HBO’s “DTF St. Louis” looks at middle-age angst through the mutating, interlocking relationships of three people and a murder.

Jason Bateman is St. Louis TV weatherman Clark Forrest who becomes involved with the married couple Carol (Linda Cardellini) and Floyd (David Harbour, “Stranger Things”).

The series, premiering weekly episodes Sunday, is a collaboration between Harbour and the series’ creator, writer-director Steven Conrad.

“David and I,” Conrad, 58, said in a virtual press conference with the cast, “were looking for a show that would essentially be suspense with this middle-age desperation as its driving force.

“These middle-aged people in a suburban community who, over the course of one summer when each of their lives were falling apart in one emotional way or another, they found each other.

“Meanwhile they started flirting with DTF, this dating app which is not quite a dating app. It’s more a sexual hookup app, the likes of which were more common in 2018 when the show is set.

“Sites like this,” Conrad explained, “would promise all the excitement, none of the consequences. Married people could connect, cheat on their spouses and go home and resume their normal lives.

“That promise just seemed not quite stable to me. So, David and I agreed to hang a series of suspenseful, tense events that might follow from grown-ups making mistakes, then trying to fix them. Only to create greater mistakes. Owing to very serious desperation.”

“It felt a little dangerous and brave for me, compared to other things that I’ve done,” Cardellini, 50, said.

Male bonding becomes a central issue.

“David and I have a lot of similar feelings about how effortless the chemistry was,” Bateman, 57, offered. “Steve provided an environment where it was safe to explore all those things.”

“Wait until the last three episodes! You have no idea” Harbour, 50, promised, “where this friendship goes, but it goes much deeper down the rabbit hole.”

“The superpower of this show,” Bateman believes, “is just that Steve constructed these three characters at the center who each are at these varying levels of emotional, spiritual nudity.

“It’s infectious to watch because it’s something that every human goes through. We all learn how to wear these suits of capableness (if that’s a word) and these three just aren’t great at that.

“Because it’s just so vulnerable and human, it’s uncomfortable to watch these people experiment with becoming more dynamic in their life. It’s awkward and it’s ugly. And it’s not sexy — it’s not a titillating show.

“It’s equal parts tragic and humorous. And that’s what compels you to just keep watching. Because these people are just so bravely diving off into the void.”

“DTF: St. Louis” streams Sunday on HBO