Why should Eighties kids in quilted jackets on Choppers have all the fun? Septuagenarians can hunt monsters too and Netflix has given them a chance to prove it in its new science fiction mystery series The Boroughs, which is set in a retirement community in New Mexico.
Our first glimpse of the titular upmarket town where “you’ll have the time of your life” comes through the eyes of the new resident Sam (Alfred Molina), an engineer still grieving for his recently deceased wife. As such, he is unable and unwilling to embrace this seemingly idyllic world of dawn-till-dusk golfing, barbecues and pool parties. And despite the best efforts of his perma-drunk new neighbour Jack (played with aplomb by Bill Pullman) to convince him that the town isn’t somewhere people go to die (“it’s somewhere they go come live”), Sam wants out and demands to meet the weirdly smooth CEO of the community, Blaine Shaw (Seth Numrich).
But after meeting residents including the free-spirited Renee (Geena Davis), the terminally ill doctor Wally (Denis O’Hare) and the former journalist Judy Daniels (Alfre Woodard), Sam finds himself heading an unlikely band of detectives after a tragedy that raises even more questions about the community.
It’s at this point, as friends are lost and shadowy creatures begin to appear from dark tunnels, that you begin to feel the influence of the series’ executive producers, the Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things. We’re drawn into an existential quest for survival with unlikely heroes. And while they’re driving golf carts and wearing slip-on shoes, their lifetime of experience more than compensates for their years, allowing them to perform DIY autopsies and build complex engineering projects in ways the kids of Hawkins, Indiana, could only dream of.
Much like Stranger Things, the series is unafraid to take sharp twists and turns, delivering marmalade-dropping moments throughout its eight episodes as new layers of conspiracy are added while exploring the characters’ desire to have a purpose in their golden years.
At the heart of the show is the fine cast led by Molina, who manages to carefully channel his inner child while often retaining the appearance and demeanour of a grumpy old man who bounces well off the dry-witted Wally. His performance is equalled by Davis who, as the apparently carefree Renee, brings more Louise than Thelma to the role as she brushes off lawsuits from her ex-husband and sleeps with the much younger security guard, Paz. Clarke Peters also delivers a great turn as the inquisitive weed-smoking Art, whose breakaway storyline in the desert cranks the story into a new gear.
Geena Davis stars as free-spirited ReneeNetflix
It’s perhaps ironic that the most obvious issue with the show — the fact that no one really appears old enough to live in a retirement community — connects directly to its central theme of something or someone stealing the characters’ time. The real secret is clearly not staying young at heart but living well in Hollywood.
Part Thursday Murder Club, part Stranger Things, The Boroughs is an unexpectedly entertaining mix of adventure and wonder, drama and humour. Age is just a number — and it doesn’t matter what that number is when you’ve got a monster in your front room.
★★★★☆
All eight episodes of The Boroughs are available on Netflix