Ty and Brynlee Larson's custody battle revisited in a new Hulu documentary series

• Hulu's The Nightmare Upstairs revisits the viral 2023 custody case of siblings Ty and Brynlee Larson
• The Utah teens barricaded themselves for 54 days to protest a court order to reunite with their father
• Ty and Brynlee first accused their father Brent Larson of abuse back in 2018

The controversial custody battle involving siblings Ty and Brynlee Larson — who barricaded themselves in a room for 54 days in protest of a court order requiring them to reunite with their father — is the subject of a new Hulu documentary. The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn? premiered on the streamer on 19 May.

Who are Ty and Brynlee Larson?

Ty and Brynlee became widely known in 2023 after their child-custody case attracted national attention in the United States. Then aged 15 and 12 respectively, the Utah siblings went viral after live-streaming their protest against a judicial mandate requiring them to enter their father's custody.

The pair locked themselves in a bedroom at their mother Jessica Zahrt's home for 54 days, only emerging after the judge delayed enforcement of the order.

"I know this is happening to so many kids," Ty told ProPublica at the time. "What separates me is that I have hundreds of people watching."

The allegations against Brent Larson

Ty and Brynlee first accused their father, Brent Larson, of emotional and sexual abuse in 2018. Utah's Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) assessed the claims and found supporting evidence, which investigators categorised as "severe and chronic." Brent has denied all allegations and has not been criminally charged in connection with them.

According to state records, Brynlee was seven years old when she first disclosed details of the alleged abuse, telling investigators her father had molested her.

Ty, then 11, also shared allegations of sexual abuse, stating the conduct began when he was around four years old. During the 2023 trial, Ty testified: "He abused me from the ages of 3 to ... 10, physically, mentally, and sexually."

Clinical psychologist Monica Christy, who evaluated the children in 2020, testified that she "didn't have any evidence" of parental alienation — the theory Brent invoked to explain the allegations — and confirmed the children appeared to have "legitimate fear" when describing their experiences.

The court order and the barricade

In 2023, a judge ordered Ty and Brynlee into Brent's custody for 90 days, with no contact with their mother or her family, and mandated possible participation in reunification therapy. The order allowed police to use "reasonable force" to execute the ruling.

In response, the siblings barricaded themselves in a room at their mother's home and began live-streaming. Ty told PEOPLE he got the idea from a criminal justice class.

"If I barricaded, they couldn't do anything because it wasn't criminal," he said. "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.'"

Zahrt described the experience as deeply surreal. "I lived in a dissociative state for that period of time, because it just was surreal," she told PEOPLE. "I didn't know what was going to happen, and so I just felt like I was floating through that whole experience."

The barricade ended after a judge delayed enforcement. Zahrt subsequently gained full custody of Brynlee, whilst Ty became legally emancipated.

Brent Larson's perspective

In a statement to PEOPLE in May 2026, Brent said: "The moment someone accuses you of abuse, you're instantly separated from your children and forced to spend years apart ... 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."