Mysteries about characters in their golden years are having something of a golden moment on Netflix. One of the most popular current book series is The Thursday Murder Club, about elderly Brits in a retirement home who are better sleuths than the cops; it was recently turned into a decent Netflix movie with a cast led by Dame Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Ted Danson has now spent two seasons on the streamer's acclaimed A Man on the Inside finding new purpose after retirement working as an undercover operative for a private detective; a third season is on the way. Now comes The Boroughs, which a group of neighbors in a seemingly idyllic retirement community discover that strange things are afoot — from the producers of Stranger Things, no less.
Alan Sepinwall
The Duffer Brothers didn't create the series, which comes from Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. But the new show and Stranger Things share a sincere love of Eighties kidventure movies like E.T., The Goonies, and Explorers. It's got wide vistas, a triumphant score, and a group of underestimated outcasts proving surprisingly resourceful in the face of supernatural mayhem. But rather than adolescents on bikes, this one's about people in their 60s and 70s who mostly get around on motorized golf carts. The actual stars of all the films that inspired this show aren't quite old enough to be moving into a cozy village with an assisted living facility attached(*), but Boroughs actors Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Clarke Peters, Denis O'Hare, and Bill Pullman nonetheless understand the spirit of the mix of wide-eyed wonder, sardonic humor, and genuine fear they're being asked to play.
(*) Explorers star Ethan Hawke is too busy solving mysteries of his own on the mean streets of Tulsa.
The result is a hugely charming show that, like Stranger Things, doesn't try to disguise its influences, but tweaks most of them(*) just enough that, combined with a terrific cast, it feels like its own thing.