What to Know
In 2023, when two kids were ordered to reunite with their dad, who had allegedly abused them, they felt like no one was listening to them. They then resorted to drastic measures to get people’s attention: barricading themselves in a bedroom for nearly two months and documenting their experience on TikTok. A new Hulu documentary titled The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn? focuses on this story.
When the siblings, Ty and Brynlee Larson, barricaded themselves in a room in their mom’s house, they were 15 and 12 years old. Brynlee first spoke up about her dad’s alleged abuse when she was seven years old. In a video shared in 2023, Ty accused his father of sexually and emotionally abusing him during his childhood. He also testified against his dad that year, saying, “He abused me from the ages of 3 to … 10, physically, mentally, and sexually” and that this involved “putting guns to my head, threatening me with hand grenades, touching me in my bed at nighttime,” per The Arizona Republic.
But their dad, Brent, blamed it on their mom, Jessica.
He accused his ex-wife of “parental alienation,” suggesting that she was the reason that their kids didn’t want to be around him, the New York Post reported.
They had gotten divorced in 2012, and at one point, when the abuse allegations against him were being investigated in 2018, Brent said, “My ex wife really, really dislikes me,” per Page Six.
Brent was not charged as a result of that investigation, but he was only allowed to have supervised visits with Ty and Brynlee. Then, in 2023, a judge ordered Ty and Brynlee to spend time with their father without having contact with their mom. They were expected to stay in a “reunification camp” with Brent for 90 days. They chose to barricade themselves in a room to protest the decision, thinking that it was the only way for them to stay safe.
Reacting to the court’s decision in a video shared via TikTok at the time, Ty said, “My own word does not matter and they do not believe my truth.”
Ty described it as an impulsive decision in the Hulu doc.
He explained, “I chose to barricade because I was afraid for my life.” While they were barricaded in a room in their mom’s home, she tried to convince them to come out, he said (per People). “Every single day she would come talk to us to get us out, bribe us out with anything. And we would refuse,” he recalled. “It was a weird feeling, especially for months on end. I told myself almost every day that I needed to do it to save me and my sister.”
Both parents wanted to appear in the new documentary.
@gma Two kids. A locked bedroom. 54 days of a livestreamed standoff that captivated the nation. Co-Director Caitlin Keating breaks down the story behind The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn? — streaming now on @hulu ♬ original sound – Good Morning America
Co-Director Caitlin Keating recently appeared on Good Morning America and spoke about the Hulu documentary. “I think there’s a story that was told on TikTok. There’s Ty and Brynlee’s truth, which hasn’t wavered to this day,” Caitlin said. “But it is way more complicated. This is not a story that’s black and white… It’s filled with so much nuance, and we really explore that.” She added that they explored the story from both sides.
Caitlin continued, “The children in this story really felt like they weren’t being heard, and it’s wild that they had to take to TikTok, right? They had to share their truth, their fear with the world, and the world listened.”
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