Unmasking family secrets: why 'We Were Liars' is the psychological thriller you can't miss

When I stumbled across “We Were Liars”, a new release on Amazon Prime Video recently, I wasn’t expecting to be left in tears and still thinking about this powerful series, long after the credits rolled.

Having not read the young adult novel of the same name by E. Lockhart, I was expecting to escape into a teenage summer romance, much like with shows such as “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Outer Banks.”

But soon into the show, I was also pleasantly surprised to discovered that it resembled Nicole Kidman-esque psychological thriller such as “The Perfect Couple” and “Big Little Liars”, while also featuring elements from "Succession" - with “We Were Liars” also centering around a billionaire American family who are desperate for their patriarch's validation.

But what truly set this story apart was the devastatingly emotional manner in which it placed family dynamics, greed and racism in the spotlight, forcing viewers to contemplate these and other issues in their own lives. 

“We Were Liars” centres around teenager Cadence Sinclair (played by Emily Alyn Lind), the granddaughter of media magnate Harris Sinclair (David Morse) and one of the heirs to his multi-million dollar empire.

She appears to be a picture-perfect teen who is arriving with her newly divorced mother, Penny (Caitlin Fitzgerald), to summer at their family’s private island located off the Massachusetts coast.

Called Beechwood Island, there she meets her grandfather, her grandmother Tipper (Wendy Crewson), her cousins, Johnny (Joseph Zada) and Mirren (Esther McGregor), as well as her aunts Bess (Candice King) and Carrie (Mamie Gummer).

Dubbed “Summer 16” after her age at the time of her visit, Cadence and her cousins, who are all around the same age as her, kick off the summer festivities.

They are joined by their childhood friend, Gat Patil (Shubham Maheshwari), whom Cadence is secretly in love with.

They party on the beach, live it up poolside and spend their days being young and carefree.

The group formed such a close bond during the annual visits to the island since they were children that the group earned the nickname “The Liars”, given to them by their grandfather as a consequence of their mischievousness.

But this image of the perfect family is quickly shattered when a flash forward shows a severely injured Cadence lying naked on the beach, alone and afraid.

This disturbing turn of events leaves viewers desperate to know what could have led the teenager to end up in such a state. And more importantly, who could have possibly wanted to harm her?

With her family members as suspects, secrets begin to unravel.

“We Were Liars” does a stellar job at discreetly giving viewers clues about each of the characters, allowing them to try and solve the mystery for themselves.

Could it have been one of the cousins? Johnny has a drinking problem, and his family wealth is the only reason he isn't behind bars following a violent incident at this private school.

Then there is Mirren, an aspiring artist with mommy issues who is always cast into the background. Could she have been envious of Cadene, the oldest grandchild who is eligible to inherit the family’s entire fortune?

Even Gat, who arrived on the island just days after spending months in India, where he awoke to the idea that he no longer aligns with Sinclair's racist and bullying tactics, is not as innocent as he seems.

There are many other factors at play with the adults in her life. Cadence’s mother is struggling with a dirty divorce battle with her father.

Her aunt Bess’s husband is mixed up with some shady business deals and her other aunty is a recovering addict who agreed to take her father’s money in return for not marrying her partner, Ed (Rahul Kohli), who is deemed the wrong race by Harris for the Sinclair brood. 

And as the truth about what happened to Cadence is finally revealed, viewers are left with a reality that is far worse than even I could have imagined.

With such a powerful and poignant ending, “We Were Liars” excels in suspense, keeping viewers constantly guessing.

The cast should also be commended, and although many of them are relatively unknown, with King the most familiar of the faces following her role on “The Vampire Diaries”, they each did their characters justice.

Meanwhile, the use of flashbacks and flashforwards as well as the inclusion of a young romance to add depth and layer to the story also contributed to the intrigue of “We Were Liars.”

* I give it 4 out of 5 stars.