We Were Liars (TV series)

We Were Liars is an American psychological thriller television series based on the 2014 novel of the same name by E. Lockhart. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on June 18, 2025.

We Were Liars
Amazon Prime Video poster
Genre	Psychological thriller[1] Family drama[1]
Based on	We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Developed by	Julie Plec & Carina Adly Mackenzie
Showrunners	Julie Plec Carina Adly Mackenzie
Starring	Emily Alyn Lind Caitlin FitzGerald Mamie Gummer Candice King Rahul Kohli Shubham Maheshwari Esther McGregor Joseph Zada David Morse
Music by	Michael Suby
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Julie Plec Carina Adly MacKenzie Emily Cummins Brett Matthews Pascal Verschooris E. Lockhart Nzingha Stewart
Producers	Kimberly Ndombe Holly Redford
Cinematography	Simon Duggan Cary Lalonde Sylvaine Dufaux
Editors	Benjamin Callahan Nathan Easterling Rachel Katz-Overstreet Orlee Buium Evan J. Warner
Running time	51–61 minutes
Production companies	Because Magic Whatever My So-Called Company Universal Television Amazon MGM Studios
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)

Cast

Main

• Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence "Cady" Sinclair Eastman, the eldest grandchild of Harris and Tipper who suffers from memory loss after an accident and one of the Liars.
• Caitlin FitzGerald as Penny Sinclair, the middle Sinclair sister and Cadence's mother
• Mamie Gummer as Carrie Sinclair, the eldest Sinclair sister and Johnny's mother who is a recovering drug addict. She is in a long-term relationship with Ed.
• Candice King as Bess Sinclair, the youngest Sinclair sister and Mirren's mother
• Rahul Kohli as Ed Patil, Carrie's long-term significant other and Gat's uncle
• Shubham Maheshwari as Gat Patil, Ed's nephew and one of the Liars
• Esther McGregor as Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, Bess' eldest daughter and one of the Liars
• Joseph Zada as Johnny Sinclair Dennis, Carrie's eldest son and one of the Liars. He has a problematic temper that causes tension between his mother and grandfather
• David Morse as Harris Sinclair, the patriarch of the Sinclairs who owns the Clairmont House on his private island known as Beechwood Island. He uses his money to hold over his daughters' heads.

Recurring

• Wendy Crewson as Tipper Taft Sinclair, Harris's wife and the matriarch of the Sinclairs
• Dylan Bruce as Brody Sheffield, Bess's husband and Mirren's father
• Dempsey Bryk as Ebon, a teenage water taxi driver and Mirren's love interest

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Teleplay by	Original release date
1	"Tell Me Sweet Little Lies"	Nzingha Stewart	Julie Plec	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)[a]
The wealthy Sinclair family arrives on Beechwood Island for "Summer 16" (when the oldest grandchildren were 16). Cadence spends her time on the island with her cousins Mirren and Johnny, as well as Gat, her aunt's partner's nephew whom she has developed feelings for; the four teenagers dub themselves "the Liars". Cadence invites Gat to watch a meteor shower together, but Johnny convinces them to attend a boat party instead. Cadence leaves the party, upset, but Gat follows after her and they kiss. Two months later, Cadence washes up on the beach alone and with no memory of what happened.
2	"Wrap Her Up in a Package of Lies"	Julie Plec	Carina Adly Mackenzie	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)[a]
Cadence has amnesia and severe migraines after the accident. With no contact from the remaining Liars, she spends the year withdrawn from life, self-medicating with painkillers and alcohol. She arrives on Beechwood Island the following summer, determined to find out the truth about the accident, which her family has been keeping from her. In flashbacks, Gat clashes with the Liars over their privilege. He also acts strangely toward Cadence after the kiss, and she finds out that he has a girlfriend back home. After the family spends Father's Day together, Tipper dies in her sleep.
3	"The Ties Were Black, the Lies Were White"	Tara Miele	Brett Matthews Story by : Brett Matthews & Rohit Kumar	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
Cadence confronts Harris about his decision to rebuild and modernize Tipper's beloved Clairmont house. In flashbacks, the Sinclairs attend Tipper's funeral. Blake Beaumont, Johnny's rival, is also at the funeral, and Johnny is surprised to find out that he has been sexting Mirren. Johnny angrily accuses Blake of using Mirren to provoke him, and the two get into a physical altercation that escalates into a heated exchange before they are interrupted by Cadence. Meanwhile, Penny, Carrie, and Bess fight over Tipper's black pearl necklace, leading Harris to harshly reprimand them and cut them off.
4	"The Fourth of You Lie"	Tara Miele	Fola Goke-Pariola & Scarlett Curtis	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
In flashbacks, the Sinclairs celebrate the Fourth of July, despite the loss of Tipper. Each facing their own financial difficulties, Penny, Carrie, and Bess plan to win back Harris's favor. Carrie admits to Harris that she drained her savings to solve a problem Johnny got into. She later rejects Ed's marriage proposal to appease Harris, who does not approve of the relationship. Meanwhile, the Liars throw their own party, and Cadence gets drunk and flirts with several boys in an attempt to get over Gat. Gat later tells her that he broke up with his girlfriend, and the two share a romantic moment. Mirren sleeps with a cute teenage water taxi driver, Ebon. In the present, Cadence unlocks Johnny's phone and watches a blackmail video from Blake, showing Johnny violently assaulting another boy.
5	"Lying Together in a Silver Lining"	So Yong Kim	Sid Gopinath & Aditya Joshi & Carina Adly MacKenzie	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
In flashbacks, Penny, Carrie, and Bess each instruct their children to stay in Harris's good graces to ensure their financial security. As tensions rise between the sisters, a storm rolls in. Mirren and Ebon stay in the lighthouse and have a romantic moment and sex again, and it seems like they're catching feelings. The family panics when they realize that Johnny's brother, Will, is missing. Gat and Johnny take a boat out to sea to save him, but nearly drown before being saved by Ed. Johnny later confesses to Gat that he assaulted a member of a rival tennis team in a prank gone wrong, and that his mother had to pay everyone off to preserve the family name. In both the present and in a flashback, Cadence and Gat have sex.
6	"When Lies Gives You Lemons"	So Yong Kim	Gursimran Sandhu & Allison Sanchez	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
In flashbacks, Gat's mother, Maya, visits Beechwood Island during the Sinclairs' annual lemon hunt. Harris states that whoever collects the most lemons will receive the family's Boston home, and whoever finds the lime will be the sole inheritor of Beechwood Island. While the Sinclairs frantically scour the island, Maya expresses concern over Gat suppressing his true self to fit in with the family. The hunt culminates in an argument between Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny, before Gat reveals that he found the lime, locked away by Harris. The cousins, realizing they were manipulated, give all of their lemons to Gat. Rather than awarding Gat the Boston house, Harris instead recommends him for an internship that will keep him away from Beechwood Island the following summer.
7	"Everybody Knows That the Captain Lied"	Erica Dunton	Carina Adly MacKenzie & Julie Plec & Maya Vyas	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
In flashbacks, tensions come to a head at a family dinner where Penny, Carrie, and Bess air out each others' secrets and Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny sabotage any chances of inheriting Harris's estate. After Cadence accuses Harris of being bigoted toward Ed and Gat, Harris slips and hits his head. While the sisters rush him to the hospital, Penny instructs Cadence to find the last draft of his will and to burn it if it does not favor them. Left alone on the island, Cadence rallies the Liars to commit a multimillion dollar arson, burning Clairmont to the ground in an act of rebellion and purification, not revealing that Harris bequeathed Beechwood Island to her.
8	"My Friends Are Lying in the Sun"	Erica Dunton	E. Lockhart	June 18, 2025 (2025-06-18)
Though Cadence remembers the fire, she still does not know how Summer 16 ended. For her 18th birthday, Harris gifts her the black pearl necklace, which triggers an episode of flashbacks. The Liars arrive to comfort her, but Cadence confronts them about abandoning her after the accident. The Liars tell her the truth; while carrying out the conspiracy to commit a multimillion dollar felony arson, she lit the house prematurely, killed the three of them, and has been speaking to their ghosts. Cadence tries to return the necklace to Harris, but he calls her entitled and tells her that he lied about the cause of the fire to protect the family. Instead of indulging his wishes and speaking to a reporter for a puff piece about their family, or turning herself in for murder, Cadence leaves the island, stating that she was once a Sinclair, but will always be a Liar.

Production

The series was shot in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Development

E. Lockhart's bestselling young adult novel, We Were Liars, and its prequel, Family of Liars, were optioned by My So-Called Company and Universal Television in July 2022.^[4] That December, it was announced that Amazon MGM Studios was developing a television series based on the novel, and the project received a series order in March 2023.^[5][6]

In March 2024, it was announced that Nzingha Stewart would direct the first episode of the series.^[7]

Casting

An open casting call for the series' four lead roles was posted on Lockhart's Instagram page on April 1, 2023.^[8][9] On May 30, 2024, it was announced that Emily Alyn Lind, Subham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor, and Joseph Zada were cast as Cadence, Gat, Mirren, and Johnny, respectively.^[10][11]

Mamie Gummer, Caitlin FitzGerald, and Candice King were announced as cast members on March 5, 2024.^[12] David Morse, Arsher Ali, and Wendy Crewson were announced as cast members in late May 2024,^[13][14][15] but Ali was replaced by Rahul Kohli the following month.^[16]

Filming

Principal photography began in June 2024.^[17] Filming took place in Halifax and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and was completed by late September 2024.^[18][19][20]

Release

The series was released on Amazon Prime Video on June 18, 2025.^[8]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 60% approval rating based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "We Were Liars might be Succession-lite, but its juicy family dynamics mixed with psychological intrigue will leave viewers amply satisfied and quietly shattered."^[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average".^[22]

Reviewing the series for The Age, Kylie Northover gave a rating of 4/5 and described it "essentially a junior Succession, but there's enough adult soapiness for We Were Liars to appeal to a broad audience.^[23] Lauren Thoman of TheWrap said, "Overall, We Were Liars is a solid entry into the hazy summer melodrama canon, sitting comfortably beside other twisty, sun-soaked series like Big Little Lies and Cruel Summer.^[24]

Notes

1. This episode was first shown at the 2025 Tribeca Festival on June 10, 2025.^[2][3]