The new Hulu docuseries 'The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn?' goes inside a bitter custody battle involving allegations of sexual abuse and parental alienation
Credit: ABC News Studio
NEED TO KNOW
- Utah siblings Ty and Brynlee Larson barricaded themselves in a room at their mother’s home for 54 days in 2023 in defiance of a court order requiring they return to the custody of their father, Brent Larson
- Ty and Brynlee accused their father of sexually abusing them — allegations he has steadfastly denied and for which he was never criminally charged
- Brent Larson, in turn, accused his ex-wife and the children’s mother, Jessica Zahrt, of undermining his relationship with the children through parental alienation — a claim she denies
When Ty Larson and his sister, Brynlee, barricaded themselves inside a room at their mother’s home in Salem, Utah, in January 2023, Ty says it was a difficult but deliberate decision — one they made entirely on their own.
By then, their parents, Brent Larson and Jessica Zahrt, who'd divorced more than a decade earlier, had spent years locked in a bitter custody battle. The children had accused Larson of sexually abusing them, allegations he vehemently denies. He was never criminally charged. Larson, in turn, alleged that Zahrt had manipulated the children against him, which she denies.
After a judge ordered the children to stay with Larson for 90 days without contact with Zahrt or her family — and possibly participate in reunification therapy — the siblings barricaded themselves inside and livestreamed the standoff on TikTok, drawing widespread attention and support online. They ended the standoff after a judge delayed enforcement of the custody order.
But the custody battle did not end there.
Credit: ABC News Studio
The family dispute is the subject of a new two-part Hulu docuseries, The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn?, which takes viewers inside the case through previously unseen footage of Larson's supervised visits with his children, police interviews, courtroom testimony and other material. It begins streaming Tuesday, May 19, on Hulu and Disney+.
Ty and Zahrt spoke to PEOPLE in separate interviews ahead of the release.
"I lived in a dissociative state for that period of time, because it just was surreal," Zahrt tells PEOPLE of her children's 54-day barricade, adding that she constantly feared they might run away or that officers would use force, as permitted by the court order, to remove them from her custody. "I didn't know what was going to happen, and so I just felt like I was floating through that whole experience."
In 2018, Ty and Brynlee came forward to Zahrt separately with allegations that their father had sexually abused them. Ty also accused his father of emotional abuse. Zahrt reported the allegations to police and to Utah's Division of Family Services, which found the claims "supported." Larson's time with Ty and Brynlee was then restricted to supervised monthly visits. But the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges.
The case has drawn attention to Utah's family court system, the handling of abuse allegations, reunification efforts and claims regarding parental alienation — when one parent turns children against the other parent.
Ty, Zahrt and Larson each believe they were harmed by the system, with Larson saying family court "operates on accusation."
Related: Utah Siblings Brynlee and Ty Larson Speak Out After Barricading Themselves in a Bedroom for Two Months During Family's Bitter Custody Battle
"The moment someone accuses you of abuse, you're instantly separated from your children and forced to spend years apart and spend an absurd amount of money you don't have just to try to see your kids," Larson tells PEOPLE in a statement. "You endure years of supervised visits, reunification supervision multiple times, endless legal battles, social media attacks, countless lies thrown at you and a system that treats you as if you are a criminal. There are no checks and balances in family law."
Zahrt says she, too, faced attacks and incurred debt as she fought for her children. She says she owes nearly $300,000 in legal fees. She was criticized in a lengthy ruling by the judge overseeing the case, who said he believed she encouraged the children to barricade themselves and interfered with reunification therapy. Zahrt says those assertions pushed her into a dark place when she first read the ruling, but she has since made peace with them.
"I'll never succeed at swaying people's opinions of me,” she tells PEOPLE. "It's never going to happen, especially when it comes to something as highly sensitive as family court. What has been important to me is focusing on where I can make a difference: within the walls of my home, making sure my kids know that I was never exploiting them or that I was never doing anything to hurt them."
Criminal Justice Course Inspired Barricade Plan
Ty says he came up with the idea to barricade himself while taking a criminal justice course in 10th grade. During a lesson on the roles of police and peace officers — the latter of whom he believed would enforce the judge's order — he began thinking about how he could resist.
"If I barricaded, they couldn't do anything because it wasn't criminal," he recalls thinking. "They couldn't force me out initially. So I thought, 'What if I just locked myself in my room with a bunch of food, everything I need, and then I livestream it so everybody sees it. What are they going to do?' "
He says he shared his plan with Brynlee but discouraged her from joining him.
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"I knew it would be a mental strain on her," he says. But she wanted to participate. "It was a joint effort between us."
Ty says he stocked the room with enough food and other supplies — oats, honey, pancake batter, protein bars, peanut butter, bottled water, soap, toilet paper, towels and clothes — to last them six months.
"We just got anything that had protein and a long shelf life," he says.
One of the most challenging parts of their isolation, Ty says, was hearing his mother through the bedroom door without being able to interact with her as they normally would.
"It was a weird feeling, especially for months on end," he says. "I told myself almost every day that I needed to do it to save me and my sister."
He also insists his mother discouraged them from barricading themselves. "Every single day she would come talk to us to get us out, bribe us out with anything," he says. "And we would refuse."
Credit: ABC News Studio
The Aftermath
After the barricade ended, a ruling required Ty and Brynlee to resume visits with Larson. This prompted Ty to file for emancipation and move out of Zahrt's home in April 2023 at age 17. He says he worked multiple jobs to survive on his own while also taking classes to graduate.
"I wanted to just get away," he says.
His attorney at the time advised him not to have contact with his family to prove to the court he could live on his own, so he spoke to Brynlee and Zahrt infrequently.
"It was stressful," he says. "It was a hopeless time in my life where I felt like I was working for nothing, because nothing was working." In December 2024, he moved back in with Zahrt. Ty and Brynlee, now 18 and 15, both live with Zahrt, who has full custody of Brynlee.
Ty remains active on TikTok and now focuses much of his content on travel, including trips to Disneyland and other theme parks. (Zahrt says they have also visited national parks together — "to heal, get out in nature and spend time as a family.")
"I love traveling," Ty says. "That's probably the biggest change in my life. I'm just trying to live a little bit of my childhood that I couldn't when I was young."
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn? premieres Tuesday, May 19, on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
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