Netflix has revealed the trailer and key art for supernatural thriller series Archive 81, premiering on the streaming service January 14, 2022.
The series follows archivist Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), who takes a job restoring a collection of damaged videotapes from 1994. Reconstructing the work of a documentary filmmaker named Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi), he is drawn into her investigation of a dangerous cult at the Visser apartment building.
As the season unfolds across these two timelines, Dan slowly finds himself obsessed with uncovering what happened to Melody. When the two characters form a mysterious connection, Dan becomes convinced he can save her from the terrifying end she met 25 years ago.
An original story loosely inspired by the popular podcast of the same name, Archive 81 is a supernatural thriller series executive produced by showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys, The Vampire Diaries), James Wan and Michael Clear of Atomic Monster (The Conjuring Universe film franchise and Malignant), Rebecca Thomas (Stranger Things, Limetown), Antoine Douaihy (Panic, The Good Cop) and Paul Harris Boardman (Deliver Us From Evil).
“I’m obsessed with mystery box shows, the kind that lead us down a rabbit hole into a strange, dark world,” says showrunner, executive producer and writer Rebecca Sonnenshine. “Archive 81 is a character-driven, deeply emotional story about the nature of art, faith, and the search for identity — all wrapped up in a frayed blanket of existential dread.
“The show also gave this film geek the chance to unearth all sorts of forgotten media formats as found footage, which results in a unique, visually-textured story that is both beautiful and terrifying.”
The original podcast was created by Marc Sollinger and Daniel Powell who serve as co-producers on the series.
“With Archive 81, we’re hoping to give the supernatural horror genre a new twist — while keeping a dark, deeply emotional romance as its core,” said Sonnenshine previously. “Alongside the talented Mamoudou Athie and Dina Shihabi, and visionary partners Atomic Monster and Rebecca Thomas, I’m excited to take Netflix viewers on a terrifying and visually thrilling adventure.”
The eight-episode series also stars Martin Donovan (Virgil Davenport), Matt McGorry (Mark Higgins), Julia Chan (Annabelle Cho), Evan Jonigkeit (Samuel), and Ariana Neal (Jess).
The co-executive producers include Rob Hackett of Atomic Monster, Evan Bleiweiss, and Michael Narducci.
The directors include Rebecca Thomas (101-102, 107-108), Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (103-104), and Haifaa Al Mansour (105-106).
The show’s writers are Rebecca Sonnenshine (101-102, 107), Paul Harris Boardman (101), Michael Narducci (103, 108), Evan Bleiweiss (104, 108), Bobak Esfarjani (105), and Helen Leigh (106).
The series was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New York, New York. The directors of photography are Julie Kirkwood (101-102), Bobby Bukowski (103-104, 107-108), and Nathaniel Goodman (105-106).
The production designer is Toni Barton, costume designer is Vanessa Porter, head of hair is Pamela May, head of makeup is Etzel Ecleston, and the editors include Tyler Cook (101, 105), Amelia Allwarden (102, 106), Patrick Smith (103, 107), and Joel Pashby (104, 108).
The music supervisor is Rob Lowry and the composers include Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow.
Click here to watch the trailer!
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest streaming, movie, TV, and video game news. Mirko previously created the websites ComingSoon, Spider-Man Hype!, SuperHeroHype and ShockTillYouDrop.