Cruel Summer is Freeform’s teen drama produced by Jessica Biel. It follows the story of Kate Wallice, played by Olivia Holt, a popular young girl kidnapped in the 90s and Jeanette Turner, played by Chiara Aurelia, the outcast who seemingly replaces Kate after she goes missing. When Kate accuses Jeanette of knowing about her abduction and not reporting it, it upends both their lives in a display of lawsuits and public, social battles.
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Cruel Summer depicts the trials we face in adolescence, such as not fitting in, relating to our parents and discovering our sexualities. It also showcases the truthful side of adults, that they’re all less than perfect themselves.
The acting was pretty decent, in Cruel Summer much better than I was expecting. This show took the time to flesh out its main and supporting characters. The resulting payoff is that they’ll have more material to work with next season. I found the dynamic of Kate’s family to be highly interesting and entertaining.
I was also very impressed with the great 90s soundtrack in Cruel Summer. While jumping back and forth through the years (the story takes place in ’93, ’94 and ’95) can be significantly dizzying, the ingenious use of changes in the actresses hair and style tells you exactly which time a scene is taking place and makes it a lot easier to distinguish. Also, the colour-grading does an appealing job of setting the tone for the different years.
I found that trying to fit the pieces together to see the whole puzzle was the fun part since somehow, despite contradictory evidence, viewers believe both girls are telling the truth. Or at least that they both have confidence they’re telling the truth. As the story dragged on and became a bit convoluted, I got bored and impatient because I saw where it was heading.
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While I enjoyed Cruel Summer, I wasn’t shocked by the ending, and I’m a little disappointed that was the route they took. Don’t get me wrong, it works. I believe they could’ve had something better if they had directed their attention to supporting characters going into the next season. The storyline works more as a miniseries, in my opinion. Watch ‘Cruel Summer’ on Freeform here.
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