--- description: Backed by the creators who brought us the Upside Down, Netflix's newest sci-fi horror series features an all-star cast of senior citizens title: Netflix's 'The Boroughs' Is 'Stranger Things Sr.' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d3f703533fe386e/6a063dd518beaf662b03cbf6/The_Boroughs_n_S1_00_38_11_19R.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # In Netflix's Star-Studded but Muddled _The Boroughs_, Stranger Things Happen to Seniors  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic May 21, 2026 8:24 AM CUT  From left: Clarke Peters, Alfre Woodard, Alfred Molina, Denis O'Hare, and Geena Davis in The Boroughs From left: Clarke Peters, Alfre Woodard, Alfred Molina, Denis O'Hare, and Geena Davis in The BoroughsNetflix  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic May 21, 2026 8:24 AM CUT Because the default audience for [horror](https://time.com/7326119/horror-movies-anxiety-scaring-myself/ "undefined") is young and male, the genre’s archetypal hero is a [blood-soaked babysitter](https://time.com/5434332/jamie-lee-curtis-halloween-movie/ "undefined"), preferably in some state of undress. Maybe the appetite for manufactured jump-scares ebbs with age because [growing older](https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/ageist-phrases-stop-saying-aging-language/ "undefined") triggers so many real terrors. There’s the [body horror](https://time.com/7381303/aging-medicine-disease-arpa-h-longevity/ "undefined") of malfunctioning organs and sagging skin; the psychological horror of [dementia](https://time.com/7273212/dementia-murali-doraiswamy-eric-stallard-essay/ "undefined") or, worse, the condescension of people who treat you like you’re senile when you’re not; the supernatural horror of carrying around the ghosts of everyone you’ve lost. And, of course, looming death. These frights all pop up in _The Boroughs_, a Netflix sci-fi horror series set at a retirement community in the New Mexico desert. With [_Stranger Things_](https://time.com/7341726/stranger-things-season-5-part-2-review/ "undefined") creators the [Duffer brothers](https://time.com/7323597/stranger-things-deaths-duffer-brothers-interview/ "undefined") as executive producers, it’s an empathetic take on aging that captures the pain of being discarded and the joy of finding late-in-life purpose and friendship. A cast led by [Alfred Molina](https://time.com/article/2026/05/08/remarkably-bright-creatures-review/ "undefined"), [Alfre Woodard](https://time.com/5762031/alfre-woodard-clemency-movie-interview/ "undefined"), [Geena Davis](https://time.com/4180847/geena-davis-pop-culture-sexism/ "undefined"), Clarke Peters, and Denis O’Hare embodies a refreshingly contemporary form of senior citizenship; instead of dozing off to _Matlock_, these boomers take psychedelics, do [Springsteen](https://time.com/7319963/bruce-springsteen-songs-albums-deliver-me-from-nowhere/ "undefined") karaoke, and practice free love. The trouble comes when creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (who previously helmed Netflix’s [_Dark Crystal_](https://time.com/5658421/dark-crystal-carnival-row-review/ "undefined")series) try to synthesize all of their compelling characters and ideas into an overarching statement  A deceptively pristine cul-de-sac in The Boroughs Netflix We take in the Boroughs, with its retro eateries and golf courses, through the skeptical eyes of Molina’s Sam. The crankiness of the former aeronautical engineer can, in part, be attributed to the annihilating loss of his wife, Lilly (Jane Kaczmarek). She was the one who wanted to retire to this megadevelopment of identical mid-century modern cul-de-sacs. But her death didn’t void their contract, so Sam’s kind daughter, Claire (Jena Malone), delivers him to his new life in hopes he’ll adjust. A gregarious neighbor, Bill Pullman’s Jack, introduces him to a surprisingly fascinating crew. Ex-journalist Judy (Woodard) and her hippie husband, Art (Peters), are at a marital impasse. Renee, who used to manage bands, is a character so cool, only Davis could play her. A doctor struggling to accept his own terminal diagnosis, Wally (O’Hare) vows to fill his remaining days with “cocktails and chaos.” The Boroughs offers a bottomless supply of both. A many-leggedmystery monster is slowly killing residents, and the glamorous couple that owns the complex (Seth Numrich and Alice Kremelberg) seems more concerned with keeping up immaculate appearances than with investigating. Certain that going public with their fears will only get them confined to the Boroughs’ eerie nursing unit, Sam and his friends are left to defend themselves from whatever is preying on them.  From left: Clarke Peters, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman, Alfre Woodard, and Alfred Molina in The Boroughs Netflix Easily the best of the three Netflix series the Duffers have shepherded since [_Stranger Things_ ended](https://time.com/7337384/stranger-things-season-5-vol-1-ending-explained/ "undefined") last year (including the animated spinoff _Stranger Things: Tales From ’85_ and wedding chiller [_Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/something-very-is-going-to-happen-review/ "undefined")), _The Boroughs_ shares that franchise’s [Spielbergian](https://time.com/collections/time100-leadership-series/6234045/steven-spielberg-interview-the-fabelmans/ "undefined") juxtaposition of horror and heart. The producers have also [acknowledged a debt](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-boroughs-release-date-first-look "undefined")to[](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-boroughs-release-date-first-look "undefined")[Ron Howard](https://time.com/collections/person-of-the-week-podcast/6984046/ron-howard-interview-person-of-the-week/ "undefined")’s film [_Cocoon_](https://time.com/archive/6704299/cinema-everybody-into-the-pool-cocoon/ "undefined"), another sci-fi story set in a retirement community. Like that classic, the show excels at humanizing, through sharp performances by an all-star cast, characters Hollywood too often caricatures as cute or crotchety, when it deigns to pay them any attention. Even without monsters to fight, the denizens of the Boroughs would be a fun hang. I do wish we got to know them a bit better. Sadly, _The Boroughs_ also shares with _Stranger Things_ a tendency to stop developing characters and relationships after efficient introductions. (The exception is Wally, a gay man whose memories of the AIDS crisis complicate his every choice.) Instead, both shows keep adding portentous but vague themes until so many ideas have been articulated that only the most anodyne takeaways survive. In this case, the horrors and the pleasures of old age are, finally, reduced to mushy platitudes: “Time is a gift.” “Why does anyone do anything? Love.” You’d think people staring down mortality would have more penetrating insights to share. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/the-boroughs-review-netflix/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/the-boroughs-review-netflix/"},"headline":"In Netflix's Star-Studded but Muddled The Boroughs, Stranger Things Happen to Seniors","datePublished":"2026-05-21T08:24:31.877Z","dateModified":"2026-05-21T08:24:35.114Z","description":"Backed by the creators who brought us the Upside Down, Netflix's newest sci-fi horror series features an all-star cast of senior citizens","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/the-boroughs-review-netflix/","keywords":["Television","review","culturepod","Magazine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d3f703533fe386e/6a063dd518beaf662b03cbf6/The_Boroughs_n_S1_00_38_11_19R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d3f703533fe386e/6a063dd518beaf662b03cbf6/The_Boroughs_n_S1_00_38_11_19R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The_Boroughs_n_S1_00_38_11_19R.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/14/the-boroughs-review-netflix/","name":"In Netflix's Star-Studded but Muddled The Boroughs, Stranger Things Happen to Seniors"}}]}] ```