We Were Liars Review: The Prime Video Series Is A Slow Paced Mystery With A Disheartening End

Everyone has something to hide in the Prime Video series We Were Liars.

Based on the best-selling novel by E. Lockhart, We Were Liars, follows Cadence “Cady” Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind), who is the eldest grandchild of the picture perfect Sinclair family. Every summer the Sinclair’s gather at Beechwood, the New England private island owned by Cady’s grandfather, to have an idyllic summer. Cady spends her time there with her tight knit inner circle nicknamed The Liars but one summer changes everything when a mysterious accident causes Cadence to have traumatic memory loss and everyone, including her beloved Liars, seems to have something to hide.

(L-R) Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence, Esther McGregor as Mirren, Joseph Zada as Johnny, and Shubham Maheshwari as Gat in We Were Liars. Photo: Prime Video

Key characters in the series include The Liars – Cady’s cousins Mirren (Esther McGregor) and Johnny (Joseph Zada) and their childhood friend Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), Carrie (Mamie Gummer), and Bess (Candice King) are the Sinclair sisters. Penny is mother to Cady, Bess to Mirren, and Carrie to Johnny. Ed Patil (Rahul Kohli) is Carrie’s Boyfriend and Gat’s uncle, the Sinclair patriarch is Harris (David Morse) and the matriarch is Tipper (Wendy Crewson).

This will be a spoiler free review of We Were Liars but be sure to head to my YouTube Channel later in the week to get my spoiler discussion of the series because there are specific themes and moments I really want to talk about in detail. Plus I’ll be breaking down the differences from the book to the series adaptation. 

(L-R) Candice King as Bess, David Morse as Harris, Wendy Crewson as Tipper, Mamie Gummer as Carrie, and Caitlin FitzGerald as Penny in We Were Liars. Photo: Prime Video

One thing to know about the Sinclair family is that money and privilege shape their entire identity. It was very easy to see the vastness of the Sinclair wealth from the very beginning on the series when exploring Beechwood. Their wealth is a major theme in the show that pushes the plot forward and heightens tension between the characters. The series is set between two timelines, Summer 16 where the Sinclairs are arriving to Beechwood to spend the season and Summer 17 when Cady returns to the family island after her accident and is trying to piece together the missing moments in her mind. I should note when I say Summer 16 it’s referencing the number of times Cady has spent on the island with her family and not a year.

Stepping into this world of the Sinclair family put viewers smack dead in a Ralph Lauren campaign. Everything from the food the family eats, to the way they are dressed, and how they speak is manufactured to fit a certain image the Sinclair family has been expected to have. The first episode takes time to set up each dynamic between the members of the family and there’s some deep rooted resentment between pretty much every family member. Cadence is held to a higher standard being the first grandchild, a fact her grandfather rarely lets her forget, and her mother Penny expects her to act accordingly. The Sinclair way is drilled in all of the children really and you can see how that causes rifts between the kids and their parents, specifically Mirren and her mom Bess who are always at odds. I found their relationship the most fascinating to watch unfold. The family trauma clearly trickled down from the top because Harris fuels a sibling rivalry between his daughters and that energy lives in the cousins.

Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence Sinclair Eastman in We Were Liars. Photo: Prime Video

There are parts of the series narrated by Cady or seen through her perception so with her memory loss you should take into account that her view points may not be accurate. This series wants you question everything and assume everyone is not being truthful and you need to decide who to trust. Watching We Were Liars didn’t offer any stand our performances and the story dragged at points. It was becoming redundant how Cady kept asking what happened in Summer 16 only to be repeatedly shut down. The family is protecting her, but why?

Midway through the show I was really ready for the reveal to happen because the little cookie crumbs being dropped just weren’t captivating enough to stop me from scrolling on my phone during the slower moments in the show. This isn’t a fast paced series at all. It takes its time to build suspense but it didn’t pay off in the way I expected…at first. I thought the reveal happened in a matter of fact kind of way. It felt sudden, but I found myself still thinking about the reveal for a while and the implications it had. I was also really sadden by the revelation, especially for one character in particular.

One aspect I really enjoyed in We Were Liars was the conflict between the moms or the Sinclair sisters. Seeing them interact and how they always took jabs at each other was very entertaining. They have some unresolved childhood trauma that manifested in toxic ways in their adulthood and I wanted to know more about them. I was more interested in all their scenes they had with each other and scenes they had with their kids than I was with the Liars. There are some plots introduced that never got further elaborated on and that was a little jarring, but that could be to leave room for a second season opportunity. There is a prequel book in the We Were Liars series, Family of Liars, that focuses on the Sinclairs in the 80s, so maybe the unanswered plots could be explored in a show about that book.

Overall We Were Liars is a riveting mystery and interesting drama that will leave you questioning what is the truth until the very end with a heart wrenching reveal that will stick with you long after the final credits roll.

All 8 episodes of We Were Liars premieres Wednesday, June 18 on Prime Video.

Connect with Glambergirlblog.com on Threads, TikTok and Instagram @Glambergirlblog, and subscribe to the YouTube channel at youtube.com/AmberDoverMedia