In Netflix's Star-Studded but Muddled The Boroughs, Stranger Things Happen to Seniors
The Boroughs is a Netflix sci-fi horror series set in a retirement community, exploring the complexities of aging. With a star-studded cast, it combines elements of horror with themes of friendship and purpose in later life. However, the show struggles to cohesively develop its characters and ideas, leading to a muddled narrative.
- ▪The series features a cast including Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, and Geena Davis.
- ▪It addresses the fears and joys of aging, contrasting traditional horror tropes with the experiences of seniors.
- ▪Despite its compelling characters, the show fails to fully develop its themes, resulting in vague takeaways.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Because the default audience for horror is young and male, the genre’s archetypal hero is a blood-soaked babysitter, preferably in some state of undress. Maybe the appetite for manufactured jump-scares ebbs with age because growing older triggers so many real terrors. There’s the body horror of malfunctioning organs and sagging skin; the psychological horror of dementia 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.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at TIME — Top.
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