Inside the seemingly calm streets of a luxury retirement community, something strange is happening.
That’s the premise behind The Boroughs, the new Netflix sci-fi series starring Geena Davis. But beyond its supernatural mystery, the show offers something television still rarely delivers: older adults leading the action instead of fading into the background.
In the series, residents of an upscale retirement community discover an otherworldly threat targeting the one thing they cannot replace — time. The people fighting back are not teenagers, superheroes, or reluctant twenty-somethings. They are older adults navigating friendship, fear, humor, and survival together.
That shift matters.
For decades, television and film have largely centered youth, especially in genres like sci-fi and action. Older characters are often written as comic relief, mentors, or side figures orbiting someone else’s story. The Boroughs moves in a different direction.
During a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Davis pointed out that much of the show’s cast is in their 60s and older — and that they are portrayed as “badass and heroes” throughout the series.
The observation landed because it reflects a broader reality audiences recognize. Millions of viewers are over 60, yet they remain significantly underrepresented in leading roles across television and film.
The series also taps into something more human than spectacle alone.
A cul-de-sac. Neighbors who know each other’s routines. A place designed to feel safe. Then suddenly, something feels off. That contrast gives the story emotional texture alongside its sci-fi premise. It also allows older characters to exist as full people — capable, complicated, funny, stubborn, frightened, and brave.
Davis has long spoken publicly about the importance of representation on screen through the work of the Geena Davis Institute, which studies patterns of inclusion in entertainment. While much of that work has focused on gender and racial equity, age representation remains another area where audiences often see limited visibility.
Shows like The Boroughs suggest that viewers are ready for stories that reflect a wider range of lived experiences — including aging itself.
Not because older audiences need “special” programming, but because compelling stories become richer when more people get to exist at the center of them.
Watch The Boroughs on Netflix now, and support the work of the Geena Davis Institute by helping fund research on inclusion and representation in entertainment.