We Were Liars

This 8-part miniseries hit Prime streaming yesterday. My wife and I settled in and watched the first two episodes.

The biggest issue is nothing much happens in the first two episodes. The main character has an incident she doesn't remember at the end of episode one. Then most of episode two is flashing back and forward to understand why her family and friends reacted the way they did. And juveniles trying to sort out boy-girl issues. Sort of a teenage soap opera.

One reviewer wrote "flat, nonengaging", another wrote "lazy writing, lazy cast saying lazy lines." That pretty well captures this limited series. A story that might have been told well in a 90-minute movie is stretched to roughly 8 hours and the filmmakers expect us to devote all that time with just the HOPE that it will turn out entertaining and worthwhile.

Well, not for us. After giving it almost 24 hours to set in my wife and I both decided we had no interest in sticking with it.

However a week later I did watch the last episode just to see how they tried to tie things up. In fact I found it to be very interesting and I was surprised at what all had happened. I will go so far as to state, if a viewer doesn't want to spend 8 hours on the whole series then watching episodes 1, 2, and 8 can be pretty entertaining.

But one can tell, from the episode synopses provided by Prime for each episode, most of the filler time involves teenage soap-opera types of topics. That wasn't of much interest to us grandparents.

Great storyline, just a very frustrating execution. Just watch episodes 1, 7 and 8. The rest is filler and adds absolutely nothing to the plot. Pretentious use of time, ridiculous script at points, but a nice overall storyline if it had been 3 episodes, or a movie. Acting across the board is decent, especially with some of the ridiculous lines the actors were forced to regurgitate, and cinematography is pleasant.

Bit twee and cheesy at times, would have benefited at being clear as to what audience they are looking to engage - seems like they tried to pander to all whilst satisfying none.

Overall, not worth the total time investment, follow other critics advice and skip the middle episodes, unless you have nothing better to do and looking to kill time.

I just have no words. I assume this movie is targeting the audience of 10 years old. The writing is really bad. It's like everyone involved was almost catatonic ...Very lazy writing, a cast that looks half-asleep, and dialogue that sounds like it was scribbled during lunch. It was worse than a filler time involving teenage soap-opera types of topics but act like they're not even teenagers. As if some kid in primary school wrote an essay and was made into this series.

I wasted time, I'll never get back hoping that it would at least end ok but it ends pathetically if you are a teenager. These kind of stories are what one would read to an 8 year old. I can't even believe that some actors in the series even signed up to play the characters and how bad the acting became because of the writing and cheesy predictable dialogues.

This whole season could just be 1hr movie. First time ever that I'm writing a review here because I just had to, since I've never seen anything this bad when it came to deciding to watch something.

Watching We Were Liars felt like being lured into a dream only to realize, far too late, that it was a nightmare. It's sun-drenched and pretty on the outside-Cape Cod vibes, golden-hour dinners, old money elegance-but beneath all that gloss is guilt, trauma, and a twist that genuinely left me stunned even knowing what was coming.

If you're going in blind: good. This story wants to break your heart.

✅ What Worked for Me

1. That dreamy aesthetic masks real tragedy The island is a character all on its own-gorgeous, isolated, haunting. The cinematography is stunning and almost too perfect... which, of course, is the point.

2. Sadie Sink as Cadence = inspired casting She carries this film. You feel her confusion, her hunger for truth, and that quiet ache underneath every interaction. The way she plays memory loss and emotional unraveling is subtle and devastating.

"We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken."

3. The twist still lands Even if you've read the book, the way the film builds to it-slowly, with these eerie flashes of memory and tension-made it work all over again.

4. The score is haunting The music walks that tightrope between nostalgic and unnerving. Piano melodies over painful flashbacks? Brutal.

❌ What Didn't Land as Well

1. Some characters feel too thin Gat, Johnny, and Mirren (the other "Liars") don't get enough screen time to feel fully fleshed out. You get glimpses, sure-but if you haven't read the book, you might not connect as deeply.

2. The pacing drags a little mid-film The second act meanders as Cady tries to piece things together. Some repetition could've been trimmed for tighter momentum.

3. Voiceover-heavy moments feel too bookish A few lines work better on the page than out loud. At times, it feels like the script is trying too hard to stay "poetic."

🌟 Final Thoughts

7 out of 10 We Were Liars doesn't just tell you a story-it makes you question everything you just saw, and everything you believed. It's a sun-soaked tragedy wrapped in a mystery, and when the pieces finally fall into place, it leaves you gutted in the best way. It's not a "twist movie"-it's a memory movie. And it lingers.

I knew the ending. It still broke me.

🎥 If You Liked This, You Might Also Enjoy: 1. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Romance, nostalgia, and messy emotions

2. Dead Poets Society - Youth, tragedy, and secrets kept too long

3. Before I Fall (2017) - Guilt, time loops, and emotional unraveling

4. Atonement (2007) - Another sunlit story that cuts you deep

5. Sharp Objects (HBO) - Secrets, trauma, and a woman on the edge.

I grew up as one of the "poorer" cousins to old money from the east, so I am very familiar with the mindset, settings, attitudes, and behaviors of the wealthy. So far this does, in fact, portray them accurately. Yes they pretend to be perfect, but are far from it in reality. Maybe they're not portrayed favorably, as some critics would hope for, but accurately. I'm not here for that though, what I am here for is the mystery of regaining memories, rediscovering family, and character growth/development. Even though some people seem to be too idealistic in their views of the world, that's how some people are. I didn't get the sense that this show is being preachy at all. One character's views are not propped up as the only correct view. People believe different things, share different insights, get upset over petty issues, and it all comes together in a kaleidoscope of personalities. And "news flash" most people are disgusting, fallible, and stupid, whether they are in a trailer park, or in a mansion. It's just that some mask it better than others, and some try to control things so much to overcompensate for it, that the control bleeds over into invading the lives of others. I think if anything, so far, the show tells us that lies have consequences, no matter who you are. That is universal.