A Friend of the Family

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.

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.

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.

In delicately exposing how the threats we most need to look out for can come from those who are closest to us, Friend of the Family proves to be a more subtle yet still somber work that stands apart in the crowded genre of true crime.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nine episodes feels unnecessarily bloated. Strong performances, a sensitive tone and high production values mean A Friend of the Family is solid drama. It still feels like a story that didn’t need retelling.

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.