemingly as heartless as Patrick (Lukas Løkken) or the leader Martin (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard).
While the mystery of the rain and the siblings' father's potential involvement in the virus incites our interest, it is these multi-faceted and evolving characters who keep us invested. As such, The Rain is a coming-of-age tale at heart, one that takes characters molded by the savagery of an apocalypse and drives them down a path to potentially becoming human again. Its fast-paced three-season arcs are gripping enough to become your next weekend binge, full of thrilling tension and riveting character studies.
The Rain
Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Sci-Fi Thriller Release Date 2018 - 2020-00-00Cast
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Alba August
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Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen
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