'I Know This Much Is True' Episode 1 Preview: Emotional introduction to Mark Ruffalo's Birdsey family dynamics
Based on the bestselling novel by Wally Lamb and written and directed by Derek Cianfrance, 'I Know This Much Is True' starring Mark Ruffalo in a double role premiered on HBO on May 10.
The six-episode series follows twin brothers Thomas and Dominick Birdsey — Thomas suffers from paranoid schizophrenia while Dominick suffers from PTSD. Dominick struggles to care for Thomas, as he finds out the truth of his family history.
In the first episode titled, 'Episode 1' the Birdsey brothers are introduced as Thomas experiences a violent breakdown as we see Dominick take care of his brother, who undoubtedly needs his support.
The show is set to give us a hardening question of how far will you go to make sure you're there for your family? We are taken into the family dynamics of the family members including the brother's stepfather and their mother.
The effects Thomas' illness on the people around him, especially on Dominick as a young boy and as an adult, but Dominick knows one thing for sure, his brother Thomas needs him. We are taken to the depths of the phrase "love has no bounds" because "you don’t just give up on the people you love."
The description of Episode 1 reads, "After paranoid schizophrenic Thomas Birdsey has a violent public breakdown, Dominick Birdsey finds himself stepping up to defend his identical twin brother in unexpected ways.
As he navigates the fallout of Thomas' actions, Dominick reflects on their childhood growing up under the tyrannical rule of their volatile stepfather, Ray, and their persistent desire to know the identity of their biological father.
Dominick crosses paths with the prickly Nedra Frank as he attempts to have his grandfather's manuscript translated from Italian into English as a gift for his ailing mother."
The official synopsis of the show reads, "Based on the 1998 bestselling novel by Wally Lamb, adapted and directed by Derek Cianfrance, this limited series follows the parallel lives of identical twin brothers, played by Mark Ruffalo."
"A family saga, it tells a story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness set against the backdrop of 20th-Century America," it adds.