How A Friend of the Family Humanizes True Crime TV

Peacock’s original series, A Friend of the Family, premiered on October 6, 2022. The disturbing and confounding true-crime series follows the true story of the Broberg family and the kidnapping of their oldest daughter, Jan. The nine-episode miniseries starred Jake Lacy, Collin Hanks, Anna Paquin, Lio Tipton, McKenna Grace, and Hendrix Yancey.

A Friend of the Family was created by Nick Antosca (co-creator and showrunner of The Act, Channel Zero, and Candy) and fictionalizes the events covered in Skye Borgman’s 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight. The miniseries received generally positive reviews and feels like an accurate but compassionate telling of the tragedy that happened to the Brobergs.

A Friend of the Family Is Accurate About the Kidnapping of Jan Broberg

Jan Broberg was born on July 31, 1962, and was the oldest child of Mary Ann and Robert “Bob” Broberg. In the early 1970s, they befriended a man named Robert “B” Berchtold and his family. Berchtold, over the next couple of months, became uncomfortably close to Jan and even had  sexual relationships with both of her parents.

In 1974, when Jan was 12 years old, Berchtold abducted Jan and fled to Mexico. With Berchtold being like a second father to the Broberg children, it was hard to believe he kidnapped their daughter. The terrifying kidnapping lasted for five weeks. During that time, Berchtold forced Jan to marry him and brainwashed her into thinking that she was part of a "mission" that made her believe if she did not comply her family would die.

When they returned, Berchtold avoided charges due to the naivety of Jan’s parents. But he would kidnap her again two years later in 1976. This time she was missing for about three months. Berchtold was eventually arrested but only spent about 10 days in jail for Jan’s kidnapping. All of this is told with patience and meticulous detail, accurately representing a true story that was often sensationalized through bite-sized press coverage.

A Different Side of True Crime

A Friend of the Family takes a different approach to the telling of the Brobergs’ story than most true-crime series. While most series focus on the perpetrator, their victims, and the crime, A Friend of the Family tells a more expansive story about the Brobergs and how they allowed a  pedophile into their family, leading to the kidnapping of their oldest daughter. Telling the story in this way brought a humanizing element to the series that most true-crime stories tend to lack. While the series does give us an understanding of the crime and what happened to Jan, it chooses to almost make that plot a side story with the focus being on her parents, Bob and Mary Ann.

The other thing that helped humanize A Friend of the Family is the fact that Jan and her mother Mary Ann were producers on the series. Jake Lacy said the Brobergs’ being involved was a big reason why he signed on to play the pedophile and kidnapper, Robert Berchtold. Having the family heavily involved kept the story from focusing too much on the crime and instead put all of its focus on how the Brobergs’ handled the kidnapping of their 12-year-old daughter.

A Friend of the Family does not shy away from the mistakes Bob and Mary Ann made during this time or their relationship with Berchtold. They are honest in their telling of what the family went through which helps to ground the story. They also chose to avoid showing any abuse that happened to Jan. This tends to be rare in true-crime series but with this type of subject material, it was the right choice. By doing this, it takes power away from the victimizer and gives the power to victims. We do not always need to see the crime to feel for our characters and A Friend of the Family was able to prove that throughout its nine episodes.

Colin Hanks as the Dad We Need

Colin Hanks gives an intense, complicated performance as florist Bob Broberg. Hanks is  convincing as a loving father who was the voice of reason throughout this wild story. Bob was not a perfect man, and he had his flaws, as both A Friend of the Family and Abducted in Plain Sight show, but he was clearly a loving father and cared about his family which Hanks captured perfectly. Hanks’ performance is raw and emotional as the panicked father which again helps to humanize the series. It is not rare that we see emotional performances from victims' parents in true-crime series, but it is rare when a series focuses almost solely on the parents.

Both Hanks and Anna Paquin (Mary Ann Broberg) give phenomenal performances as the distraught parents and give an honest look at what parents go through during a kidnapping. With the choice not to shy away from their mistakes, A Friend of the Family gives a realistic look into what happened to the Brobergs and humanizes their story. Humans are not perfect and we make mistakes. Showing that in a series like this is why A Friend of the Family deserves the praise they are receiving.

A Friend of the Family is now streaming on Peacock.

The original article was posted on January 6, 2023, and can be found on Movieweb.com.