Cooper Raiff, the filmmaker behind Sh*thouse and Cha Cha Real Smooth, had some struggles bringing his upcoming TV series Hal & Harper to life. As he told IndieWire, the show was original being made with a network, but he pulled out as he saw his creation getting pushed in directions he didn’t like.
So, he made it independently, screened it at Sundance, and eventually, the show found a home with MUBI. The family-focused series boasts a cast led by Mark Ruffalo, Lili Reinhart, and Raiff himself.
Ahead of the show’s release, keep reading for everything you need to know before it arrives.
Plot
An official description reads, “The series centers on two codependent siblings Hal & Harper, who are facing big life changes. The pair’s intimacy is built on a lifetime of inside jokes and shared pains, portrayed via flashbacks where Raiff and Reinhart play the elementary school-aged versions of themselves. As their father, Ruffalo’s charm belies a chasm of guilt, which is at the root of all that Hal & Harper is trying to uncover.”
Raiff explained to Collider, “Hal & Harper is about two siblings who have a very close, codependent relationship, and it’s also about their dad. Their dad is having a baby with his long-term girlfriend, and he’s selling the childhood house. They’re going back in time a lot to deal with the pain that childhood house holds. That’s my best logline.”
Cast
The show stars Mark Ruffalo, Lili Reinhart, Cooper Raiff, Betty Gilpin, Addison Timlin, Havana Rose Liu, and Alyah Chanelle Scott.
Raiff spoke about the cast with Hindustan Times, saying:
“Every actor was so ready to do rehearsals but we didn’t really do any. […] We did actually read through scenes together but mainly it was a matter of Mark, Lili, and I spend so much time together before we started shooting. We had dinners together, hung out… Lili and I went on a trip for four days! With the rest of the cast, too, I did rehearse some scenes with [Christopher Meyer], who plays Hal’s friend. Even Betty, Mark, and I spent a lot of time together talking about these characters. Betty even wrote this whole document about who Kate is to her, in first person. There was so much prep that I was not even prepared for, but it was so profoundly helpful and moving to me that everyone cared so much about the characters in this story.”
Release Date
The first episode is set to debut via MUBI starting October 19, with further episodes premiering weekly on Sundays through to November 30.
Trailer
Watch the Hal & Harper trailer below.
