Netflix is playing the nostalgia card with its 1990s high school comedy series, Everything Sucks! While reviving tropes of teen culture has proven a winning formula, people's mixed reception reflects a growing cynicism to something that's been done one too many times.

The Shōwa period of Japanese history ended in 1989, but the legacy of retro culture it left behind has piqued modern Japan’s interest. Given nostalgia’s role in social bonding, Japan’s Shōwa fetish could help bring an increasingly estranged society closer together.

The act of remembering isn’t neutral – objective recollection is always pasted over with a layer of subjective evaluation, meaning the past is often filtered through rose-tinted glasses. But as the dangers of this false idealisation become apparent, there’s growing awareness of the dark side of nostalgia.

Whether it’s Secret Cinema taking people Back to the Future, or the revival of classic shows like Twin Peaks, the promise of a nostalgic experience is a big consumer draw. Andrew Abeyta, who studies the psychology of nostalgia, explains to Canvas8 how reflecting on the past can affect us today.