Aging comes with its own set of challenges — sickness, decline in cognitive abilities, and invisibility from society. Older people face specific prejudices, as people brush off their ideas as fantasies of an aging mind. At a certain point, many older people move into elder care facilities, whether by choice or at the insistence of their loved ones. Unfortunately, some of those facilities do not have the residents’ best interests at heart, but they will advertise themselves as heaven on Earth. These are the ideas explored in Netflix‘s upcoming horror series, premiering tomorrow, May 21.
However, this show is not just social commentary on aging; it features a sci-fi twist when residents of a town created specifically for the elderly discover something peculiar. This place functions differently from what someone would expect of an elder care facility. It gives the residents the freedom to live out their golden days in peace, doing what they want. The facility, called The Boroughs, is set in the sunny desert state of New Mexico. But for new resident Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina), this was never his idea of retirement, and when he moves here, he has no intention of staying.
But then, one night, he discovers something that sucks him into the peculiarities of The Boroughs. He is dismissed as just another old man, but when he forms friendships with other residents, they set out to unravel the mystery of this place. The Boroughs was created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, and executive-produced by Stranger Things visionaries, the Duffer Brothers. The Boroughs is a one-of-a-kind series, featuring older actors in the main roles, and that’s also its superpower.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Who Stars in ‘The Boroughs’?
The series has cast seasoned actors to play the six main characters at its center. Screen legend Molina plays Sam, The Boroughs’ new resident who can’t stand the place. He was a former engineer who recently lost his wife as they were planning to move here together. Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise) embodies Renee, a sharp former music manager who refuses to let what this place represents pull her down. Alfre Woodard (Desperate Housewives) plays Judy, a former journalist whose instincts have not been sanded down by age, and she can feel there is something odd about The Boroughs. Joining them is Denis O’Hare (True Blood) as Wally, a former doctor who is currently being played a cruel joke by life. Clarke Peters (The Wire) plays Art, a free-spirited spiritualist who believes in the impossible, while Bill Pullman (The Sinner) is The Boroughs’ secret weapon, welcoming everyone with open arms, even those who don’t want to be there.
All eight episodes of The Boroughs Season 1 hit Netflix on Thursday, May 21, 2026. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
