We, liars / We Were Liars (season 1, 8 episodes): what really hides the golden facade of the Sinclair

Season 1 of We liesrecently arrived on Prime Video, is part of this line of stories where appearances are only a fragile veil on deep secrets. In addition, The adaptation of E. For example, Lockhart’s novel by Julie Plec. Consequently, Carina Adly McKenzie offers a dive into a world of privileges, well -kept silences and truths that burn more than the summer sun. Similarly, Eight episodes to follow the trajectory of a teenager broken by an event that she failed to remember. Meanwhile, in a decor as idyllic as they are misleading. Consequently, It all starts on a beach. In addition, Cadence, 16, lies unconscious, the body half buried in the sand. Meanwhile, Nothing around it allows you to understand what has just happened.

The rich family, apparently we, liars / we liars perfect, spends each summer on its private island off the coast of Massachusetts. Moreover, But this year, something will happen for cadence, 15 years old.

A year later, here she is back on Beechwood Island, the private island of his family, the Sinclair. Similarly, This is where the great family meeting takes place every summer. Consequently, But this return is not synonymous with vacation. Furthermore, For cadence, it is a question of understanding what his own mind has chosen to erase. Therefore, The frame is based on this incomplete memory, which Cadence tries to rebuild piece by piece. For example, In the summer of her 16th birthday, she only remembers on scraps. However, she knows that he was decisive, even devastating. Moreover, But neither his mother, nor his cousins, nor his entourage want to help him fill the holes. For example, we, liars / we liars Silence is king among the Sinclair, and this silence weighs heavier than any secret. Nevertheless, At the center of this summer fresco, a group of teenagers nicknamed “Les Liars”: Cadence, Johnny, Mirren and Gat.

Since their childhood, they spent their summers together on the island, forming a small united clan. Consequently, It is this relationship that the series places in the foreground. Consequently, sometimes to the detriment of what is played out in previous generations. Nevertheless, Their interactions, often tinged with humor and lightness, gradually give way to deeper tensions. Meanwhile, There are fleeting looks, unsaid, interrupted gestures. Nevertheless, The series dwells on the links between Cadence. Consequently, Gat, but this romantic relationship sometimes lacks relief, as if the feelings struggled to embody on the screen. Similarly, The narrative force of the series is not only on the side of we, liars / we liars adolescents. Meanwhile, Adults – Mothers of Cadence, Johnny and Mirren – also bear their wounds, their rivalries and their renunciations.

Penny, Bess and Carrie live in the shadow of their father, Harris, a domineering patriarch whose economic power shapes each family decision. The tensions between sisters are palpable. They may love each other. but they are monitored, judge themselves and fight in silence for the inheritance, symbolic or material. In this codified universe. nothing is free: each gesture, each word, each choice seems to have an invisible, but real cost. One of the most interesting axes in the series lies in its way of representing wealth as a form. of social blindness. The Sinclair are rich, very rich. And they are white. This combination is explored not through a militant prism, but rather through a subtle highlighting of we, liars / we liars their lack of lucidity.

They live in an over -ground world, where real questions do not have their place. It is Gat, the only racialized character in the group, who sometimes serves as a mirror for this hypocrisy. He comes to the island because he is the nephew of Carrie’s companion. but he does not really belong to the circle. The limits of its integration are clear, even if they are not said. What the series shows is that the inter-self can be a golden prison, as suffocating as it is comfortable. On the narrative level, the series adopts a voluntarily fragmented structure. Souvenirs of cadence are gradually surface, often in a disorderly order. Certain visual choices, notably the jerky montages supposed to illustrate its mental state, sometimes disturb more than they light.

These sequences do not always bring added value to dramatic tension. The course of history remains fluid. The alternation between summer 16 (year of the trauma). summer 17 (year of return) is marked by a simple detail: the color of the rate of cadence. A useful benchmark in this deliberately blurred narration. But despite this original staging, it happens that the whole lacks depth. The dialogues, in particular, sometimes suffer from an overly lyrical, almost artificial style. The intrigue is largely based on the gradual discovery of what really happened in the summer of 16 years. Additionally, The revelations arrive late, concentrated in the last two episodes. And this is where the series takes an unexpected, almost brutal turning point.

Without going into details (so as not to spoil the surprise effect), which is revealed completely we, liars / we liars modifies the perception of everything that has been seen until then. This scriptwriting choice, as daring as it is, is also questioning. The shock is there, but the emotions do not always follow. Perhaps because the relationships between the characters have not been sufficiently explored before. Perhaps also because the series has lost a little in its metaphors. A transversal theme in We lies is that of idealized childhood. The island of Beechwood is presented as a perfect playground, a kingdom where children run, laugh and love each other. But this kingdom is an illusion.

What we gradually discover is that this environment was built on compromises, renunciations, and sometimes even sacrifices. Growing up, in this series is opening your eyes. It is to understand that adults are not models but beings fallible. That family love can be conditional. That we, liars / we liars the most painful truths are sometimes those that you have told yourself to continue to move forward. We can also see in We lies A form of criticism of the genre to which it belongs. The story checks all the boxes of the adolescent thriller: mystery, upset romance, family secrets, final revelations. But at the same time she seems to want to detach from it.

The slow rhythm, the aesthetic choices, the poetic offenders … Everything seems to indicate that the series tries to rise above the fray. The problem is that these attempts are not always successful. The scenario remains a prisoner of certain facilities. And despite the desire to say more. the series sometimes falls back into the shots it seemed to want to avoid. At the end of the eight episodes, there remains a strange feeling. No we, liars / we liars catharsis, no real consolation. Just the feeling of having attended the fall of a world too perfect to be true. The fate of cadence and “liars” leaves an impression of emptiness, almost absurd. As if. despite the revelations, all of this had only been used to confirm one thing: some injuries never heal completely.

And perhaps this is, basically, the real message of We lies. That the past does not come back. That it cannot be repaired, only understood. And that memory, however defective as it is, always ends up regaining its rights. We lies It is not there to seduce by incessant rounds or reversal of the situation. She advances slowly, takes her time, and is more interested in what is you than what is said. This choice will not suit everyone. But for those who accept to be carried we, liars / we liars by this troubled atmosphere, there is a matter for reflection. No need to love the characters to be challenged by their story. The discomfort they cause is part of the experience. The series does not offer heroes, just human beings confronted with their limits, their mistakes, their own blindness.

Note : 6.5/10. In short. a series that reminds us that the past does not come back, that it does not can be repaired, only understood. And memory, however defective as it is, always ends up regaining its rights.

Available on Amazon Prime Video