Who says monster hunting is just for high schoolers? The Boroughs doesn’t. This new Netflix miniseries takes all your favourite supernatural-drama tropes and sets them in a retirement facility with a predominantly older cast.
The Boroughs is a New Mexico-based upmarket retirement village for the elderly. It has everything you could need to get you through later life, from jewellery making classes to Pilates, but Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) is regretting his decision. When Sam decided to make the move to this village, his wife Lily (Jane Kaczmarek) was still alive. Now, the widower wishes he could stay at home with his daughter (Jena Malone) and her young family.
The inhabitants of The Boroughs try to make Sam feel at home in this uncanny valley complex, but he’s still unsure whether it’s the right place for him. Welcoming him into their group are womaniser Jack (Bill Pullman), stoner Art (Clarke Peters) and his fiery wife Judy (Alfe Woodard), former doctor Wally (Denis O’Hare) and the flirty Renee (Genna Davis).
It turns out that old age ailments and boring afternoons in the picturesque village are the least of their worries….
Something Untoward Is Happen In The Boroughs
The opening scene suggests that something is going on at this retirement complex. People go missing, someone or something is stealing quartz, and the televisions are flickering in a way that is far creepier than your standard static.
Of course, when the inhabitants report these mysterious goings-on, their families, the uncomfortably insincere owner, Blaine (Seth Numrich), and the authorities don’t listen to them. When someone of a certain age starts ranting about creatures in the walls and seeing things on their TV, people don’t believe they are telling the truth. In fact, these reports could see the inhabitants moved to a special dementia ward and their medication strengthened.
The Boroughs uses this supernatural plot of a creature living within the facility as a metaphor for some of the struggles of old age. Similar to how young people can explore these mysteries without being noticed by grown-ups, The Boroughs highlights how pensioners can move through society without being perceived. And if they are noticed, they are berated and discarded, treated like naughty children rather than wise old people who have lived long, full lives.
The show follows a familiar set-up of introducing a mysterious entity and then forcing a band of unlikely, inexperienced heroes to band together to discover what it is, what it’s for and how to save their town. It’s every Stephen King novel, every monster of the week TV show, but having the cast be all over 60 is a neat little trick that sets it apart from the others.
The Boroughs Is Home To Some Cool Pensioners
The joy of The Boroughs is that the band of unlikely heroes is not your standard confused, incapacitated retirees; in fact, there is plenty of life left in this group. They have affairs, they take drugs, they party, they have strong opinions, and they are not ready to give in to old age.
The series spends a decent amount of time setting up all characters, their lives and their concerns. By the time the spookier goings on start happening, you’ll already have fallen in love with these people. They feel like well-rounded humans, all their trauma and illness sensitively portrayed. It’s hard not to like these badly behaved misfits, and even to hope you’ll one day end up so defiant.
If it wasn’t for the opening scenes, which hint at the supernatural goings on behind the scenes of The Boroughs, you may be fooled into thinking this is a drama about the fear of mortality. The show is as much about facing impending death, widowhood and declining health as it is about monsters and conspiracies.
The writing gently tackles these difficult topics, often with a light-heartedness that anyone who knows someone with a terminal disease will recognise. A highlight sees Denis O’Hare’s Wally lie in a coffin and dramatically consider his own forever home. It’s occasionally a tough watch as it forces you to confront your own mortality, but it will also give you joy in knowing that age is truly just a number.
It’s not all doom and gloom; in fact, The Boroughs is frequently hilarious. The cast is clearly having a ball as these weapon-wielding, weed-smoking, foul-mouthed retirees. Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard and Clarke Peters are names who have long desired their moment to shine, and this show lets them use their powers to their full potential. They get to explore tunnels with weapons as well as speak frankly about how it feels to be left behind in society as someone of a certain age. Perhaps, The Boroughs would have been preposterous if not for such a committed cast who are as skilled at drama as they are comedy and adventure.
The Boroughs Is More Than Just Stranger Things For The Over 60s
While the show was created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, the fact it was produced by The Duffer Brothers, the team behind Stranger Things, is generating the buzz. The show certainly shares some DNA with the Millie Bobby Brown drama, but it has much more heart and soul. It’s not a simple ‘old age version of Stranger Things’, which it’s sure to be touted as such,
The Boroughs is less about hunting down monsters and more about using supernatural elements to highlight how old people are treated by society. The show uses common tropes to explore how shunned the older demographic is, how poorly treated they are by these so-called caring facilities and how many of their families would prefer to be more incapacitated so they can be highly medicated and hidden.
Addiss and Matthews have created a heartfelt, funny series that tightly combines an old-people-behavior comedy with a supernatural adventure. It uses a well-worn format to bring some really creative ideas to screen, and unlike many a Netflix show, delivers 8 well-paced episodes and a satisfying finale. This idea feels original, which is a rare commodity in the streaming era, well-thought-out and avoids taking the easy and obvious routes.
The series effectively balances a human story about the lives of elderly people with more classic supernatural elements. If you’re looking for a purely fun monster of the week adventure, The Boroughs is working on a much deeper level. It sensitively depicts hard topics as light-heartedly as it can without demeaning them, and it never forgets that you’re never too old to have an adventure with your friends.
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