While searching for her missing son, Joyce recalls surprising Will with tickets to <Poltergeist>—the movie he had been dying to see. This detail is a brilliant narrative choice, serving not only to anchor the story in its 1982 setting and highlight Will's love for horror, but also to foreshadow the supernatural events to come. The iconic scene where Will communicates with Joyce from the Upside Down by flickering lights from the other side takes a direct cue from <Poltergeist>.