Latest news with #ELockhart
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
We were lied to
It is a rare achievement for a book and its corresponding television show to be as spectacularly terrible as each other, but We Were Liars is the unique work of art that pulls it off. Nobody else will tell you this, by the way. In a bid to eat into hours of your time that you will never get back, E Lockhart's We Were Liars attempts to sell us the story of Cadence Sinclair, her picture-perfect cousins, their tiny private island, their idyllic sun-drenched, sea-soaked summer holidays. There is also a terrible tragedy that Cadence alludes to but gives us no details about. A huge part of the reason for Cadence's reticence is that she has no memory of any of these terrible things, and no one with a fully functioning memory in her life sees fit to supply answers. Additionally, despite the promising title, nobody actually does any lying here. Everyone is just irritatingly obtuse. Cadence is left to play detective, causing you to come close to throwing either your remote or the book by the time she arrives at her tortuous conclusion. We really need to find a way to cure literary amnesia to spare future readers the pain of a rambling, incoherent protagonist who probably could have been shoved off a cliff at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, not everyone subscribes to these unkind thoughts about fictional amnesiacs like Cadence. Enraptured BookTokkers who were late in picking up this 2014 bestseller, along with giddy IMDb reviewers who fell in love with the Prime Video show of the same name which arrived in June, will conspire to trap you into the well of horror that is both the book and the limited series. Do not be the deluded fool who falls for their solemn (but mendacious) promises of excellence, unless you enjoy the incomplete, imaginatively punctuated sentences spilling forth from an unreliable teenaged narrator who unfurls a twist that makes you heartily wish she had perished on page 1 – of both the book and the script. A rambling mess If you are not already overflowing with gratitude for having been thusly warned, you should be, because you have now been spared two days of skimming through tedious descriptions of our heroine's trauma-induced headaches. And do not feel you will be left out of this headache party if you only plan on watching the show! You show watchers will also get to experience your fair share of We Were Liar-induced headaches after suffering through intense close-ups of blinding blonde hair and shiny white teeth. Before you are all up in arms, we must make it clear, we are not discriminating against dental hygiene and bright hair hair; what we are saying is, one should not have to reach for sunglasses upon finding oneself in extreme close quarters with teeth that dazzle like the sun and dominate the screen, certainly not one we are are squinting at these teeth on TV instead of our phones. Anyway, just what manner of trauma has caused Cadence to be plagued with her aches and pains is not made immediately clear; what is certainly clear is that gets them, and keeps us all in the loop with no thought to spare for commas or, indeed, punctuation of any description – at least not in the traditional sense. Devoid of scaffolding and structure, Cadence's sentences melt into one another with not quite the finesse of sugar pooling into caramel on a hot pan, but more like instant coffee granules spilling onto a wet kitchen floor. You are left with sludge, a mess that you wish you a nearby adult would clean up, until you remember that you are the only adult in the vicinity, and no one else is coming to do any cleaning. In doing so, Cadence has become the Holden Caufield of the 21st century, which is not quite the sterling recommendation lovers of The Catcher in the Rye would like to think it is. Irritating comrades Like all her fellow teenage protagonists, Cadence also has a love interest her age who goes by 'Gat'. Gat is the Montague to her Capulet, the Jack to her Rose. We are informed in both the book and show (via Cadence's expository monologue), that Gat is "contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee." In case we missed it, we are reminded of it repeatedly, although the first time we get this opening description of him is when Cadence and Gat are both eight years old, so quite what she knows about either ambition or strong coffee at that age is a bit of a question mark. Perhaps the strong coffee is a metaphor for Gat's skin colour (owing to his Indian heritage, which of course must be given a food-oriented description if we are to have any hope of picturing what he looks like.) It certainly isn't because Gat is a caffeine addict. We have also yet to deduce what levels of ambition or contemplation Gat radiated at age eight that were picked by young Cadence. Gat is not the only person who is awarded such trite allegories. On both page and screen, Cadence's cousins and best friends, John and Mirren, come with similar labels. John, apparently, is "bounce, effort, and snark." Mirren, meanwhile, is "sugar, curiosity, and rain." How does one come spring-loaded with effort or sugar? This, like Gat's ambition and coffee, remains tantalisingly unclear, although if at least one easily impressed reviewer is to be believed, all of this is indicative of "beautifully executed, spare, precise, and lyrical prose." In addition to being snark, sugar, and strong coffee, John, Mirren, and Gat form the bedrock of Cadence's annual island holidays, which, as you may have guessed due to the presence of the mysterious Bad Thing, are not quite as idyllic as either lyrical prose or close-up shots of beautiful sun-kissed hair will lead you to believe. Will Cadence's besties help her find the answers she so desperately and tediously seeks? If you are the type of reader who prefers that their book or show sticks to the genre that has been promised in the blurb, then I have even more bad news for you, because We Were Liars takes liberties here as well. With a plot that moves with the speed of an elderly sloth with arthritis, we must ask ourselves: are we dealing with a murder mystery? A supernatural thriller? A medical drama? Is any of this real? Are BookTokkers high? The good news is that we do end up receiving answers for most of these questions. The bad news is that the answers will probably send you into a spiral of rage cleaning as you try to delete them from your mind. (Thoughts and prayers if you embark on this foolish book or show journey during a long-haul flight, when the advantages of rage cleaning are not available to you.) In short, I trust this public service message will have made it abundantly clear that you should definitely recommend We Were Liars — in both show and book format — to a much loathed foe.
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Do not fall for the lies spouted by ‘We Were Liars'
It is a rare achievement for a book and its corresponding television show to be as spectacularly terrible as each other in a stunning array of ways, but We Were Liars is the unique work of art that pulls it off. Nobody else will tell you this, by the way. In a bid to eat into hours of your time that you will never get back, E Lockhart's We Were Liars attempts to sell us the story of Cadence Sinclair, her picture-perfect cousins, their tiny private island, their idyllic sun-drenched, sea-soaked summer holidays. There is also a terrible tragedy that Cadence alludes to but does not deign to give us any details about. A huge part of the reason for Cadence's reticence is that she has no memory of any of these terrible things, and no one with a fully fucntioning memory in her life sees fit to supply answers. Additionally, despite the promising title, nobody actually does any lying here. Everyone is just irritatingly obtuse. Cadence is left to play detective, causing you to come close to throwing either your remote or the book by the time she has arrives at her tortuous conclusion. We really need to find a way to cure literary amnesia to spare future readers the pain of a rambling, incoherent protagonist who probably could have been shoved off a cliff at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, not everyone subscribes to these unkind thoughts about fictional amnesiacs like Cadence. Enraptured BookTokkers who were late in picking up this 2014 bestseller, along with giddy IMDb reviewers who fell in love with the Prime Video show of the same name which arrived in June, will conspire to trap you into the well of horror that is both the book and the limited series. Do not be the deluded fool who falls for their solemn promises of excellence, unless you enjoy the incomplete, imaginatively punctuated sentences spilling forth from an unreliable teenaged narrator who unfurls a twist that makes you heartily wish she had perished on page 1 - of both the book and the script. Consider this warning a public service. A rambling mess If you are not already overflowing with gratitude for this simple public service, you should be, because you have now been spared two days of skimming through tedious descriptions of our heroine's trauma-induced headaches. And do not feel you will be left out of this headache party if you only plan on watching the show! You show watchers will also get to experience your fair share of We Were Liar-induced headaches after suffering through intense close-ups of blinding blonde hair and shiny white teeth. Before you are all up in arms, we must make it clear, we are not discriminating against dental hygiene and bright hair hair; what we are saying is, one should not have to reach for sunglasses upon finding oneself in extreme close quarters with teeth that dazzle like the sun and dominate the screen, certainly not one we are are squinting at these teeth on TV instead of our phones. Anyway, just what manner of trauma has caused Cadence to be plagued with her aches and pains is not made immediately clear; what is certainly clear is that gets them, and keeps us all in the loop with no thought to spare for commas or, indeed, punctuation of any description - at least not in the traditional sense. Devoid of scaffolding and structure, Cadence's sentences melt into one another with not quite the finesse of sugar pooling into caramel on a hot pan, but more like instant coffee granules spilling onto a wet kitchen floor. You are left with sludge, a mess that you wish you a nearby adult would clean up, until you remember that you are the only adult in the vicinity, and no one else is coming to do any cleaning. In doing so, Cadence has become the Holden Caufield of the 21st century, which is not quite the sterling recommendation lovers of Catcher in the Rye would like to think it is. Irritating comrades Like all her fellow teenage protagonists, Cadence also has a love interest her age who goes by 'Gat'. Gat is the Montague to her Capulet, the Jack to her Rose. We are informed in both the book and show (via Cadence's expository monologue), that Gat is 'contemplation and enthusiasm. Ambition and strong coffee.' In case we missed it, we are reminded of it repeatedly, although the first time we get this opening description of him is when Cadence and Gat are both eight years old, so quite what she knows about either ambition or strong coffee at that age is a bit of a question mark. Perhaps the strong coffee is a metaphor for Gat's skin colour (owing to his Indian heritage, which of course must be given a food-oriented description if we are to have any hope of picturing what he looks like.) It certainly isn't because Gat is a caffeine addict. We have also yet to deduce what levels of ambition or contemplation Gat radiated at age eight that were picked by young Cadence. Gat is not the only person who is awarded such trite allegories. On both page and screen, Cadence's cousins and best friends, John and Mirren, come with similar labels. John, apparently, is 'bounce, effort, and snark.' Mirren, meanwhile, is 'sugar, curiosity, and rain.' How does one come spring-loaded with effort or sugar? This, like Gat's ambition and coffee, remains tantalisingly unclear, although if at least one easily impressed reviewer is to be believed, all of this is indicative of 'beautifully executed, spare, precise, and lyrical prose." In addition to being snark, sugar, and strong coffee, John, Mirren, and Gat form the bedrock of Cadence's annual sland holidays, which, as you may have guessed due to the presence of the mysterious Bad Thing, are not quite as idyllic as either lyrical prose or close-up shots of beautiful sun-kissed hair will lead you to believe. Will Cadence's besties help her find the answers she so desperately and tediously seeks? If you are the type of reader who prefers that their book or show sticks to the genre that has been promised in the blurb, then I have even more bad news for you, because We Were Liars takes liberties here as well. With a plot that moves with the speed of an elderly sloth with arthritis, we must ask ourselves: are we dealing with a murder mystery? A supernatural thriller? A medical drama? Is any of this real? Are BookTokkers high? The good news is that we do end up receiving answers for most of these questions. The bad news is that the answers will probably send you into a spiral of rage cleaning as you try to delete them from your mind. (Thoughts and prayers if you embark on this foolish book or show journey during a long-haul flight, when the advantages of rage cleaning are not available to you.) In short, I trust this public service message will have made it abundantly clear that you should definitely recommend We Were Liars - in both show and book format - to a much loathed foe. Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
Forbes
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Exploring Class And Character In Costumes For Prime's ‘We Were Liars'
The Liars on the beach during Summer 16. Jessie Redmond Amazon Prime's We Were Liars is a very good show. But please know, though it may feel like the streaming equivalent of a beach read, this story is ancient and close to universal. Cadence, Cady if you prefer, our main character in We Were Liars , has an awful lot of overlap with Cordelia, the doomed favorite daughter in William Shakespeare's King Lear . It's the same way in the novel this show is based on. I cannot promise that E. Lockhart, author of the 2014 novel on which this series is based, wrote it as a modern take on King Lear, but I very much suspect that it was. I also suspect that Lockhart is familiar with the work of Marian Roalfe Cox, but that is far too much to get into. The stories that people tell each other, the ones we cherish most, have not changed very much over the centuries. The details have, absolutely, but the broad strokes are the same and they are what allow us to find and leave Easter Eggs. Storytelling is about connections and stories remind us that we are all connected. As We Were Liars opens and we meet our cast of characters, it was immediately obvious that time and effort had been invested in making certain that it would be impossible to confuse any of these blonde ladies. It's all very Ralph-Lauren-American-Aristocracy, but the five women are distinct, even if their collective costumes all ascribe to a (very) particular aesthetic. When I met with the costume designer for the series, Amanda Riley, I explained that the process of working it all out fascinated me, that I very much wanted to know how it had been accomplished. The younger generation of Sinclair's play croquet outside Clairmount house on Beechwood island, off Martha's Vineyard. Jessie Redmond 'Each of the individual characters felt so different as people,' Riley explained. 'So, it didn't feel like work as much as it was effortless. Once an actor steps into the fitting room, you start to realize this is truly the embodiment of this character. Caitlin FitzGerald, she was Penny Sinclair, all of the things that we gravitated towards in the fitting room had these long lines and elegant colors. Her palette was extremely clean and very refined, a lot of it was architectural, but didn't feel too stuffy. Bess Sinclair, Candice King,' the designer continued, 'her clothing was harder to source than one would think because how she dresses, it's not who she really is on the inside. She ends up being this woman that's just somehow thought that she was doing the right thing. But her clothes, what I loved is it felt like it embodied somebody else, like its just this idea that she's sweet, that's not really who she is. And then Carrie Sinclair, Mamie Gummer, as a designer, pulling all this stuff together, it does take a while to be able to find the exact fabric, but then you find it, you finally see it. And when the actor looks at the rack and says, 'oh, this is exactly that person.' Carrie had all this vintage YSL, all of these really great pieces. And her jewelry was made by a friend of mine, CKD Design Studio, we had made that jewelry from scratch for her.' I was very impressed by the cast, perhaps especially Emily Alyn Lind who portrays Cadence "Cady" Sinclair Eastman. This young woman did an excellent job. All the young actors on this series did very good work. Cadence "Cady" Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) with dark hair in Summer 17. Jessie Redmond 'This was a challenging shoot,' Riley told me, 'because of where we were located. Nova Scotia is far out, there are great white sharks right in the water right there. I mean, locations were really far out. Sometimes you're driving with no reception for an hour and a half, but wow, the heart and soul that people gave to it. I feel like that's what filmmaking is all about. Being able to tell the story in that way where everyone's coming together to make it. I mean, that's why I love the industry. This was a project where, for me, all of the actors became people that I respected as such wonderful, wonderful human beings. And that really helped when we were in a situation where it's not as warm as you're hoping it would be. People were cold out there, and the showrunners and executive producers could feel that these people were in it. Everybody was into the story, into the project and from behind the camera and what you see in front of the camera, everybody gave it a hundred percent. And I think you see that.' There is a lot that this show does well, after all, shows don't become number 1 hits for no reason. Transitions between timelines, differentiation between characters then and now, keeping what happened when straight is a place where even the best work can falter. We Were Liars never does, to Riley's immense credit, because the costumes she designed will not allow it. Before and After are distinct and the transitions between the two extremes are easy to follow. I asked the designer about maintaining the integrity of the story when it was divided between past and present. Cadence "Cady" Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) tries to piece together what happened last summer. Jessie Redmond 'We start in Summer 17 and it's really intense,' she explained, 'but as Cady starts to feel a little bit more into what could have happened, her new relationship and what changes with the Liars; there is an evolution of Cadence's look. So, we start to see some of the dresses return. And in the later episodes, she's got boots on, some of the little floral dresses and cardigans are returning, she's got some jewelry. She wants to feel attractive in front of Gat. And part of her essence, who she always has been, especially in Summer 16, is starting to come back. So the colors are a little bit different and there's a lot more subtlety. But she's starting to wake up and you can see it in her clothing subtly. That first outfit that she wears in Summer 17, when she sees the Liars for the first time, it is really representative of how she is at that moment, how cloudy and dark she is. Even the shirt she's wearing is this blue, it almost has a cloudy nature to it. The shirt speaks to where she is most emotionally.' There are subtle transitions in this narrative, carefully plotted points of reference which keep the story from ever feeling disjointed or abrupt. This is a place where costumes do a lot of heavy lifting, and Cady is a great example, her wardrobe shows us what is happening to her inside. 'She's coming back to herself,' Riley explained. 'When she's on the dock with Gat and wearing this beautiful floral dress, it's the first time that she dresses up for Gat because they're going on a date. Carina Adly MacKenzie, our amazing showrunner and executive producer, along with Julie Plec, are so involved in the story and the costumes. We worked together. And one of the things we discussed was how we manage that change. Because one of the style points that we used for Cady was the fact that she wears these high tops, which are so cute and flirty, but still show that she's a teenage girl. We decided to use that same element, but something that's a little bit edgier because Cadence is really questioning all that's going on around her subconsciously. I believe she knows when she's out with Gat that something is off. She just can't figure out what it is. To show the rebellion she's got these boots on, even though she's wearing the dress.' Harris Sinclair (David Morse) and his wife Tipper Taft Sinclair (Wendy Crewson). Jessie Redmond 'Harris,' Riley said with a laugh, 'with his idea of his Sinclair women, they're well-dressed and tanned and put together. And we never see what's happening on the inside.' Harris Sinclair (David Morse), Grandfather to the Liars, who gives off creepy vibes immediately, has very specific ideas regarding the women in his family. 'Love, and be silent' is not much of a stretch. There's a whole underlying theme related to the difference between material wealth and honest emotional connection, between perception and reality, that all feels very timely, given the state of, well, everything in 2025. 'For the Sinclairs,' Riley told me, 'it was important for me to be able to have a handful of really key pieces. But I believe that the people like Sinclairs, they're not throwing their money away. Even if she's buying a pair of $5,000 pants, those $5,000 pants, they're going to probably last, that's one piece she'll wear throughout the entire summer because they understand the value of investing in these things. The Sinclair Sisters; Bess (Candice King), Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), and Carrie (Mamie Gummer). Jessie Redmond 'As a costume designer,' she continued, 'knowing that every single thing that we touch on the planet as humans, as people, as living beings, affects other people. Being able to work on a show like this that I think is the content itself feels really important to share. I think we're seeing a lot of change, especially in fashion, because something has to happen about the world of fast fashion. I believe that designers need to start speaking up, we need to start. And this was a huge goal of mine too, like, how can I find things that are beautifully made, designer, but don't necessarily come right off the rack of a department store. How can we use things that are secondhand or gently used or designer consignment? Especially here in Europe, it's amazing the stuff you can find, and why pay that much money for clothes?' I asked the designer if she had seen the finished episodes, what she thought about the show as a whole. 'Every time I watch any of the episodes I cry, ' Riley told me. 'I'm savoring a few of them because I wanted to watch with a couple of other people, but the last scene where she's running in that dress, I mean, that's Cady, she's becoming herself. Even though she's tanned and bronzed as Harris would like her, the woman that has gone through this incredible tragedy, the person that she has always been inside, looking for answers, she knows that this life that she's born into is something to be questioned and where does she fall in it? Where are her values? How can she make a difference? It is a fairy book story, and even though the ending is tragic, there is something so beautiful about remembering that, and using that as a guidepost.' The Liars: Cady (Emily Alyn Lind), Mirren (Esther McGregor), Johnny (Joseph Zada), and Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). Jessie Redmond/Prime The ending to this story is sad, but it is also powerful and deserves to be seen. This is not Nahum Tate and we are not in the 19th century convinced we can 'fix' Shakespeare's work so that a tragedy becomes a happy ending. Today's audiences, even our youngest adults, want the devastating emotional assault. Perhaps all of us should think about why that is a little more. As with many enormous ideas, it's summed up rather perfectly in a line by Shakespeare, one he gave to Cordelia aptly enough Bard: 'We are not the first Who, with best meaning, have incurred the worst.' All episodes of 'We Were Liars,' with gorgeous costumes designed by Amanda Riley, are now available to stream on Amazon Prime. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes All Hail Qveen Herby: A Conversation About Costume Versus Clothing By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes Creating Costumes For Teen True Love In Netflix's 'Forever' By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes 'Dressed To Kill': PBS' 'Human Footprint' Examines Apparel And Evolution By Rachel Elspeth Gross
South China Morning Post
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Joseph Zada, who plays Johnny Sinclair in We Were Liars: the Australian will also play a young version of Woody Harrelson's character in The Hunger Games prequel – but got the news via Instagram
Australian actor Joseph Zada, 19, recently hit screens in Amazon Prime's latest series We Were Liars, adapted from E. Lockhart's 2014 novel of the same name. Joseph Zada stars in the new psychological thriller We Were Liars. Photo: @josephzada/Instagram The psychological thriller revolves around the wealthy and seemingly perfect Sinclair family, who spend their summers on a private island. The story unfolds as Cadence Sinclair Eastman, who has suffered a head injury, tries to piece together her memories with the help of her friend Gat Patil (played by Shubham Maheshwari) and two older cousins, Mirren Sinclair Sheffield (played by Esther McGregor ) and Johnny Sinclair Dennis (played by Zada). Advertisement Joseph Zada currently stars in Amazon Prime's We Were Liars. Photo: @primevideo/Instagram Zada has also been tapped to star in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a young Haymitch Abernathy, the character played by Woody Harrelson. The film, set to premiere in 2026, has a stacked cast that includes Ralph Fiennes Kieran Culkin , Glenn Close, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke and Billy Porter. It will also be Zada's biggest project since his debut in 2019. Here's everything you need to know about We Were Liars' Joseph Zada. He comes from a family of actors Joseph Zada comes from a family of actors – his father, Jeremy Cumpston, appeared in the Australian medical drama All Saints. Photo: @josephzada/Instagram Joseph Zada made his acting debut in the 2019 film Bilched alongside his older brother, Hal Cumpston. The comedy drama was directed by Zada's father, the doctor-turned-actor Jeremy Cumpston, who is best known for his role on the Australian medical drama show All Saints.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
We Were Liars Season 2 When? Candice King and Caitlin Fitzgerald Pitch the Ultimate '90s Throwback
We Were Liars may have wrapped its first season, but the Sinclairs' story is far from over. In addition to its central tragedy (R.I.P., half the cast!), the Prime Video series also drops several major hints about another skeleton in the wealthy Sinclair family's closet: the tragic death of Penny, Carrie and Bess' younger sister Rosemary at just 10 years old. Details about her drowning are revealed gradually, but one moment in the finale confirms that we still only know a fraction of the story. More from TVLine Get Apple TV+ for 50% Off on Prime Video - Catch Up on Severance, The Buccaneers and More The Boys Wraps Production on 'Grand Finale' - When Will Season 5 Be Released? Select Prime Video Channels Are on Sale for $1/Month - Watch Starz, BET+, Paramount+, Hallmark+ and Others While discussing the deaths of their own children, Bess tells Carrie, 'Sometimes I think losing them was our punishment, like that one tiny ember was sent from God or the universe or Beechwood Island.' When Carrie asks Bess what they'd be punished for, she chillingly replies, 'For what we did in Summer 16, the summer I was 16. But then I think, if it was our punishment, Penny wouldn't have been spared, right?' With that simple exchange, a seed has been planted for a potential second season, and there's plenty of source material for it. Just as Season 1 was a largely faithful adaptation of E. Lockhart's 2014 novel We Were Liars, Season 2 would pull from Lockhart's 2022 follow-up Family of Liars, which turns back the clock to explore the aforementioned Rosemary tragedy. Needless to say (but we'll let them say it anyway), the cast is game for a return to Beechwood Island. 'Because we know the prequel and the origin story of these three complicated women, it would be really fun to go back and do that,' Caitlin Fitzgerald tells TVLine of adapting Family of Liars for the screen. And if you're at all on the fence about wanting another season, allow Candice King to pitch the heck out of it: 'Who doesn't love a throwback to the '90s?' she asks TVLine. In fact, that's only the start of her and Fitzgerald's A+ pitches for the show's future. Hit PLAY on the video above to watch our full interview with King and Fitzgerald, then drop a comment with your own thoughts below. Did you enjoy Season 1 of , and what are your questions leading into a possible Season 2? Best of TVLine Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress Talks Episode 4's Tai/Van Reunion: 'We're All Worried About Taissa' Vampire Diaries Turns 10: How Real-Life Plot Twists Shaped Everything From the Love Triangle to the Final Death Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (and Explained)
