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Ars Technica May 26, 2026 at 14:35 Big Tech Rising Hot

Review: The Boroughs is a smart, pitch-perfect creature feature

Top-notch ensemble cast, smart writing, and an engrossing supernatural mystery make for a winning combo.

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By Jennifer Ouellette Original source
Review: The Boroughs is a smart, pitch-perfect creature feature

The Duffer brothers wrapped up their blockbuster series Stranger Things earlier this year and also departed Netflix for a lucrative new production deal with Paramount. But a couple of their production projects remain with Netflix: the animated series Stranger Things: Tales from '85, which dropped in April to mixed reviews; and the newly released The Boroughs, a supernatural thriller set in a retirement community in the New Mexico desert. I'm happy to report that The Boroughs is a creative home run, with a smart, witty script, terrific ensemble cast, and engrossing central mystery. (Some spoilers below but no major reveals.) Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) is a recently widowed, retired aeronautical engineer who (very) reluctantly moves into The Boroughs retirement community. It was his late wife's choice to move there, and the company refuses to let him out of the contract he co-signed when Lilly (Jane Kaczmarek) was still alive. So he's grumpy about the whole arrangement, snapping at his long-suffering daughter, Claire (Jena Malone) and pretty much anyone else who crosses his path. Read full article Comments

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