"The Boroughs" — A Fun, Spielberg-Style Sci-Fi Led by Alfred Molina and Geena Davis

Netflix's The Boroughs arrives with the kind of ensemble cast most shows could only dream of, and along the way delivers a pretty pointed critique of ageism in genre TV. We're used to seeing beloved character actors like Alfred Molina and Geena Davis stuffed into supporting roles; watching them lead as heroes is a rare pleasure. The Boroughs breaks that pattern, placing a group of senior citizens trying to unravel a deadly conspiracy at the center of a Spielberg-style adventure.

The same reason mental hospitals are a horror-cinema staple is exactly why this retirement community suits a mystery so well: you can't trust the authority figures. Tucked into a remote corner of the New Mexico desert, the Boroughs is a "town" where a single corporation owns everything, from the housing to the gym to the local police force. Every home is fitted with a knockoff Siri device that doubles as a surveillance tool. If an elderly resident dies under suspicious circumstances — say, after being attacked by a slender, unidentified creature — it's easy enough to sweep it under the rug. After all, old people die all the time, and their forgetfulness makes for a ready-made excuse to dismiss any eyewitness account as "confusion."

Our hero, newly widowed retired engineer Sam Cooper (Molina), isn't a confused type at all. Moving to the Boroughs was his wife's idea; after her unexpected death, his daughter Claire (Jena Malone) hopes he'll build a new life here. But Sam doesn't quite fit in with either his Stepford-wife-like cheerful neighbors or flirtatious party animal Jack's (Bill Pullman) routine of golf, gossip and medical marijuana. Geena Davis's charismatic painting instructor, Alfre Woodard's serious former journalist, Clarke Peters's New Age-inclined suitor, and American Horror Story alum Denis O'Hare's terminally ill retired doctor — every member of this ensemble earns every second of screen time.

Creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) slowly turn what begins as a creature-feature investigation into an unsettling portrait of corporate power. The main characters are gaslit by people who supposedly have their best interests at heart. While the sloppy guard at the private security firm Renee (Davis) reports the crime to brushes off her concerns with a joke, Sam and his neighbors also feel the looming threat of being institutionalized under a dementia diagnosis. This idea could have gone further; as the show's subject matter grows more serious, it retreats into more playful material, like secret tunnel systems and morgue heists.

In the end, The Boroughs is an X-Files/Twilight Zone hybrid whose main villain you can practically guess from the first episode, and whose pace sags in the second half, but which stays enjoyable to the finish thanks to its cast. Molina finally carrying a genuine lead role this late in his career is reason enough on its own to watch.