'Typewriter': Everything to Know About Netflix's Scary New Series

It’s the Latest Addition to Netflix’s Indian Offerings

Typewriter is certainly a big deal for the streaming giant, not only because of the buzz it is generating online, but also because of the fact that it is just the latest addition in Netflix's growing slate of Indian original content.

Currently, the streamer already offers a number of success from India, including the crime series Sacred Games, which is currently in its third season, as well as Delhi Crime, Leila, and Selection Day.

Just ahead of the debut of Typewriter earlier this month, the streaming giant announced a total five new originals from India that would be added to the slate, including the Alankrita Shrivastava-created series Bombay Begums, Mai, Betaal, Messy and scripted series Masaba Masaba, Variety reports.

The Cast

The cast of Typewriter is surprisingly led by a group of young actors, including Aarna Sharma as Sameera Anand (better known as Sam), Inspector Anand's daughter and the leader of the ghost club and Aaryansh Malviya as Nikhil (better known as Nick), Palash Kamble as Devraj Banerjee (better known as Bunty), and Mikhail Gandhi as Satyajit Tandon (better known as Gablue), all members of the ghost club.

Speaking of the casting of such young actors, Ghosh explained in an interview with India Today that he held workshops to help prepare them for their big roles.

"This is the first time I worked with children, so for me it was a new experience. I never worked with a child artiste before apart from Aarna Sharma," he told the outlet. "I held workshops to decide the right group of kids who would be interactive."

The rest of the cast includes Palomi Ghosh as Jenny Fernandes, Purab Kohli as Inspector Ravi Anand, Sameer Kochhar as Peter Fernandes, Jisshu Sengupta as Amit Roy and Sara Gesawat as Anya Fernandes.

The Setting

Typewriter takes viewers out of the comfort of their neighborhoods and into a neighborhood in Goa, a city on the western coast of India that has become a hotspot for tourists from around the world.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ghosh revealed that choosing Goa as the setting wasn't just by chance, but rather he selected the city for what it could lend to the series: isolation and dynamic spaces.

"It has those nice lanes, intimate settings which are a mixture of modern and old; villas and bungalows," he said. "And it's not a concrete jungle, so the terrain allows the kids to actually go on an adventure."

People Are Reporting Sleep Loss

There are plenty of series out there that can serve up a scare, but Typewriter's scares are so haunting that dozens of viewers are reporting losing sleep over the horror series. A simple scroll through the Typewriter hashtag on Twitter will find dozens of comments of people expressing their linger fears, with some reporting cases of anxiety and sleepless nights.

#typewriter #Netflix Finished watching typewriter.. @sujoy_g Must be having a good sleep after destroying ours! 😎

— Arpita roychowdhury (@ARPITARC) July 22, 2019

#Typewriter has been watched and it’s definitely not for the faint hearted! Couldn’t see it without looking around to check if all ok in the house! @sujoy_g stop making all this scary spooky stuff ! pic.twitter.com/4HYhx2NsaT

— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) July 21, 2019

The last time a Netflix series was so scary that it kept viewers up was back in fall of 2019 when The Haunting of Hill House premiered.

It's Being Compared to 'Stranger Things'

Proving just how good it is, the horror series is even drawing comparisons to mega-successful Netflix Original Series Stranger Things, likely due in part of its focus on a group of friends and their meddling with the supernatural.

#typewriter was so good that I binge watched the entire series in one go..!

I can almost say it’s a mini Indian version of Stranger things and I mean that as a compliment.🙌🏻

— Sanyo (@sanyoshetty) July 22, 2019

#Typewriter on Netflix was a really fun romp, cool to see Indian horror/thriller stuff being promo'd heavily by Netflix. Lots of Stranger Things vibes, v few actual scares but lots of great Gothic imagery and a great cast

— TWOJAY (@twojayart) July 27, 2019

What The Reviews Say

Currently, Typewriter does not have a rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though it has been given a 6.7/10 stars on IMDb from viewers. As for what the critics say, the series has largely been hit with mixed reviews.

Akhil Arora of Gadgets360 wrote that Typewriter is "so laser-focused on its plot and central mystery that it forgets why audiences enjoy TV shows," adding that the series "sticks to genre conventions and regurgitated storylines for the most part."

In his review for Decider, however, writer Joel Keller praised the series, writing that Ghosh creates "a foreboding mode" and also does "good job at building a lighthearted tone" and that "the characters are also well drawn and the fact that it doesn't take itself seriously makes it even better."

Will There Be a Season 2?

Currently, Netflix has not officially announced a renewal for the Ghosh-directed series, though given its international appeal, it seems likely that it will be granted a sophomore run. Netflix typically announced renewals within a few weeks of a series' premiere, meaning that fans can likely expect news sometime next month.

Should Typewriter be renewed, new episodes would likely debut sometime in 2020.