In Homebodies, queer kids are reminded that defiant and unrepentant happiness is possible

What if you are haunted by a real ghost from your past?

This is the basis of People from homeis a genre-defying SBS Original miniseries selected for Series Mania about a young man who changes and the version of himself he leaves behind.

Created by award-winning and ADG-nominated writer and director AP Pobjoy, the series opens with Darcy (Luke Wiltshire) returning to his hometown in regional NSW to care for his estranged mother Nora (Claudia Karvan). Their attempt to reconnect is compounded by the fact that Nora, whom Darcy hasn’t had contact with since changing and fleeing to Sydney, seems to show a ghost of her pre-revolutionary youth: the spirited and proud homosexual Dee (Jazi Hall). Nora and Dee develop a closeness in Darcy’s absence which leaves her with the slight problem that her mother might choose a dead version of her. How should you compete?

Dee, on the other hand, is upset about being forgotten and buried. He is a 17-year-old, ambitious, active and doesn’t understand why he wasn’t given the chance to grow up. Tired of being housebound and imprisoned by Nora, he decides he’s willing to do whatever it takes to escape the limbo he’s trapped in and truly live. Darcy must face his demons (or really, just one) or risk losing the present and future he’s worked so hard for.

Hot new talent on the block Luke Wiltshire is magnetic on screen, his warm, emotional performance anchoring the story in vulnerability, conscious love and healing. His ability to control a scene and embed emotions so skin deep makes it hard to believe he was no longer an Australian TV actor.

“My first big, high-profile TV show,” he admitted to SBS, “and it was so interesting that it became something I’m very connected to and passionate about.”

Wiltshire changed when he was 16, so he was able to bring some intimacy and understanding to the conflicting feelings that arose in Darcy when he suddenly found himself in control of his identity.

“I think that since there are so many people who change, it’s almost like there’s your first outing that you do, and then you think that’s it, you’re done,” he explained.

“Then after I changed, people didn’t look at me and think that was my life story. I would have a choice whether to share that about myself or not. So I had to deal with my inner shame for the second time in my life and come to terms with the fact that I was different and own that again.”

One might be surprised at the combination of themes in this series, from homecoming to repentance to self-discovery to a haunted grave – this family drama certainly feels like it’s defying genre conventions and coming of age. But the thing is, supernatural themes have long been used to explore paranormal experiences, especially in the horror and thriller genres. Sometimes, it’s scary to realize that you don’t feel like everyone else.

“You go through puberty, and you start to feel this terrible disconnection,” Wiltshire said.

“And that’s when you don’t have shows like this, or you don’t have people to look up to, to go ‘what’s happening to me?’; it results in this confusing fog that’s very frustrating, and your brain hasn’t developed well enough to understand what’s happening or why it’s happening, or if it’s normal.”

Titanium again I Saw The TV Was On two recent films come to mind, exploring the natural dependency and complex family changes that can follow a coming out, but where these provocative and heartbreaking stories are a kick in the stomach, People from home it feels like a comforting light in the chest.

“If I had seen a game like this when I was growing up, I would have seen it sooner, and it would have been a lot easier for my whole family,” Wiltshire said.

Indeed, the family is central People from homewhich explores the rift between a troubled parent and a royal child, and what it might take to fix it. It’s a delicate balance to show both Darcy’s hurt and Claudia’s grief, but the show manages to triumphantly approach both of these perspectives with passion and without even going too far.

Claudia Karvan is brilliant and moving as Nora. Complex, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately well-intentioned, she is a mother whose crime is that she cannot reconcile the grief of losing a daughter with the joy of gaining a son.

“I wanted to play Nora as authentically as possible, even though I could judge Nora,” Karvan said.

“He’s really clueless and he says hurtful things and he’s a waste of time, and sometimes he puts his fears and disappointments forward. I’m really excited to give him that, because there’s a lot of heart in this show. You can really invest in the mistakes he makes and the number of times he puts his foot in it.”

Ultimately, the goal of both Karvan and Wiltshire is to show young queer kids that endless, transformative happiness is possible, that sometimes you don’t have to choose between being yourself and having a family. That trans kids can have it all.

“On behalf of the whole team, I’m very proud that they tackled a very serious subject and … it’s not happy, it’s not sad, it’s not sad, it’s life-affirming, and it hasn’t lost any of the emotional complexity and any of the elements of disagreement,” Karvan said.

“Using this high-concept approach to storytelling, it brings the audience along for the ride, but delivers a complex and emotional story.”

People from home now airing on SBS On Demand.