The Boroughs, Netflix TV series: Cocoon Meets Cthulhu (trailer).

There comes a point in every civilisation where it must ask itself a serious question: what if the people best equipped to save the world are those who’ve already mastered the dark arts of patience, queueing, and loudly disapproving of nonsense? Enter The Boroughs, which boldly suggests that humanity’s last line of defence may well be armed with cardigans and very firm opinions.

Set in a deceptively tranquil retirement community, the series introduces us to a group of residents who were presumably expecting a quiet life of crossword puzzles and gentle grumbling about the price of biscuits. Instead, they find themselves dealing with an otherworldly threat intent on stealing the one thing they no longer have in abundance: time. Which, when you think about it, is rather unsporting. Even for cosmic horror.

The cast reads like a roll call of actors who have collectively seen enough of life to know when things are about to go spectacularly wrong. Bill Pullman leads the charge as Jack, presumably bringing the same calm authority he once used to negotiate with aliens, presidents, and cinematic chaos. Alongside him, Geena Davis, Clarke Peters, Alfred Molina, and Alfre Woodard form a sort of Avengers: Retirement Edition, only with fewer capes and more practical footwear.

There’s something delightfully subversive about this setup. Science fiction has long been obsessed with youthful heroes sprinting about saving the galaxy, usually while ignoring basic health and safety regulations. The Boroughs flips that on its head. These are characters who have already lived entire lives, made their mistakes, and learned the fine art of spotting trouble before it finishes introducing itself.

Of course, this being a production involving The Duffer Brothers, there’s every chance that the picturesque setting will unravel faster than a cheap jumper in a washing machine. Expect eerie happenings, creeping dread, and at least one moment where someone says, “That’s not right,” just before something very much isn’t right.

The premise hints at something more thoughtful lurking beneath the genre trappings. Time, memory, ageing, and the quiet indignities of growing older are all ripe for exploration, particularly when mixed with a threat that literally feeds on what you’ve got left. It’s the sort of idea that can swing between poignancy and terror with alarming ease, like a polite conversation that suddenly turns into an argument about politics at Christmas.

Filming in New Mexico gives the show a sun-bleached, slightly uncanny backdrop, which should contrast nicely with the cosy expectations of retirement living. There’s always something a bit unsettling about places designed to be calm. Add a dash of cosmic menace, and you’ve got the narrative equivalent of a cup of tea that’s gone cold when you weren’t looking.

Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we’ve long suspected that if the end of the world ever does arrive, it won’t be stopped by the loudest or the fastest, but by the people who’ve quietly accumulated decades of experience and aren’t impressed by theatrics. The Boroughs appears ready to test that theory, armed with a stellar cast and a premise that feels equal parts absurd and uncomfortably plausible.

The series lands on Netflix on 21 May 2026. If nothing else, it may finally answer the question of whether eldritch horrors can withstand a well-organised residents’ committee. My money’s on the committee.