Review: 'The Boroughs'
Meet Stranger Things' grumpy, old uncle!
If there is one thing certain in life, it is death. Death and taxes, as a wise man once said. We all grow older, and no one lives forever, no matter how much some of us might wish otherwise. And if we are lucky, we may enter our final years able to look back on life with at least some sense of peace.
These reflections sit at the center of Netflix’s The Boroughs. Creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, previously collaborators on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, have joined forces with the Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fame to tell a new science fiction story about the later years of life.
After an opening sequence that firmly establishes the show’s science fiction tone, in which an elderly woman is abducted by a monster, we meet retired flight engineer Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina), who is struggling with deep depression after recently losing his wife. His adult daughter Claire (Jena Malone) has moved him into The Boroughs, a gated retirement community run by the young and charismatic Blaine (Seth Numrich) and his mysterious wife Anneliese (Alice Kremelberg).
It does not take long for Sam to realize that something feels wrong in The Boroughs. The house he has moved into seems almost haunted by traces of something terrible that happened there before. An elderly woman vanished. Maybe it is only his imagination. But then who is the disturbed old man who suddenly breaks into the house muttering about “owls in the walls” before the staff arrive to escort him back to “The Manor”, the nursing home in the center of town that apparently no one ever returns from?
Fortunately, Sam soon connects with several of his neighbors. The aging womanizer Jack (Bill Pullman) seems determined to drag the grumpy newcomer into backyard barbecues and beers. Through him, Sam also meets Renee (Geena Davis), a cynical former rock manager who refuses to let age define her, Wally (Denis O’Hare), a terminally ill former doctor who hides his fear of death behind humor, Judy (Alfre Woodard), a curious ex-journalist already convinced that something is deeply wrong in the neighborhood, and her partner Art (Clarke Peters), an aging hippie with a calmer outlook on life.
After a long period of shutting himself off, driven by grief, loneliness, and a stubborn belief that he no longer deserves anything good from life, Sam gradually finds a sense of belonging, perhaps even friendship, with his new neighbors, all of whom have experienced strange and unexplained events in and around The Boroughs. Before long, they decide to work together to uncover the truth behind the retirement community and the strange creatures several of them have glimpsed lurking in the shadows.
With the Duffer Brothers producing the series through their company Upside Down Pictures, comparisons to Stranger Things are inevitable, and The Boroughs is no exception. When I first sat down with the episodes Netflix provided, I quickly found myself thinking of it as a kind of “anti-Stranger Things”, or perhaps more accurately, Stranger Things’ grumpy, outspoken old uncle, where the well-aged heroes drive electric golf carts instead of BMX bikes. But the comparison only goes so far.
It may be tempting to describe The Boroughs as Stranger Things for grumpy old men, but that ultimately feels too simple. Remove the Duffer Brothers’ names from the credits, and the series just as easily brings to mind filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, both in storytelling and atmosphere. It should be said, then, that these filmmakers were among the many inspirations for the Duffer Brothers when they made their first hit series.
The performances and dialogue also set the series apart from Stranger Things, and not simply because of the older cast. As the lead, Alfred Molina carries the show with remarkable confidence, giving Sam far more depth across eight episodes than Stranger Things’ massive ensemble has managed over five seasons. Much of that naturally comes down to experience. Molina is now in his seventies and has long been regarded as one of Hollywood’s great character actors, ever since first appearing as the villain Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981.
Alongside Molina, the cast features several other familiar faces. Most recognizable to me, at least, is Bill Pullman, who delivers a wonderful performance as the endlessly charming Jack. Watching him quietly build layer upon layer into the character is a genuine pleasure. Meanwhile, Geena Davis is excellent as the age-defying former rock manager Renee.
Still, next to Molina, it is perhaps Denis O’Hare who leaves the strongest impression as the terminally ill Wally. Frustrated and bitter that he, of all people, should become gravely ill, Wally nevertheless becomes the emotional center and comic relief of the series, balancing warmth and affection for his friends with increasingly dark gallows humor about his own condition. He constantly fires off hilarious, and occasionally outrageous, jokes, often as a way of hiding a very real fear of the death slowly closing in on him.
Part of what makes The Boroughs so charming is the way the series refuses to turn its characters’ age into the joke. This is not a show that points and laughs at elderly people trying to play action heroes. On the contrary, it treats its characters with sincerity while still allowing them humor, warmth, and humanity. It certainly helps that the cast is made up of veterans like Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman, Clarke Peters, Denis O’Hare, and Alfre Woodard, all of whom seem completely at home with the material.
The Boroughs is an excellent and refreshingly unusual science fiction series that takes a familiar concept, especially in the wake of Stranger Things and its many inspirations, and shifts it onto an older generation. On paper, that may sound both strange and risky, but that is exactly why the series feels so fresh.
The Duffer Brothers and creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews prove that stories like these do not need to revolve solely around awkward teenagers with supernatural powers and BMX bikes. They can also focus on elderly people searching for meaning, companionship, and dignity in the final chapter of life… and golf carts. The result is a series filled with warmth, suspense, and an unexpected amount of heart, elevated by a phenomenal cast and a sense of humanity that is all too rare in Netflix’s wider lineup of original series.