HBO’s new limited series Task was filmed on location across Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, producers and local reports say, bringing the Brad Ingelsby-created drama back to the same region that served as the setting for Mare of Easttown.
The seven-episode series, which stars Mark Ruffalo as a former priest-turned-FBI agent and Tom Pelphrey as a single father leading a string of violent robberies, was shot during the spring and summer of 2024, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Parts of Episode 1 were filmed inside a real home in Downingtown that was dressed by set decorators.
Production also staged scenes in Coatesville, Ridley, Aston, Upper Chichester, Marcus Hook, parts of Chester County and Chadds Ford. Outdoor sequences were shot in local green spaces, including Ridley Creek State Park and Wissahickon Valley Park. The decision to return to Delaware County came from Ingelsby’s interest in telling stories rooted in the people and places he knows; he told Variety that writing about the region was “the blood in my veins.”
Task is set in the same cinematic neighborhood Ingelsby has explored before. Ruffalo has dubbed the shared setting the “ICU,” telling USA Today, “I’ve been in the ICU. That’s the Brad Ingelsby Cinematic Universe.” He described Task as “a really compassionate and empathetic take on cops and robbers” that will leave viewers “rooting for both sides of the crime.” Ingelsby has said he returned to Pennsylvania because he wanted “to tell a story about the people that I grew up with.”
Cast members said reproducing the local speech patterns was a frequent on-set focus. Ruffalo worked with dialect coach Susanne Sulby to capture what he called a “specific and so weird and so idiosyncratic” Delaware County accent — a blend he likened to “the South meets Baltimore, with a little Italian and Irish accents sprinkled in.” Pelphrey told The Hollywood Reporter that the accent “was honestly keeping me up at night.”
Task premiered on HBO on Sept. 7 and will air new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max. The series continues Ingelsby’s interest in tightly drawn, location-specific crime storytelling after the critical success of Mare of Easttown, which centered on a chilling local crime investigated by Kate Winslet’s character.
Local residents and businesses in the towns where Task filmed reported visible production activity during the spring and summer months, a pattern familiar to Delaware County after the production of Mare of Easttown brought increased attention to the region. The new series’ use of real homes, parks and neighborhoods reflects a broader trend in prestige television to ground fictional narratives in tangible localities, a choice producers have said helps create an authentic texture for character-driven stories.
With a cast led by Ruffalo and Pelphrey and a creator who has repeatedly mined Delaware County for story material, Task continues the area’s recent run as a backdrop for intimate, morally complex crime dramas. New episodes will continue to debut weekly on HBO and be available on HBO Max.