Film: We Were Liars
Cast: Emily Alyn Lind, Shubham Maheshwari, Joseph Zada, Esther-Rose McGregor, David Morse, Caitlin FitzGerald, Candice King, Mamie Gummer
Director: Nzingha Stewart
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 8 episodes
Prime Video’s ‘We Were Liars’ has Cadence Sinclair close out her 16th Summer with a near-death experience. She has a traumatic brain injury and has no recollection of the summer she’d just lived. She wants to know what happened and how but everyone in her life is acting cagey and refusing to talk about it. Despite her mother’s objections, Cadence decides to return to Beechwood for Summer 17 to discover the truth…
This series, adapted by Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie from the similarly-titled novel by E. Lockhart, takes us through an illuminating journey haunting in its unexpected turns, complications, and relationship fracas.
The series begins with Cadence’s return to Beechwood for 16, with her best friends, the so-called “Liars”: cousins Johnny (Joseph Zada) and Mirren (Esther McGregor) and their friend Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). Flashbacks show us how Gat first arrived on the island after his uncle Ed (Rahul Kohli) and Johnny’s mother got together. Beechwood is a kingdom ruled with an iron fist by Candace’s media magnate grandfather, Harris (David Morse) and his dictats are the law.
The narrative is split between the two summers but most of the episodes are focused on 16 as Cadence recalls memories of why Beechwood is so special to her.The series introduces us to three generations of the powerful well-connected Sinclair family, all Beechwood regulars. As the episodes progress the family’s web of secrets and lies, get exposed.
The Liars are all dealing with major personal challenges. Cadence is coping with her father’s affair and her parents’ divorce proceedings. Johnny has transformed from easy going to reckless. Mirren is questioning her identity and status, Gat after his stint abroad can no longer keep his eyes closed to the Sinclairs’ lifestyle. Their world has spun around alarmingly. The dynamic between the sisters, Carrie (Mamie Gummer), Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), and Bess (Candice King) is twisted and fraught. Their parents Tipper (Wendy Crewson) and Harris (David Morse) obviously haven’t instilled the right values while bringing them up.
In 17, after Cadence’s brain injury and with everyone treating her with kid gloves the general mood is serious and secretively ominous. Cadence’s reunion with the Liars is not as enthusiastic as it used to be.
The shifts from 16 to 17 and back doesn’t mesh well enough. Cadence eventually remembers everything but we don’t get to understand why?
We Were Liars is moderately enjoyable. The pacing is uneven, some episodes drag on without much happening and the story surrounding Cadence’s trauma is hazy. There’s not much of tension building up to the ultimate reveal. The forays into criticism about privilege and racism are not satisfactory either. Even with eight episodes the series feels long drawn and stretched. There’s no crispness in this telling and the interest keeps flagging as the series progresses. There’s really not much of a payoff here.