The new series “Welcome to the Neighborhood”, which debuted at number one among the most watched on Netflix, is yet another production by Ryan Murphy based on the frightening true story of a couple who find their dream home, which has become a nightmare when threatening letters started arriving.
“Welcome to the Neighborhood”, which received the name “The Watcher” in English, premiered on October 13, and occupies the first place in the Top 10 of Netflix, displacing “Dahmer: An American Cannibal”, which had been topped the list for the previous four weeks.
The seven-episode series has captured the audience's attention and imagination with the story of the Brannock family, whose dreams of creating a home in a new neighborhood are shattered by a mysterious stalker who calls himself "The Vigilante". ” (“The Watcher” in English), which begins to terrorize them.
Although the concept of the series already carries some suspense and makes the audience horrified by this story, what makes everything even more frightening is knowing that “Welcome to the Neighborhood” is inspired by the real experiences of a real family.
The series is based on the article “The Haunting of a Dream House”, by Reeves Wiedeman, published in November 2018 in The Cut, New York Magazine's website. In turn, the article was inspired by a true story.
Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale play married couple Nota and Dean Brannock, who are based on real-life victims Maria and Derek Broaddus. Mia Farrow is also in the cast of the series, the eccentric neighbor of the couple, accused of terrorizing the family.
So what true story was the Netflix series inspired by? And who, ultimately, was the real-life “The Vigilante” discovered?
The Broaddus, the royal family that inspired the Netflix series
the aforementioned, “Welcome to the Neighborhood” tells the true story of Derek and Maria Broaddus, the couple who acquired a US$ 1,3 million mansion at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, a city located in the suburbs of New Jersey. The house was expected to become the Broaddus family's dream home.
But, during renovations to renovate the house for the couple's home, the couple received a disturbing letter, which was intended "To the New Owner". The person who sent the letter identified himself as “The Watcher”, and claimed to be the watchman of the house before his “second coming”.
The Broaddus shared the contents of The Cut letters, which read: "657 Boulevard has been my family's talk for decades and, as it approaches its 110th anniversary, I have been tasked to watch and await its second coming," read the Letter.
“My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father in the 1960s. Now it's my turn. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what's inside the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out."
O Vigilante also made references to the couple's children, and asked them to fill the house with "new blood". "Do you have children. I saw them. So far, I think there are three I've counted," the unnamed stalker wrote.
The Broaddus took the letter to the police, where they were advised not to share its contents with neighbors, as the officers believed the most likely scenario was that one of them had sent it.
Cast member Farrow has already spoken about the true story, and talked about what she hopes the victims, namely the Broaddus, will walk away from the new series and never watch it.
Explaining that the real-life story was just a starting point for the Netflix show, she told RadioTimes: "[It was] a very different experience for us because we were just the actors and Ryan came up with very different details," she said. Farrow. "I don't know if my character existed in these people's lives."
She continued, “That storyline covered the basic outline…but the details are [by] Ryan Murphy. So I don't know who the family was. I don't know if I ever knew. But I feel sorry for them and everything. I hope they don't see the show."
Who is the Watcher?
An investigation led the Broadduses to suspect one neighbor in particular, named Michael Langford. They believed that Langford was The Watcher, due to the vantage point of his family home, and that his family was considered eccentric.
However, he eventually stopped being a suspect, and the Broadduses hired a private detective to investigate the neighborhood. In all, there were three letters received, and the second brought details or the names and nicknames of the couple's children, and contained details that, according to them, could only be known to someone who was inside the house, or extremely close to it.
While searching for the Vigilante, the Broadduses discovered that the previous owners, the Woodses, also received a letter shortly before moving out of the 657 Boulevard home, but had never had any problems in the 23 years of living there before that.
The Broadduses never moved into the house and decided to rent it out. They tried to sue the Woods family for not disclosing receipt of the letter, but the case was later dropped. By this time, however, news of the Watcher had spread throughout the neighborhood and beyond.
Several theories have emerged, users on Reddit sites claiming that the Watcher must live within the walls of the house, and others, including Westfield residents, suggesting that the Broaddus sent the letters to themselves, in an attempt to recoup financial losses after becoming regret leaving the house.
However, if that were the case, the plan failed miserably: in 2019, the Broaddus sold the house for $959, an amount about $400 less than what they paid for the same house in 2014 ($1,3 million). .
Has the true story that inspired “Welcome to the Neighborhood” been resolved?
Despite numerous investigations by both the police and former FBI agents hired by the Broaddus family, the Vigilante was never discovered, and remains unidentified to this day.
As much as the series is inspired by the real story of the Broaddus family, several changes were made. For example, the victims' first and last names have been changed, and in the series the couple have only two children, who seem older than the actual children were when the house was sold.
another true story
In addition to the situation experienced by the Broaddus family, another macabre part of Westfield's history was incorporated into the production.
In the series, Dean meets a name named John Graff, played by Joe Mantello, who lived at 657 Boulevard in the past. As it turns out, John Graff is based on John List, a Westfield resident who killed his wife, mother and children in 1971, then disappeared for 18 years.
List moved to the US state of Virginia, remarried, and was eventually arrested after an episode of the television show "America's Most Wanted," which aired a projection of what prosecutors believed List would look like in the present.
Despite living in the same city, the story of the Broaddus and John List does not connect to that of the characters in the series. List lived at 431 Hillside Avenue, a Victorian mansion in Westfield, located a few miles from 657 Boulevard.
Read more:
- “Racionais”: Netflix documentary about the musical group gets a premiere date
- “The Rings of Power”: Everything we know about the second season
- “Welcome to the Neighborhood” is the most watched series on Netflix
Synopsis of the series: “The Brannock family moves into what should be their dream home in a quiet neighborhood, but ends up living a nightmare. Threatening letters from a mysterious sender are just the beginning of the dark secrets that unfold in this plot inspired by a true story.”
“Welcome to the Neighborhood” is available on Netflix.
Have watched the new videos on YouTube from Technology Refugee? Subscribe to the channel!
