The Boroughs premieres May 21 on Netflix.
By Elazar Abrahams
It makes sense that the Duffer Brothers, famed creators of Stranger Things, are producers on The Boroughs. Like their global smash hit, this new series also owes a great deal of its tone and formula to the 80s heyday boom of Spielberg-ian adventure films. In a fun twist, this time, the ragtag heroes going up against a supernatural threat are aging senior citizens in a retirement community.
While it is at times a decently crafted journey, the execution is for the most part, mind-boggingly dull. It’s never unwatchable, and occasionally a scare lands or character beats charms you. But it never achieves the warmth or wonder that the best supernatural thrillers do. “The Goonies, but with old people” is an awesome concept, but never excites on screen. Still, the series does find pathos in how underestimated these characters are, and in how much life they still have left to fight for.
There are also standout performers. Alfred Molina is reliably good, and Denis O’Hare gets a fun role in the ensemble that continues to cement him as one of the underrated television characters actors working today. Bill Pullman and Geena Davis also leave an impression.
Unfortunately, the world of The Boroughs is weirdly bland, with a muted color pallet that is visually uninspired and flat. The monsters that are central to the mystery also have a generic design that feels underthought, and the plotting rarely surprises. Predictability isn’t always a fatal flaw, but here it compounds the central issue: the season is just going through the motions rather than building true mystery or tension.
A few later-episode set pieces and designs do pop and hint at the bigger, stranger show this could have been, but it’s not enough to rescue the overall experience.
If you’re hoping for a new Stranger Things-level obsession, sadly, The Boroughs is a skip.
I give The Boroughs a C.
