Home Before Dark Season One Review

Towards the end of 2019, we saw the beginnings of a streaming war. With the smash success of platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime other companies have seized the opportunity to capitalize on this new trend. Most notably Disney+ which has been a smash hit for the Disney company, bolstering over fifty million subscribers. One more major joining late last year was Apple with their own platform, Apple TV+. So far, there hasn’t been much that has emerged from the platform and make waves like Disney+ has achieved with The Mandalorian or Netflix with Stranger Things. Now with world under quarantine, it seems like the perfect time for Apple to release a hit. Home After Dark may very well be that hit as the series has been one of the most successful offerings yet on Apple TV+.

Being a sucker for series with kids on bikes, Amblin is one of the companies to spark imagination and a love for film. Home Before Dark was simply more of that cinematic comfort food. This was a fun little series based on a true story of a little girl who uncovered a small town’s secret named Hilde Lisko, played excellently by Brooklyn Prince. She easily makes the series with a character that was so precocious and quirky and a joy to watch explore the town. While some of the other characters and dialogue at times can feel a bit mockish, Prince always feels natural in her role.

The first half of the season felt light and fun, despite the subject matter. The characters are likable for the most part and the mystery is interesting enough to forgive the familiar beats the story takes, giving it a predictable feel over for the first few episodes. The series takes a turn once Hilde’s older sister Izzy (Kylie Rogers) stands up to a group of stereotypical mean girls who are as obvious and cringe-inducing as one would expect and whose eventual takedown was very satisfying to watch. There’s a moment where Izzy stands up to one of the girls with the great line of: “seriously, don’t you realize how on the nose you are right now?” This was the exact moment that made it clear that Home Before Dark was a winner.

The back half of the season was where it would truly take off and tension was at its highest. Character development also ramps up across the board as Home Before Dark becomes much more engrossing. The series showed real stakes as the seriousness of the mystery that surrounded the town came to light. The growth of the series would go hand in hand with Hilde’s growth as a character. The beginning of the season saw Hilde as a determined journalist who wasn’t afraid to chase down any lead she’d encounter. It would also often play right into viewers’ expectations and plays up the sentimental angle. As the season continued, the series became darker as it took more chances creatively. As a result, those decisions had more weight behind them. Meanwhile, this was also when Hilde learned that she has to dig deeper into this story because life wasn’t always what it seemed.

In the end, Home Before Dark is a charming series appealing to one’s childlike sense of wonder. It’s simply wild to think a lot of what happened to Hilde Lisko was real. The series manages to feel as sentimental as any Disney offering though also happens to be about a horrific crime, balancing both these polar opposite tones with relative ease. While it may be imperfect, there’s a whole lot to love here, making it well worth the watch come Season 2. Now that the series appears to have found its identity and how to tell a compelling mystery, it will certainly be exciting to see where these characters go.

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Brett Schutt

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