Who do you love the most?
That’s the question at the heart of Peacock series “A Friend of the Family,” based on the terrifying true story of the Broberg family. Jake Lacy stars as “Brother B,” the next-door neighbor who succumbs to “impulsive mood” swings with fatal consequences for the family next door, led by Anna Paquin and Colin Hanks, who play Mrs. and Mr. Broberg.
“A Friend of the Family,” premiering October 6, is the latest series from “The Act” and “Candy” executive producer Nick Antosca, who serves as showrunner, EP, and writer for the upcoming limited series.
Lio Tipton, Mckenna Grace, and Hendrix Yancey additionally star in “A Friend of the Family,” with Alex Hedlund and Eliza Hittman also executive-producing the series, and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” director Hittman helming multiple episodes including the pilot. Real-life survivors Jan and Mary Ann Broberg additionally both serve as producers on the series.
“It’s easy to judge the Broberg family’s story from the outside,” showrunner Antosca said in a press statement. “Sometimes when people first hear it, they get defensive: How could these parents have let this happen? It’s a surreal story. When I first heard it, I empathized with the family’s vulnerability, and I felt like I understood their story from the outside. But it stayed with me, and I wanted to understand from the inside — to know what their lives felt like, to live in each family member’s experience, to see how they were caught in such a bizarre web, and help audiences understand too.”
Antosca credits a “master manipulator” who preyed on the Broberg’s vulnerabilities and sexual preferences to position himself to kidnap their daughter.
“The series exists outside the typical categories of genre,” he added of the Peacock show. “It’s a thriller built around obsessive relationships, a family drama, and a nightmarish coming-of-age story. This is a horror story that’s also about survival.”
Jan Broberg added that “most predators are not strangers” but instead those we know, someone who is familiar with the intricacies of the relationships around them to “separate family members psychologically.”
“From age 12 to 16 I was sexually assaulted and severely brainwashed by this man who I trusted,” Broberg said after meeting her abuser at church in 1972. “This story will make you talk, shout, cry — and it will make you angry. Good. I hope that our story will start conversations — because secrets live in darkness and silence.”
“A Friend of the Family” premieres October 6 on Peacock.
Check out the trailer below.
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