Apple TV+ rolled out a new mystery drama series this month that appeals to all ages. Directed by Crazy Rich Asian’s Jon M. Chu, Home Before Dark captures a young investigative journalist named Hilde Lisko with a passion for crime-solving.
Protagonist Hilde grew up in Brooklyn with a journalist father, lawyer mother, and a heightened curiosity—compared to most school-age children. When father Matt Lisko relocates Hilde and the rest of the family to his childhood home in Erie Harbor, they find a town still coping with a cold case decades later. Hilde, played by The Florida Project’s Brooklynn Prince, becomes determined to uncover the truth.
The Knockturnal linked up with the cast, producers, and director via video to learn more about Apple TV+’s 10-episode addition.
Real-life journalist Hilde Lysiak and her family inspired the concept for Home Before Dark. Before becoming a 13-year-old consulting producer to the show, Lysiak’s nationally recognized career highlights included founding a news outlet, breaking a murder story, and supporting First Amendment rights at the Border Wall.
Given Lysiak’s interests, Home Before Dark isn’t of the Harriet The Spy, cutesy, kid detective variety. Showrunners and creators Dana Fox and Dara Resnik provide crime plots as serious as the rest of their résumés would suggest—Hot Pursuit, Pushing Daisies, Castle, Daredevil, to name a few. In that way, the series is for a multi-generational audience.
And generations are exactly what collide in this series. The ‘80s kids become vulnerable adults, cursed by youth flashbacks and nostalgia. Baby Boomers grasp their own recollections and perspective towards past events. Gen Z emerges as precocious stand-ins when the older generations miss the mark. Every generation brings their strengths, emotions, technological advances, and viewpoints to the cold case and to the storyline. Each generation of characters faces love, relationship tension, bullying, and growing up.
Home Before Dark Season 1 is available for streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes premiering every Friday. Prince is joined by a cast of Jim Sturgess, Abby Miller, Kylie Rogers, Joelle Carter, Jibrail Nantambu, Deric McCabe, Michael Weston, Aziza Scott, and Louis Herthum.
