E. Lockhart’s 2014 YA novel We Were Liars has been a BookTok favorite since the dawn of BookTok. Over 10 years after its publication, people can’t stop talking about this one. And people are only going to be talking more, because Lockhart’s novel is about to be a series on Amazon Prime. Filming wrapped at the end of 2024, and Lockhart shared on Instagram that fans should expect the show to drop on the streaming platform in spring 2025. What is the show about? Who’s going to be in it? What else should we expect? Read on to find out!
We Were Liars is, by the author’s own description, a “beachy gothic” novel. This psychological horror/thriller follows the story of the ridiculously wealthy Sinclair family who spend every summer on a private island. All their lives, the young Sinclair cousins have convened on the island, played together, laughed together, and, yes, even lied together. But on Cadence Sinclair’s 15th summer on the island, something strange happened. Now, two years later, Cadence has returned for another summer to try to remember what happened.
In July 2022, it was announced that both We Were Liars and its prequel, Family of Liars, would be adapted into a series for Amazon Prime Video. The series was adapted by Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries), who called the project “a career highlight.” Lockhart also worked on the scripts for the series. We also know some episodes will be directed by Erica Dunton and Nzingha Stewart. The first season of the series will consist of eight episodes.
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But who will play the Liars? That’s what everyone wants to know. Cadence Sinclair, the oldest Sinclair grandchild, will be played by Emily Alyn Lind, who you might recognize from HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot, or Doctor Sleep, and/or Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Rounding out the Liars are Joseph Zada (Total Control) as Johnny Sinclair, Esther McGregor (Babygirl) as Mirren Sinclair, and Shubham Maheshwari as Gat.
Looking at the rest of the cast, we’ve got Mamie Gummer (True Detective), Caitlin FitzGerald (Succession), and Candice King (The Vampire Diaries) as the three Sinclair sisters. Gummer will play Carrie Sinclair, the eldest daughter of wealthy patriarch Harris Sinclair (played by David Morse). Rahul Kohli (The Fall of the House of Usher) plays Carrie’s partner Ed. FitzGerald will play Penny Sinclair, the second oldest daughter, and King plays Bess Sinclair, the youngest.
The series hasn’t even aired yet, but Plec and company are already gearing up for a second season. “I think fans of the book are going to be very, very happy, because I think we hit all the marks and all the beats that the book does, and then also expand the universe, layers upon layers upon layers to really make the adult characters really nuanced and really multi-layered, and to set the stage for Season 2,” Plec told Deadline, “which theoretically is going to take us deeper into the moms’ lives as well and add another generation to the story.”
While we have no release date yet, it sounds like we can gear up to watch this one before summer hits! Will you be watching We Were Liars?