''Archive 81'' is an American

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

horror

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series developed by Rebecca Sonnenshine, who was also an executive producer for the show, along with

Paul Harris Boardman Paul Harris Boardman is an American screenwriter and film producer, best known for his work in the horror genre. Boardman has also written other screenplays for various studios and production companies, including TriStar, Disney, Bruckheimer Films, ...

and

James Wan James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter and comic book writer. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the ''Saw'' and ''Insidious'' franchises and the creator of The Conjurin ...

. The series was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on January 14, 2022. Between January 9–30, the series was watched for 128.47 million hours globally according to Netflix Top 10s. However, in March 2022, the series was canceled after one season. The series is based on the podcast of the same name that began in 2016.

Mamoudou Athie Mamoudou Athie ( ) is a Mauritanian-American actor. He is best known for starring in the 2022 Netflix horror series ''Archive 81'' and supporting roles in films including ''Jurassic World: Dominion'' (2022). Athie began his career in theater� ...

and

Dina Shihabi Dina Shihabi ( ar, دينا الشهابي; born September 21, 1989) is a Saudi Arabian actress working in the United States. Early life and education Shihabi was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was raised in Saudi Arabia, Beirut, and Dubai. He ...

star in leading roles as Dan and Melody. Dan is hired by a mysterious company to restore video footage of grad student Melody's documentary project on an apartment building that burned down.

Cast and characters

Main

as Dan Turner *

as Melody Pendras *

Evan Jonigkeit Evan Jonigkeit (; born February 18, 1983) is an American actor known for his roles in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', ''Bone Tomahawk'', and '' Easy''. He currently stars as Captain Chesterfield in Discovery Canada's '' Frontier''. Early life ...

as Samuel Spare / Alexander Davenport *

Julia Chan Julia Chan, also known as Julia Taylor Ross, is an English actress and television host. She is best known for her portrayal of Sophia in the horror film '' Silent House'' (2011), Dr. Maggie Lin in the television series '' Saving Hope'' (2012-201 ...

as Anabelle Cho * Ariana Neal as Jess Lewis *

Matt McGorry Matthew David McGorry (born April 12, 1986) is an American actor, writer and activist. He is best known for playing John Bennett on the Netflix comedy-drama series '' Orange Is the New Black'' and Asher Millstone on the ABC legal drama serie ...

as Mark Higgins *

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (199 ...

as Virgil Davenport

Guest

* Charlie Hudson III as Steve Turner * Kate Eastman as Tamara Stefano * Eden Marryshow as John Smith *

Georgina Haig Georgina Haig (born 3 August 1985) is an Australian film and television actress, known for her roles in the Australian children's television series '' The Elephant Princess'', as well as the American television series ''Fringe'', '' Limitless'' ...

as Iris Vos *

Kristin Griffith Kristin Griffith (born September 7, 1953) is an American actress. Filmography *''Interiors'' (1978, by Woody Allen) – Flyn *'' The Europeans'' (1979, by James Ivory) – Lizzie Acton *''Flesh & Blood'' (1979 TV movie) – Michelle *''CHiPs ...

as Cassandra Wall *

Emy Coligado Emy Coligado (born June 5, 1971, in Geneva, Ohio) is an American actress known for her role as Piama Tananahaakna on the sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle''. In 2001, Coligado landed a recurring role as Emmy, the medical examiner's assistant, on t ...

as Helen Yung

Episodes

Production

Development

On October 26, 2020, it was announced that Rebecca Sonnenshine would be the executive producer and showrunner of a horror television series for

and

Atomic Monster Atomic Monster is an American film and television production company, founded in 2014 by James Wan. The company is known for producing films in The Conjuring Universe, ''The Conjuring'' Universe, ''Lights Out (2016 film), Lights Out'', ''Mortal K ...

, with

as writer and executive producer, and

also executive producing. The series is inspired by the podcast of the same name. On January 5, 2022, it was reported that Michael Clear,

Rebecca Thomas Rebecca Ann Thomas (born December 10, 1984) is an American filmmaker and television director, best known for writing and directing the film '' Electrick Children'' and episodic television, including ''Stranger Things'', '' Limetown'', and ''When ...

, and Antoine Douaihy are executive producing the series as well. ''Archive 81'' was released on January 14, 2022 on Netflix. On March 24, 2022, Netflix canceled the series after one season.

Casting

Along with the announcement,

and

were cast in the series. In November that same year,

, and Ariana Neal joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began on November 16, 2020, and concluded on March 29, 2021, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, with Rebecca Thomas directing half of the series.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an 85% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 34 critic reviews. The website's critics' consensus reads, "An intriguing blend of horror and noir, ''Archive 81'' offers addictive supernatural thrills that are haunting in the best way."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". When the show debuted, it broke into the Nielsen streaming rankings at number seven, and it reached as high as number two in its second week.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2020s American drama television series 2020s American horror television series 2020s American mystery television series 2020s American supernatural television series 2022 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings Demons in television English-language Netflix original programming Found footage fiction Horror drama television series Television series about cults Television series about witchcraft Television shows based on podcasts Television shows filmed in Pittsburgh Television shows set in New York City Television series set in 1924 Television series set in 1994 Television series set in 2019