It’s a ghost story, it’s a comedy, but In Limbo is a whole lot more. It’s a show that’s aimed at starting conversations about suicide and mental health.
The new homegrown series begins with Charlie (Ryan Corr) trying to write a eulogy and Nate (Bob Morley) giving him advice, including what to wear to the funeral to look “sad but still bangable”.
Who could resist a ghost/comedy plot?
(Image: Supplied)It’s only when Charlie arrives at the church that viewers see, from the photo on the coffin, that it’s Nate’s funeral.
Nate has taken his own life. He’s now a ghost, with his best mate Charlie the only person who can see him. Or is Nate just a figment of Charlie’s imagination?
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“I really like the ambiguity that the show offers,” Ryan, 34, tells TV WEEK. “It doesn’t feed you what the answers are, it more opens up ideas.”
“Nate is a fun-loving guy.”
(Image: Supplied)After revealing that Nate is dead, In Limbo jumps back 10 days, to show Charlie and Nate working together to build a cubbyhouse for Nate’s daughter, Annabel (Kamillia Rihani), for Christmas.
It certainly looks like Nate has a great life, with a wonderful wife, Freya (Emma Harvie), a daughter he adores and a successful landscaping business.
“Nate is a fun-loving guy and always tries to be the bright spark,” Bob, 38, explains. “The thing about Nate is there are some things he’s left unspoken and some challenges that he faces on his own.”
Freya, who’s overseas with Annabel visiting her mum, sets up Charlie on a date with her friend Lily (Philippa Northeast). Charlie, whose wife left him a year ago, doesn’t want to go, but Nate pushes him into it. What happens next is terrible and tragic.
In Limbo was created by award-winning write Lucas Taylor, who was behind the men’s mental health docuseries Man Up. Lucas consulted suicide prevention and mental health experts to make In Limbo.
“A huge amount of care and responsibility has gone into dealing with these things, which I think is vital,” Ryan adds.
Bob says the message of the show is that it takes courage to be vulnerable.
“I hope it at least helps people begin the conversation, or even just think about a friend or a loved one and say, ‘It can’t hurt to ask how they’re doing.'”
