Victims on New Netflix Show Think They've Got a Job. But No.

A new Netflix show is taking heat for punking people who believe they've just scored an exciting new job, Fox News reports. Hosted and co-exec produced by Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo, Prank Encounters will air later in 2019 and follow its unwitting victims with hidden cameras. "Each episode of this terrifying and hilarious prank show takes two complete strangers who each think they're starting their first day at a new job," says Netflix in a press release. "It's business as usual until their paths collide and these part-time jobs turn into full-time nightmares." But after Deadline's Friday report on the show, strong reactions popped up in mainstream and social media.

Vulture likened it to "a Black Mirror episode," while AV Club said it's "a far scarier premise than any monster that’s ever crawled out of the Upside Down. Demogorgon might take your buddies, but at least he doesn’t screw with you while you’re trying to make rent." And Buzzfeed has rounded up tweets like "great, something else for the unemployed to worry about" and "Hey Gaten, this isn’t the group of people to be pulling 'pranks' on. Please reconsider this one. Punch up, not down." In that category, 15-year-old Gaten—who suffers from a disorder called cleidocranial dysplasia, which affects teeth and bones—must be considered "up" after making the Hollywood Reporter's list of top 30 stars younger than 18. (A Netflix miniseries has triggered a strong reaction from a former sex crimes prosecutor.)