Homebodies on SBS is presented as a series of 10-minute web episodes, and as a feature length presentation on television.
The series follows Darcy, a young trans man who is forced to confront his past when he returns home to the small rural town where he grew up.
Darcy has been on a journey, living in the city, embracing his identity as a trans man and living his best life. But when he’s forced to return to visit his mother Nora in the small country town where he grew up he faces unexpected challenges.
Nora struggles with his new name, repetitively using his dead name, and she gets pronouns wrong and refers to Darcy as her daughter. When Darcy steps into the bedroom he inhabited as a teenager it’s just as he left it, the bedroom of a teenage girl.
But to make matters worse, Nora has been letting someone else stay in the space, and the new resident opens up a lot of old wounds.
Claudia Karvan stars as Nora, while Luke Wiltshire plays Darcy. Jazi Hall take son the role of the unexpected house guest Dee.
The supernatural story takes the proposition of what would you say to your teenage self to a new level, and showcases a journey of gender transition from multiple perspectives.
Set in the fictional town of Torwoo and filmed in Oberon and Portland in regional New South Wales, Homebodies blends humour, heart and a playful ghost story to explore identity, family and the messy work of reconciliation. At its core, it’s a deeply human story about a mother and son learning how to see each other again.
Launching ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility on Tuesday 31 March, Homebodies will have its world premiere in France next month after being selected for this year’s Series Mania. The international festival showcases the most innovative TV from around the globe.
Creator and writer, AP Pobjoy said, “We are thrilled to bring Homebodies to SBS audiences – a personal story about identity, family and coming home. We’ve been so lucky to work with a fantastic cast, including Claudia Karvan, Luke Wiltshire and Jazi Hall, who have brought extraordinary depth and authenticity to these roles, grounding the supernatural in something deeply human.
Homebodies premiers Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand. The series will be open captioned and subtitled on SBS On Demand in five different languages including: Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese and Korean.
