|
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
|
Positive:
9
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
|
Watch Now
| Stream On |
|
| Stream On |
|
| Stream On |
|
Critic Reviews
Oct 5, 2022
Season 1 Review:
What’s fascinating about A Friend of the Family, and also what makes it different than a lot of other scripted takes on true crime, is that the series doesn’t so much try to answer the why of how this happened (psychologists have devoted their entire careers to exploring why someone would prey on a child). Instead, it looks at the how of it. ... Much of the success of this limited series can be attributed to its willingness to cast against type.
Read full review
IndieWireOct 6, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It is meticulous, to a very specific end and with a particular goal. As something that slot right into a subgenre’s content-hungry ecosystem, “A Friend of the Family” is refreshingly unsuccessful. By prizing clarity over shock, it’s an admirable adjustment for what we expect from stories like it.
Read full review
Oct 4, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Sluggishness doesn’t do too much to take the viewer out of A Friend, thanks to the performances, as well as a cool color-grading technique that places the subjects directly in the show’s retro time period. These elements combined make for an almost unbearably uncomfortable viewing experience. And more than anything, that is the foremost indicator of true crime storytelling done right.
Read full review
Oct 4, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Peacock’s series remains compelling as it draws out the full extent of Berchtold’s psychological abuse. It’s not perfect, but it’s the in-depth treatment the case deserves beyond AIPS and its accompanying podcast. The real Jan and Mary Ann already documented their experiences in a memoir, but their contribution to AFOTF is what cements it as an undoubtedly difficult but unmissable project.
Read full review
The GuardianOct 6, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Sharp writing in plentiful scenes of Mary Ann (Anna Paquin) and father Bob (Colin Hanks) being caught in the webs he has woven, paralysed by social convention and embarrassment – and left helpless by their trusting natures – does bring to life what they must have gone through in a way that the documentary could not. At the same time, it leaves space for judgments about how and when naivete shades into denial, and innocence into wilful ignorance.
Read full review
Oct 5, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Naturally, a story so hard to comprehend can only be sold through stellar performances, and “Family” is crammed full of them. ... The writing is also strong. ... [But] Much of what makes the story inscrutable remains so, at least in the six episodes provided to critics. One piece of the puzzle, chief among the “WTF were you thinking” Broberg decisions, is folded into “Family” so subtly that the audience might not even pick up on it without prior knowledge of the events.
Read full review
RogerEbert.comOct 4, 2022
Season 1 Review:
With sharp writing from the great showrunner Nick Antosca, sensitive direction from Eliza Hittman (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”) and others, and a dedicated ensemble, this series rises above your average true crime drama. It sometimes stumbles a little bit by making Jan’s story take a back seat to the adult characters in early episodes, but everyone here navigates a tricky narrative, humanizing two parents who could easily have been ridiculed by a lesser production.
Read full review
Oct 4, 2022
Season 1 Review:
We wouldn’t believe it without the knowledge that it’s true. All the same, it manages to ground itself in a truth that’s much more terrifying for how mundane it is: These events have as much to do with their central bogeyman as they do with a broader culture of conservatism that fosters parental self-involvement and naïveté.
Read full review
Oct 7, 2022
Season 1 Review:
A Friend of the Family isn't out to judge or defend Mary Ann and Bob, who make some startlingly naïve decisions about B. and their daughter. But the show also doesn't do much in the way of examining the Brobergs to determine what may have led them to be so susceptible to Brother B.'s sinister machinations.
Read full review
Oct 5, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Thanks to Hittman’s light touch and the performances by Yancey, Lacy, Paquin and Tipton, A Friend of the Family has eerie, provocative menace. But it still doesn’t have six hours’ worth, much less nine. I appreciated what I appreciated, but I nevertheless have no desire to see the tale through to the end.
Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score