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Cruel Summer (2021-2022)

2 seasons
3,40 43 votes

State: Canceled

Genre: Mystery

Origin: United States

Developed by: Bert V. Royal

Stars: Olivia Holt, Sadie Stanley and Chiara Aurelia

IMDb score: 7,4 (21.864)

Releasedate: Tuesday 20 April 2021

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UK

This TV Show is not available on US streaming services.

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Cruel Summer plot

The series takes place over three summers in '93, '94 and '95 in a small Texas town. Kate, a beautiful and popular teenager goes missing. Not long after, an apparently unrelated girl transforms from a sweet and awkward outcast to the most popular girl in town, eventually growing into the most despised person in America.

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Opinions about Cruel Summer

The reviews and comments below are selected at random from our extensive user contributions. If you want to write a review or post a comment yourself, you can do so on a specific season page.

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Suitehome

  • 856 comments
  • 554 votes
Thursday 12 August 2021
Cruel Summer season 1

I was hesitant at first: someone who is no longer a teenager themselves should be careful about judging teen dramas. Jessica Biel (producer of the great The Sinner) finally won me over. Actress Biel is executive producer for Cruel Summer and knows how to present us a catchy teenage mystery. Popular Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) is kidnapped, and nerdy Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) seems to take her place. Set in the summers of 1993, 1994, and 1995, the series alternates continuously in chronology with each episode. That seems a bit tiring and confusing, in practice it's not that bad and it goes without saying.

The acting is excellent; Holt and Aurelia act well between vulnerable, excited, confident and restrained. The disappearance mystery is the common thread, and that is excellently put together due to the layering. For an American drama, Cruel Summer is quite dark. The plot is more than sufficient in this smooth scenario, although the number of episodes (10) seems a bit stretched.

As a coming-of-age story, Cruel Summer touches upon familiar themes, and is fairly stereotypical in that regard. With a sharp edge here and there. Cruel Summer also cites plenty of good and well-known examples such as Desperate Housewives (a number of characters seem to have walked away from it), and more recently Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere. However, the quality of BLL is not matched anywhere. Nevertheless, I can recommend Cruel Summer to everyone, even if you are already 20 or much older.

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