Stranger Things 5 Documentary Gives Glimpse Into Emotional Making Of Finale Season

Netflix has opened an emotional window into the final chapter of one of its most defining shows. On January 12, the streaming platform released One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a documentary that captures the end of an era for the sci-fi series that grew up alongside its cast and audience.

The film follows the Stranger Things team through their final stretch of filming, including the last scene ever shot for the show and, fittingly, the story’s finale as well. What makes the documentary especially striking is how raw and unfiltered it feels.

Duffer Brothers Shot Season 5 Without Complete Script

One of the most surprising revelations is that the Duffer Brothers began shooting the final episode before the script was fully complete.

With expectations sky-high and years of storytelling leading to this moment, the pressure was intense. Sets were constructed based on early concepts and long conversations rather than locked pages, leaving parts of the crew working with evolving material.

The documentary showed the filming of Episode 8, The Rightside Up, Matt was heard saying, “We went into production without having a finished script for the finale. That was scary because we wanted to get it right.” He added, “We are shooting episode 8, which isn’t completely written yet. Everyone on set is walking around with red script pages.”

Finn Wolfhard Gives Emotional Farewell Speech

The emotional core, however, belongs to the cast who grew up on the show. Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin are seen standing together during the final shoot, overwhelmed as the crew applauds them. Other longtime cast members, including Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Cara Buono, watch quietly from the sidelines, taking in the moment.

Wolfhard gave a short emotional speech, he said, ” started this show when I was 12 with these guys, and it’s gonna sound sad, but I didn’t feel like I had a lot of friends when I was a kid. When I talked to the Duffers for the first time, it felt like I had friends. And now I have so many more friends.”

The scale of the final season is also laid bare. Season 5 wrapped after nearly 240 shooting days, thousands of setups and hundreds of hours of footage. Directed by Martina Radwan, the documentary tracks the physical exhaustion and emotional weight that came with closing such a massive production.