What if a simple mix-up over a playdate address turned into a parent’s absolute nightmare? That is the terrifying premise of the hit Peacock series All Her Fault, starring Sarah Snook. While the thriller’s plot about a kidnapped child is fictional, its starting point is pulled directly from a moment of real-world panic experienced by the book’s author.
The series, which released all eight episodes on November 6, 2025, quickly became a must-watch. It follows wealth manager Marissa Irvine as she arrives to pick up her five-year-old son Milo, only to find he is not at the given address and the other mother involved never planned the playdate. The story that unfolds is a work of fiction, but that initial, heart-stopping fear was very real for author Andrea Mara.
The inspiration for All Her Fault came from a brief but frightening experience in April 2015. Author Andrea Mara went to collect her five-year-old daughter from a friend’s house, relying on a printed list from her child’s school. When she arrived, no one answered the door.
“I peered inside the window — and my heart stopped. There was no furniture in the house. Nobody lived in the house,” Mara recounted. “My heart nearly jumped out of my chest with fright, and I immediately thought, ‘Oh, my God, my child has been kidnapped.’”
Her mind raced with terrifying possibilities, wondering if she had fallen for an elaborate plan. Fortunately, a neighbor quickly appeared and explained the family had simply moved to a new home a few streets away. Mara’s printed school directory was outdated. She was reunited with her daughter within minutes.
That intense, though short-lived, fear stayed with her. “I think lots of parents can probably relate to that, that your mind goes to the worst case scenario,” she said. That relatable parental anxiety became the seed for her 2021 novel, which asks a central question: “How do we decide what’s safe and not safe, when it comes to our kids?”.
While the core fear is authentic, the novel and TV series are fictional extensions of that “what if” scenario. The book, set in Mara’s hometown of Dublin, explores the story from three different women’s perspectives. For the TV adaptation, show creator Megan Gallagher made key changes to translate the story for a global audience.
The most noticeable shift was moving the setting from Dublin, Ireland, to Chicago, USA. Gallagher explained this decision was because the pressures and guilt felt by working mothers are a universal experience. The character focus also narrowed, putting more emphasis on Marissa’s journey compared to the book’s multi-perspective approach.
The role of the lead detective was changed as well. In the novel, the investigator is a woman, but in the Peacock series, the part is played by Michael Peña as Detective Alcaras. Gallagher described the adaptation process as expanding the story “like an accordion” to fill eight episodes, adding new layers and depth to the characters and plot.
Although the story is set in Chicago, the production of All Her Fault was a global effort. Only a few days of filming took place in Chicago itself to capture iconic exteriors like the Cloud Gate sculpture (“The Bean”) and the Chicago Riverwalk. Star Dakota Fanning noted she was in Chicago for just two days to film those scenes.
The majority of the series was filmed in Melbourne, Australia. This was a homecoming for star and executive producer Sarah Snook. “I slept in my own bed in Melbourne and yet I was in Chicago. It was great,” Snook said. Locations around Melbourne, such as the suburb of Elwood and Point Ormond Reserve, were transformed to stand in for Chicago neighborhoods and the shores of Lake Michigan.
Also Read:
The production brought significant economic benefits to the Australian state of Victoria, creating over 2,000 jobs and injecting more than $70 million into the local economy. Snook, a strong environmental advocate, also used her role as producer to make the set more sustainable by introducing reusable items and cleaner fuels for vehicles.
At its heart, All Her Fault uses its thriller plot to examine deeper social issues. The title itself points to the unfair burden of blame often placed on mothers. Marissa faces intense scrutiny and guilt for not double-checking a phone number, while her husband’s lack of involvement in daily parenting tasks is overlooked.
“This maternal guilt and this discrepancy in domestic labor tasks in heterosexual couples… is just this huge issue,” explained creator Megan Gallagher. “Every woman I know, who is roughly my age, is dealing with this.”
The series shows women who are passionate about their careers while also navigating immense societal pressure to be perfect parents. Director Minkie Spiro hopes the show starts conversations about “the disparity and the social commentary that is the undercurrent”.
For star Sarah Snook, who became a parent herself in recent years, the role had a powerful new dimension. She found it useful to think of her own daughter to understand her character’s depth of fear. The series has been recognized for its strength, earning nominations at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards and the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.
All eight episodes of All Her Fault are available to stream exclusively on Peacock.
Also Read: The Beauty Trailer Out: Is Bella Hadid The New Face Of A Deadly Disease?
