We Were Liars review: Brat summer-coded teen drama is the perfect binge-watch of this season

We Were Liars review: The young are restless, anxious and far away from the truth in this haunting and twisted adaptation of the bestselling E. Lockhart book.

We Were Liars review

Cast: Shubham Maheshwari, Joseph Zada, Esther McGregor, David Morse, Candice King, Caitlin Fitzgerald

Creators: Julie Plec and Carina Adly McKenzie

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Rating: ★★★

One would ideally be living under a rock if they had not seen the rage that was We Were Liars on Bookstagram around a decade ago, and if I am not too mistaken, even a few years back when the pandemic was upon us. The story gripped young readers across the world; there was something intrinsically familiar and dark in the way E. Lockhart captured the restlessness and obsession of young hearts.

We Were Liars is led with assured turns from its ensemble cast.

The new adaptation, created by Julie Plec and Carina Adly McKenzie, does remain quite faithful. Led by a fine ensemble cast, the show goes for raw and untethered emotional complexity, which fits well for a show that knows what it wants to say. The kids are not alright, but they certainly want to be. 

The premise

The eight-episode show begins in the Summer when Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) turns 16. She has spent all her summers with cousins Johnny (Joseph Zada) and Mirren (Esther McGregor) and her best friend Gat (Shubham Maheshwari), and this year seems to be the same as well. The Sinclair family grown-ups in the background have a lot of growing up to do amid divorces, resentments and gaslighting, so it is quite evident the kids are mostly left on their own as they lie around and party around the beach. Cadence has a crush on Gat, and it does not take time to feed that fire mutually.

However, it is revealed that the time has passed to the Summer of 17, and Cadence remembers in flashes of what happened last year that changed everything. She was washed up on the beach, hurt and then woke up to see that the Sinclair family's house was remodelled. When the four of them meet again, the vibes are decidedly off. They all act a little cold; something is amiss. The show then progresses as Cadence tries to piece together the details with the help of the three of them for company, determined to find out what cracks lie in the shadow of the picture-perfect dream.

What works

We Were Liars positions these two timelines effectively, creating an immersive deep dive into the contrasting tones of the two summers. The flashbacks do not feel sudden or unnecessary, and flow organically within the framework of the narrative. The series tends to get a little too self-conscious in its sneer at the vast wealth that the Sinclairs possess, and how horribly ignorant they can get at times. The hypocrisy sticks deep, perhaps a little too over the nose, as the show picks up pace. Furthermore, the tone also suffers a little from needlessly delving into horror elements.  

The show is pulled together, almost shaken up a little to wake up to its potential, by its central cast of young actors. Emily Alyn Lind stirs up a fine performance that never turns cloying even in the character's lowest moments. Shubham Maheshwari and Esther McGregor offer able supporting turns. But the real deal here is Joseph Zada, whose presence is quite the revelation here. 

We Were Liars does get shaky in the last episodes, but stay with it, offering a little pause for the chaos and contradictions to emerge on their own. At its troubled heart, We Were Liars is a tale of perception and how it turns out to be a definitive factor through age and experience. It is flawed yet holds itself superbly, keeping the viewers invested until the very last minute. This might just become the latest summer binge obsession.