Latest news with #Cady
Metro
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Beat this weekend's heatwave to binge all 8 episodes of 'tear-jerking' thriller
This weekend is set to be a scorcher, with temperatures tippling over the 30 degree water mark. So what better way to beat the heat than set up in front of a fan with a good binge watch? Amazon Prime Video has just the thing after this week dropping all eight episodes of the hotly anticipated summer thriller We Were Liars. Based on E Lockhart's bestseller, which did numbers on BookTok, this glossy adaptation is a summer vibes machine with a twist you'll never see coming. We can't talk about that big spoiler-y final reveal, which has been one of the book's biggest talking points since it was published over a decade ago. The show's central mystery swirls around rich young thing Cadence Sinclair, played by Emily Alyn Lind, who is retreading her memories of the previous summer after she half-drowned and had no recollection of what happened. 'Something terrible happened last summer,' our heroine Cady tells us via voiceover, which is peppered throughout the show. 'I have no memory of what or who hurt me.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up until that point, her life had been a sun-drenched dream, buoyed up by her filthy-rich 'American royalty' family and a close-knit bond with her troublemaker cousins – who the family dub the titular 'liars'. Set on the family's private isle Beechwood, near the Kennedy stronghold Martha's Vineyard, this is The Summer I Turned Pretty meets a near-murder mystery, which is already ranking at the second spot on Prime Video's ranking of most popular film and TV. The novel's author was also an executive producer on the show and teased – spoiler free – the pacing of the show and how they kept the audience who had not read the book guessing. Lockhart told Deadline: 'We want[ed] to stretch out the suspense a little bit and give each, each of the liars their own experience of that big event.' Senior TV Reporter Rebecca Cook shares her take… When Cady isn't making ominous reference to her impending amnesia via voiceover, We Were Liars is largely a summer vibes machine with a big-budget soundtrack. The breathy voiceover can sound like Carrie Bradshaw's column word salad when you really tune into what she's quite repetitively saying. But whenever you start to feel bogged down in the so-so teen melodrama, some big reveal will come from another corner of the show to pull you back in. This is the show's strength: it moves at a clip and there is always something barmy happening to one of the Sinclairs. Unlike the best eat-the-rich mysteries, this is painfully lacking in the laughs department and probably takes itself a bit too seriously. But you won't regret sticking around for the final reveal to plug the gap in Cady's memory: it's so bonkers it's beyond the guessing game. Prime Video viewers have already been ploughing into the episodes of the show – and have been left emotional at the show's final twist. @Ayaaam_x wrote on X: 'I can't open my eyes from the tears. I have read and reread that book prepping for the show and still nothing could ever.' Many of the viewers have been fans of the book, which found a new audience on TikTok, with @halsteadaes saying they were 'ready to be emotionally destroyed' by the show. More Trending @itsamemikasa added: 'We Were Liars destroyed me wtf were those plot twists in the last episode.' @twoworldsapartt chimed: 'Watching this knowing what's gonna happen is making me wanna slam my head into a wall.' @dimaggioooo added: 'Just finished we were liars (haven't read the book) and OH MY GOD THE ENDING,' alongside a string of crying emojis. View More » We Were Liars is available to stream on Prime Video. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'I beat the system and proved I didn't need a TV licence' MORE: 10 zombie films to watch after 28 Years Later including 100%-scored 'masterpiece' MORE: Steven Spielberg 'disappointed' after being snubbed for his legendary 70s blockbuster
The Review Geek
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
We Were Liars – Season 1 Episode 7 'Everybody Knows That The Captain Lied' Recap & Review
Episode 7 Episode 7 of We Were Liars begins in Summer 17. Instead of being happy for our couple, Mirren tries to tell Cady to leave Gat alone. Before Cady can ask why, Bonnie shows up and asks for a horror story. Cady tells her to ask Mirren and she finds it funny. Harris calls Cady away for a visit in town. He accepts that he has made mistakes with his daughters and declares Cady as Sinclair's hope. In Summer 16, he is drafting his will. Bess sends the little ones to Brody while the rest get ready to sway Harris. Penny baits Cady that if she wants to save the world, she needs Harris' money so she needs to be on her best behaviour. Carrie is flustered as she reminds Johnny to be good. He tries to come out to her, hinting that he is not Sinclair good. She tells him to put a pin on it till the next day. Will assures Johnny that he is good and he is touched. Mirren notices the tell-tale signs of Bess' adulterous activities and is annoyed. However, Bess compliments her hair. The Liars miss Gat and smoke up before facing the family. Lunch begins. Harris is glad that Ed and Gat are gone, so it can just be the Sinclairs now. But he gets upset on learning the little ones are with Brody and calls him a criminal. He unwittingly targets Mirren and Bess decides to take the rest down. She mentions Carrie's drug addiction, Johnny's assault and even Penny's divorce. Angry, Carrie reveals Bess' affair with Dan. To grab back control, Harris forces Penny to have a lemon tart and an upset Cady starts provoking him. She comments that lemons are a sign of colonisation and keeps mentioning Gat. Johnny joins in, mentioning Ed. The sisters judge Carrie for dumping Ed for no reason. Overwhelmed, she lets it slip that she didn't have a choice. Cady figures out that Harris gave Carrie an ultimatum – the inheritance or Ed. Having had enough, Harris reveals that the will is final and they won't be getting their inheritance. He storms out and Cady goes after him, calling him a racist. He tries to defend himself but he falls and hits his head. The ambulance helicopter is for him. Penny tells Cady to find the will and burn it if it doesn't favour them. There is only one spot in the helicopter and Penny grabs it. Annoyed, Bess packs his things. Mirren doesn't understand why she is mean to her sisters. Bess rants that she was the good daughter while her sisters constantly messed up. She did everything her family wanted and never put herself first. Turns out she hates Boston yet she stayed close for Harris' sake after all. But he only notices when she messes up. (Sounds familiar.) Johnny is upset about Harris' treatment of Ed and wants solace in Carrie but she keeps searching for something. Conceding, he gives her pills back. He knows she has relapsed as it is how she dealt with his abusive father. He wishes she would talk to him and she insists on putting a pin on it till the next day. With Bess and Carrie leaving for the hospital, the Liars send the staff home and get drunk. Gat finally arrives and they all hug. They have fun as they drink and clean up. Mirren is tired of being a people pleaser like her mom and cuts her hair. Gat doesn't want to leave Cady. When he lost his dad, he would hide in a nook to get away from reality. He thanks her for saving him. She feels that Beechwood is a nook for her family and he writes down the devil motto on her hand. Johnny does the Tom Cruise-Risky Business dance and accidentally breaks an illegal ivory statue. Mirren breaks the second one and they laugh. The sisters call to update that Harris is fine. But since he never got himself checked up, his scans show early dementia. They hang up as Harris has run off. The dishwasher overflows and ruins the expensive rugs. The Liars laugh and reminisce about the good times. The mood dampens as they accept that Harris is racist and their family is a mess. In retaliation, Cady burns Harris' will. We also learn the contents – Bess gets the Boston house and they wonder if Harris knows she hates Boston. Carrie and Penny get a stipend as long as they stay single. And Cady gets the Beechwood Island. They want to cause more trouble to flout the Sinclair motto of burying their issues. Cady suggests doing something so big that it is difficult to cover up. She looks at Clairmont and declares that it is the source of their problems, built on a foundation of hate. At the end of We Were Liars Episode 7, Summer 17 Cady realises that they burned down the house. Johnny and Mirren comfort her. The Episode Review The show's budget for the music must be wild because if one thing they did right, it is the soundtrack album. It's got a whole lot of Hozier, Khalid, HAIM, Conan Gray and alt-J among others. And we are bringing up the music because this episode's highlight, without a doubt, is Johnny dancing to 'Old Time Rock and Roll'. If you weren't pumped for Zada as young Haymitch in the new Hunger Games prequel, you will be now with the range he shows as Johnny. Hozier's 'Eat Your Young' is a nice touch when the Liars make a mess of Clairmont. But it is a little disappointing given that this poignant anti-capitalist song is used for such a shallow and performative storyline. Despite burning the will and the house and ruining expensive carpets, the Liars don't actually change anything. Clairmont stands even uglier and stronger. Harris can just rewrite his old will. The sisters will continue to bicker. And the only one who will most likely get in trouble is Gat. Just like he pointed out how the ethnic help was often fired for the kids' mistakes. We had hoped the racist and classist storyline would head somewhere different from the books. But by being a faithful adaptation, the book's weakness becomes the show's weakness. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Elle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
'We Were Liars': The 6 Key Differences Between The Book And TV Show
On June 18, E. Lockhart's bestselling YA novel We Were Liars premiered on Prime Video as a TV adaptation. While the new series stays true to the haunting emotional core of the book, it also reshapes it in many unexpected and shocking ways. At first glance, the private Sinclair island is introduced as the perfect backdrop for a dreamy summer coming-of-age romance, however, all isn't at it seems. Hailed as the next White Lotus given its haven-like scenery paired with a whodunnit plot line, the show follows lead character Cadence aiming to figure out who or what is behind the injury that left her with amnesia following a devastating incident at her grandfather's summer home. The TV show and book share a number of similarities in portraying disturbing family secrets, trauma and painful truths amongst the Sinclairs'. However, in many other ways, the series diverges from the original novel, which we unpack below. Firstly, the timeline of the TV adaptation of We Were Liars is streamlined. Lockhart's book spans multiple summers, while the series narrows the drama down to just two—summers 16 and 17— this creates a much more distinct contrast between Cadence's initial carefree past and then the stark difference post head injury. Key events like Tipper's death, Cady and Gat's romance, and the tragic accident now all unfold in a single, harrowing summer. Another significant shift can be seen in the character depth afforded to certain roles. For example, Johnny Sinclair, Cady's charming and trouble causing cousin, is openly gay in the TV series, with his storyline touching on school violence (homophobic bullying), secrecy, and the consequences of his mother Carrie's toxic devotion. These additions bring a darker energy to the family's seemingly golden facade, and intensifies the internal conflict over inheritance money. The show also leans further into the Sinclairs' legacy of privilege and racism. Cady's grandfather Harris, an already problematic man in the book, is called out more directly in the series, by Cady specifically. She pushes back throughout the series, not just in heated arguments with Harris but also by educating herself (a quiet scene shows her reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson), adding more depth to her journey of self-awareness, primarily due to her relationship with Gat. In Lockhart's novel, the Sinclair sisters' romantic lives are largely undiscussed, however, the series lets viewers into all of their relationships. Bess, Mirren's mum, isn't divorced but emotionally detached, and her affair with an employee on the harbour becomes a point of conflict within the family. Mirren also has a more fleshed-out romantic arc, that teaches her about emotional growth. In an interview with Swooon, author Lockhart says they worked hard to bring more life to the characters of Gat and Ed. 'We had four writers of Indian descent bringing not only their lived experience, but also their comedy chops and thriller expertise and all of their TV writing experience to the show,' she says. 'But what that means is that the characters of Gat and Ed are fleshed-out and given complexity and more nuance and bigger storylines than I could ever have done well myself because we had such a wealth of of writers working on the show.' One of the strengths of the new series is the part the more adult characters in the show play - something Lockhart told Swooon was inspired by mega-hit The White Lotus. 'I feel like everybody who got obsessed with those three ladies in The White Lotus [Season 3] are going to be all the more obsessed with the three [Sinclair] sisters,' she said. 'They're complicated, messy, beautifully acted. Candice King [Bess Sinclair], who was in The Vampire Diaries, which Julie Plec showran — she came in and auditioned for us, despite having worked for Julie for eight years. When she came in, she did a scene that is in the pilot where she's upset about her husband not showing up and she smokes a cigarette and she did it so exquisitely, I still have it in my head. She was just undeniably perfect for Bess. 'And then we have two other powerhouse actresses: Caitlin Fitzgerald [as Penny Sinclair] and Mamie Gummer [Carrie Sinclair]. They run around in the most amazing clothes, and they are funny with each other, and they fight with each other, and they are up to all kinds of entitled sisterly shenanigans. I think it's a really good time.' ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'We Were Liars' book vs. show: Amazon Prime Video series adds new drama, affairs
'We Were Liars' book vs. show: Amazon Prime Video series adds new drama, affairs Reader beware: This story contains spoilers for both the book and series adaptation of 'We Were Liars.' Gen Z's favorite COVID read has made it to the silver screen. 'We Were Liars' by E. Lockhart was published in 2014 but saw a sales resurgence in 2020 thanks to cooped-up YA readers and the wildfire spread of BookTok. Now, fans can see the psychological thriller as a series on Amazon's Prime Video. 'We Were Liars' follows the affluent Sinclair family who summer every year on Beechwood, a fictional island off of Martha's Vineyard. Cadence "Cady" Sinclair, her cousins Mirren and Johnny and family friend Gat are inseparable each year, especially as Cady and Gat begin to fall in love. Everything changes after a tragedy one summer, leaving Cady with a traumatic brain injury and memory loss. This novel is her quest to piece together how things fell apart. 'We Were Liars' is a faithful screen adaptation, though there are a few key changes. Here are the biggest differences from the book. 'We Were Liars' series condenses book timeline to summers 16 and 17 The most pronounced change in the 'We Were Liars' series is the timeline. While the book takes place across several summers, the adaptation condenses the action to summers 16 and 17 (the age Cady is that particular year). In the book, Cady and Gat begin to fall in love during summer 14. Grandmother Tipper Sinclair dies before summer 15, the year Cady's accident occurs. After her injury, Cady is kept from the island for a full year, instead traveling to Europe with her dad. She returns to find out what happened to her in summer 17. In the TV series, the story is split into a precise 'before' and 'after' – all of the main action, including Tipper dying, the love story and the accident, occurs in summer 16. In summer 17, Cady returns to the island and tries to fill in her missing memories. In 'We Were Liars' series, Johnny is gay, hiding school drama Eagle-eyed 'Hunger Games' fans will recognize 20-year-old Joseph Zada as the recently announced actor set to portray Haymitch Abernathy in the upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' 'Sunrise on the Reaping.' In "We Were Liars," Zada plays Johnny, the snarky cousin and son of Carrie, one of the patriarch Harris Sinclair's daughters. Zada lives up to the mischievous troublemaker in Lockhart's book. And though his sexuality and relationships aren't discussed in the book, the Prime Video series makes it clear that Johnny is gay – he has a brief but refreshingly unceremonious coming out moment (his cousins are supportive) and has a few hookups throughout the series. He tries to tell his mom that he's gay, but she dismisses him curtly. Another added element to his character is trouble at private school. Cady finds out Johnny was threatened by a prep school boy, and got into a violent fight at school that left a boy hospitalized. His mother, Carrie, paid off everyone involved to forget the incident, but not after an ultimatum from Harris – if he was going to give her the money she needed, she would have to break up with her boyfriend Ed. Ed, who is Indian, was never accepted by racist Harris, despite being a part of Beechwood family summers for a decade. Carrie's desperation to protect her son no matter the cost adds another layer to the sisters' fight to get their share of the inheritance. Cady confronts grandfather over racism, Sinclair privilege Harris' racism is present in both the book and the show, especially as Cady gets more involved with Gat, Ed's nephew. In the book, she calls him out over a racist comment and his illegal ivory, but she's easily placated after he yells at her for telling him what to do with his money and possessions. But in the show, Cady takes a more active stance in confronting her grandfather's problematic comments on several occasions, much to the chagrin of her mother. She also makes an active effort to learn about her privilege and undo her ignorance after Gat calls her on it, reading "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson in one scene. Mirren and mother Bess get new, messy romances We don't learn much about the personal lives of the three sisters in the book, other than that they're all divorced. 'Family of Liars,' the series' prequel, goes deeper into that generation. But the series spends more time on the sisters, especially Bess (Mirren's mother), who is not divorced in the series but has a fraught relationship with her largely absent husband. In summer 16, she has a steamy affair with 'Salty Dan,' the harbor service worker. Mirren discovering them together fuels her anger toward her mother. Penny, Cadence's mom, uses Bess' affair against her to leverage an advantage in the inheritance fight. Mirren has a seafarer summer tryst of her own. In the book, she brags about a relationship with a 'Drake Loggerhead,' only to reveal to Cady later that she's lying to impress her. In the series, Mirren starts summer 16 sexting a pretentious prep school boy, who is revealed to be using her to anger Johnny. She finds something more authentic in a smooth-talking water taxi driver later in the series. Sinclair sisters tease second season, key plot of 'Family of Liars' If the twist ending of 'We Were Liars' underscores anything, it's that there's more to come. The Sinclair sisters reference their late sister Rosemary, a fourth daughter who died when she was young. Harris never stopped mourning her, affecting his relationships with his living daughters. Rosemary is a part of Lockhart's universe but isn't mentioned until the prequel 'Family of Liars.' The sisters also mention their own summer 16, when something unforgivable happened. Mourning the death of her own daughter in the finale, Bess worries that the Beechwood tragedy is 'punishment' for 'what we did.' Season 1 ends as Cady realizes she is the sole survivor of the fire she and her cousins set – she's been speaking with their ghosts all summer 17. She relinquishes them to the beyond, but Carrie still clings to her son Johnny's ghost. Season 2 will likely pick up with Johnny stuck, hurting, in the in-between. 2025 book-to-screen adaptations: 'Mickey 17,' 'Running Man,' 'Wicked' and more Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
Metro
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Amazon Prime's new summer thriller is definitely worth the hype
Would someone please spare a thought for the offspring of the mega wealthy? It's something TV has been asking us to do for years and it looks like the going still isn't great for the super-rich in We Were Liars. In the latest glossy spin on the rich-people-having-a-terrible-time sub-genre of the small screen, Amazon Prime Video has turned the smash BookTok sensation from E Lockhart into a twisty, turny eight-part adaptation. On this occasion the fabulously wealthy family in question are the Sinclairs, a Kennedy-esque oppressively blonde brood who every summer decamp to their private island Beechwood, near Martha's Vineyard. The picture-postcard setting is their very own summer idyll, with huge houses and endless opportunities to cannonball into the aquamarine water. Yet all is not as it seems. 'Something terrible happened last summer,' our heroine Cady Sinclair – played by Emily Alyn Lind of the doomed Gossip Girl reboot – tells us. 'I have no memory of what or who hurt me.' We see Cady's mangled half-naked body atop a cliff at the end of summer, after a mysterious incident which the entire show wraps around. We flashback to the beginning of June to, like Cady, piece together everything she forgot and find out what happened. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Of the Sinclair grandchildren, there are the 'littles' and the titular 'liars' (yes, it's a bit smug) – Cady and her cousins are known as such after a childhood spent being troublemakers prone to a fib. There's Johnny (Joseph Zada), Mirren (Esther McGregor) and Gat (Shubham Maheshwari), who is the outsider of the group, as not technically a Sinclair, and one of the only non-white people on Beechwood. Before everything goes bust for Cady, a long-simmering attraction to Gat finally blossoms into full-blown summer romance. The show bottles up that giddy feeling of being a teenager with a huge crush – it's a lot of close-ups on eyes, mouths, feet and hands as they brush – even if it is on someone who's positioned as cousin-adjacent. In between the summer loving, there's inevitable family drama. The Sinclair grandfather Harris (David Morse) only doles out his affection and its accompanying cash in teaspoon measures. Everyone has a secret hidden beneath their quiet luxury clothing and none of the three Sinclair daughters are happy with their lot. The highlight among them is The Vampire Diaries' Candice King, although it is strange to see her playing an embittered mother when she doesn't look much different from vampiric Caroline. When Cady isn't making ominous reference to her impending amnesia via voiceover, We Were Liars is largely a summer vibes machine with a big-budget soundtrack (HAIM! Hozier! Good Neighbours!) you'll be seeking out on Spotify. The sunny daytime is this show's domain, so much so you might find yourself squinting at the screen during the under-lit nighttime scenes. Cady helpfully dyes her hair brown after her accident. But even with this visual aid, the hopscotching time frame between two summers can be confusing, much like Cady's own patchy memory of things. More Trending The breathy voiceover doesn't do much to clue you in on what's happening when, since it starts to sound like Carrie Bradshaw's column word salad when you really tune into what she's quite repetitively saying. But whenever you start to feel bogged down in the so-so teen melodrama, some big reveal will come from another corner of the show to pull you back in. This is the show's strength: it moves at a clip and there is always something barmy happening to one of the Sinclairs. Unlike the best eat-the-rich mysteries, this is painfully lacking in the laughs department and probably takes itself a bit too seriously. But you won't regret sticking around for the final reveal to plug the gap in Cady's memory: it's so bonkers it's beyond the guessing game. View More » We Were Liars is available to stream on Prime Video from June 18. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: One of the 'best' psychological thrillers of the 90s has just been added to Netflix MORE: New Michael Sheen interview has fans concerned about controversial Amazon Prime series MORE: All Neighbours spoilers for next week as villain gets his comeuppance
