Hidden was the first movie the Duffers created for the big TV. They decided to mimic M.Night Shyamalan’s tone and style. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s known for twist endings in his movies.

So let’s look at how this movie shows us the writers’ ability to plant a plot twist and leave clues for the audience.

How the movie manipulates the viewers:

The plot: Living inside a fallout shelter, a couple (Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough) and their young daughter face a mysterious threat from the outside. This threat is mysterious Breathers, monsters transformed by the virus, lurking on the surface, trying to get to the main characters.

The plot twist: the Breathers are regular people, whereas the main characters are the infected monsters hiding in the dark.

The clues are scattered throughout the movie: the dialogue and the visuals are EXTREMELY important.

First, they explain the rules that they have in the shelter.

These tiny lines hold so much value. They can't lose control, because they turn into monsters. But you'll know it only by the end of the movie.

These lines? They add to the idea that they need to be in control, they are the predators after all. (But you don't know it yet)

The movie manipulates you and makes you think that these Breathers are giant ugly monsters, but they are just regular-sized humans.

You, as a viewer, are being played. The monsters are violent, so humans exterminate them. This is the real meaning of this dialogue.

You only understand this after having watched the ending. They're different, because they are not monsters.

I'm not covering the whole film, you get the idea.

This is foreshowing of them not being the only ones left.

This is the Duffers being funny. They're talking to the audience, they're saying that there's more to it than meets the eye. The dialogue is important, it has double meaning.

Symbolism

Another thing I want to talk about is light. Light is a metaphor for hope here. Let me show you:

The only light they have is artificial, they are trapped but they are not losing hope.

But at the very end of the movie they go to the surface, find others like them, and they see the light, the real sun this time!!!

ALSO THERE'S THIS TALK ABOUT BEING DIFFERENT

This relates to Stranger things ... how?

The Duffer brothers use the same writing techniques: the important dialogue lines, the hidden truth and unreliable narration, the use of light as a metaphor for hope (remember that byler shot in s4 ep9?), that talk on how being different equals being normal...