Peacock has just released a chilling new trailer for Friend of The Family, an upcoming true-crime limited series that takes a dramatic look at one of the most extraordinary instances of fraud, manipulation, and heinous cruelty in American history. The trailer comes ahead of the series premiere on the streamer set for this fall.
A Friend of The Family tells the story of the kidnapping of Jan Broberg by Robert Berchtold. Set in a seemingly innocent 1970s suburban neighborhood, the new trailer draws the viewer in with a false sense of security, giving us a look at the tight-knit Broberg family. The mom Mary Ann, played by Anna Paquin, and dad, Bob, played by Colin Hanks, exchange loving looks as they tend to their small, idyllic life. And things only seem to get better when a new family, the Berchtolds, moves into their neighborhood. But not everything is as it seems when it comes to the Berchtold family patriarch, Robert (Jake Lacy). Soon, he seems to be encroaching on the Brobergs, drawing both parents into his web. His real target, however, is their daughter Jan, whose kidnapping shakes their family to the core.
The story may ring a few bells, as the incident was previously covered in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, in which the Broberg family gave their own perspective on the experience. The documentary soon became an internet sensation, with many speculating as to the motives and psychology of the Broberg family that would allow for such an insidious manipulator to take hold of their lives.
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Friend of The Family showrunner, executive producer, and writer Nick Antosca said of his interpretation of the story, “I hope people will come away from the series with a deeper understanding of the family and say: In that time, in that place, they were like me. They made terrible mistakes, but they loved their kids. And, a master manipulator took advantage of them.” The new series does not place judgments on the Broberg family but seeks to understand who they were within the context of their surroundings. This fits with Antosca’s previous project, Candy, which took a strikingly human look at a highly sensationalized 1980s murder.
In addition to Paquin, Hanks, and Lacy, McKenna Grace as Jan Broberg, and Hendrix Yancey as a young Jan. the series will consist of six hour-long episodes. Both Jan Broberg and Mary Ann Broberg serve as producers on the series. Alex Hedlund executive produced the series, and Eliza Hittman served as executive producer on the series and directed several episodes.
Friend of The Family will premiere on Peacock on October 6, 2022. Until then, you can watch the new trailer for the series below.