''Cruel Summer'' is an American

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

thriller

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series created by Bert V. Royal. The first season follows two teenage girls in the mid-1990s and the repercussions on everyone's lives after one disappears and the other seemingly takes her place. The second season follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship between two girls in 1999 and 2000. The series premiered on Freeform on April 20, 2021. In June 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered at the

ATX Television Festival ATX Television Festival is an annual event based in Austin, Texas, that celebrates and showcases the past, present, and future of the television industry. Screenings, Q&As, cast reunions, and industry panel discussions take place over four days an ...

on June 2, 2023, ahead of its broadcast premiere on Freeform on June 5, 2023. In December 2023, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Overview

Season 1: Jeanette and Kate

Set between 1993 and 1995 in the fictional town of Skylin,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, the first season follows two teenage girls whose lives become deeply entangled. Sweet but socially awkward Jeanette Turner undergoes a striking transformation after the sudden disappearance of the beautiful and popular Kate Wallis—seemingly stepping into Kate's life. But when Kate is found alive over a year later, she accuses Jeanette of witnessing her abduction and staying silent, turning Jeanette into one of the most hated people in the nation. As a legal battle unfolds, friendships, families, and reputations are put to the test. But beneath the surface, both girls may be hiding secrets about what really happened.

Season 2: Megan, Isabella, and Luke

Set between 1999 and 2000 in the fictional town of Chatham,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, the second season follows three teenage friends whose lives take a dark turn. Aspiring coder Megan Landry and her family welcome Isabella LaRue, a charismatic foreign exchange student, into their home for a year. The two girls form a deep bond—one that becomes increasingly complicated when both develop feelings for Megan's childhood best friend, Luke Chambers. But what starts as a tangled love triangle soon spirals out of control when a leaked sex tape shatters their lives—leading to Luke's shocking murder. With suspicion mounting, Megan and Isabella find themselves at the center of the investigation, but the truth may be far more twisted than anyone expects.

Cast and characters

Main (season 1)

Olivia Holt Olivia Hastings Holt (born August 5, 1997) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney XD series ''Kickin' It'', List of Disney Channel original films, Disney Channel Original Movie ''Girl vs. Monster'', and the List of program ...

as Kate Wallis, a popular girl who goes missing without a trace *

Chiara Aurelia Chiara Aurelia de Braconier d'Alphena (born September 13, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the films ''Gerald's Game'' (2017) and '' Back Roads'' (2018). She starred as Jeanette Turner in the Freeform tee ...

as Jeanette Turner, a nerdy girl who takes over Kate's life after her disappearance. * Froy Gutierrez as Jamie Henson, Kate's, and later Jeanette's, boyfriend *

Harley Quinn Smith Harley Quinn Smith (born June 26, 1999) is an American actress and musician. Smith is most known for her role as a convenience store clerk in the film ''Tusk'' and starred in its spin-off '' Yoga Hosers'', both written and directed by her father ...

as Mallory Higgins, one of Jeanette's best friends before her newfound popularity, and later Kate's best friend *

Brooklyn Sudano Brooklyn Sudano is an American actress and director. She starred as Vanessa Scott in the ABC comedy series '' My Wife and Kids'' and later played the leading role in the 2006 drama film ''Rain''. Sudano has appeared in films such as '' Alone in ...

as Angela Prescott, a bar owner and Greg's new girlfriend * Blake Lee as Martin Harris, the new

vice-principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making author ...

of Skylin High School who held Kate captive * Allius Barnes as Vince Fuller, one of Jeanette's best friends before her newfound popularity * Nathaniel Ashton as Ben Hallowell, Jamie's best friend *

Michael Landes Michael Christopher Landes (born September 18, 1972) is an American actor of television and film. Personal life Michael Christopher Landes was born to Patricia and Bernard Landes on September 18, 1972, in The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the no ...

as Greg Turner, Jeanette and Derek's father, Cindy's ex-husband, and Angela's boyfriend

Recurring (season 1)

Sarah Drew Sarah Drew (born October 1, 1980) is an American actress and director. She played Hannah Rogers in The WB family drama series ''Everwood'' (2004–2006) and April Kepner, Dr. April Kepner in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC medical drama se ...

as Cindy Turner, Jeanette and Derek's mother and Greg's ex-wife * Barrett Carnahan as Derek Turner, Jeanette's older brother and Cindy and Greg's son *

Nicole Bilderback Nicole Bilderback (born June 10, 1975) is an American actress, known for her recurring guest roles on the television programs '' Dark Angel'' and ''Dawson's Creek'', and the films '' Bring It On'' and '' Bad Girls From Valley High'' (a.k.a. ''A F ...

as Denise, Jeanette's lawyer *

Andrea Anders Andrea Anders (born May 10, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on television, notably through her main roles on five short-lived sitcoms, '' Joey'', '' The Class'', '' Better Off Ted'', '' Mr. Sunshine'' and '' Mr. Mom'' ...

as Joy Wallis, Kate's wealthy self-centered mother with a Southern accent * Ben Cain as Rod Wallis, Joy's second husband and Kate's stepfather *

Jason Douglas Jason Douglas (born February 14, 1973) is an American film, television and voice actor, known for portraying Tobin on AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', voicing Beerus in the anime film '' Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods ''and the series '' Dragon B ...

as Nick Marshall, Kate's lawyer

Main (season 2)

* Sadie Stanley as Megan Landry, an intelligent high school student and coder who wants to go to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

as a Computer Science major after high school * Lexi Underwood as Isabella LaRue, an exchange student who is living with the Landry family for a year * Griffin Gluck as Luke Chambers, Megan's best friend who comes from a well-known family *

Lisa Yamada Lisa Yamada (born September 5, 2002) is an American actress, known for her role as Luna Nozawa on ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. Yamada is of Japanese descent, spending her summers visiting grandparents in Japan. Yamada's first acting credit w ...

as Parker Tanaka, a friend of Megan and Luke's *

Sean Blakemore Sean Blakemore (born August 10, 1967) is an American actor who is portraying Shawn Butler on the ABC daytime drama ''General Hospital'', a role he began playing on January 21, 2011 on a recurring basis. Blakemore was nominated for a Daytime Emm ...

as Sheriff Myer, the Sheriff of Chatham, Washington *

KaDee Strickland Katherine Dee Strickland (born December 14, 1975) is an American actress. From 2007 to 2013, she played Dr. Charlotte King on the ABC drama '' Private Practice''. Strickland began acting during high school. She studied acting in Philadelphia a ...

as Debbie Landry, Megan's single mother

Recurring (season 2)

* Braeden De La Garza as Brent Chambers, Luke's older brother * Nile Bullock as Jeff, one of Megan and Luke's friends who is always filming life around him with his camcorder *

Ben Cotton Ben Cotton (born July 26, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. His most notable roles are on the TV series ''Stargate Atlantis'' playing scientist Dr. Kavanagh, his portrayal of "Leon Bell" in the game Dead Rising 2, Shane Pierce, the ...

as Ned, an irascible loner with a grudge against Steve Chambers who becomes Megan's coder mentor *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the American Broad ...

as Steve Chambers, Luke's father * David James Lewis as Tom Galvin, Megan's lawyer * Jessica Hayles as Rebecca, Isabella's lawyer and advisor In addition, Jenna Lamb co-stars as Lily Landry, Megan's younger sister.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2023)

Production

Development

On September 25, 2019, Freeform gave ''Last Summer'' a pilot order. On January 17, 2020, ''Last Summer'' was picked to series. The series was created by Bert V. Royal who was also expected to executive produce alongside

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress. Biel began her career as a vocalist appearing in musical productions until she was cast as Mary Camden in the family drama series '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2007 ...

, Michelle Purple, and

Max Winkler Max Winkler (7 September 1875 – 12 October 1961) was a politician and senior political appointee in the local government of West Prussia, the national government of the German Empire, the Nazi government of the German Reich, and the post-war go ...

who also directed the pilot. The production companies involved with the series are

Entertainment One Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...

and Iron Ocean Productions. On May 18, 2020, ''Last Summer'' was retitled as ''Cruel Summer''. On June 15, 2021, Freeform renewed the series for a second season. On July 6, 2021, it was reported that Royal has exited the series after the pilot after disagreements with a network executive. On April 21, 2022, Elle Triedman was named as the new showrunner for the second season, replacing Tia Napolitano who boarded the series after Royal left. However, Napolitano is set to remain as an executive producer. It was also reported that the series is an

series. On December 8, 2023, Freeform canceled the series after two seasons.

Casting

On November 13, 2019,

, Mika Abdalla, Froy Gutierrez, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee, and Nathaniel Ashton were cast in series regular roles. By May 18, 2020,

had replaced Mika Abdalla. On October 30, 2020,

joined the cast in a recurring role. On March 11, 2021, Barrett Carnahan,

, Benjamin J. Cain, and

were cast in recurring roles. On April 21, 2022, Sadie Stanley, Eloise Payet, Griffin Gluck,

and

joined the cast in starring roles while

was cast in a recurring role for the second season. On April 27, 2022, Lexi Underwood joined the series, replacing Payet in a recasting. On May 6, 2022, Braeden De La Garza, Nile Bullock, and Jenna Lamb were cast in recurring capacities for the second season.

Music

Besides

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band the Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

and Lisa Coleman serving as the main composers, the series heavily relies on a 1990s-inspired soundtrack.

Filming

The first season of ''Cruel Summer'' was filmed over six months in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. The second season began filming on April 21, 2022, and concluded on September 7, 2022, in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...

Broadcast

The series premiered on Freeform on April 20, 2021. Following its premiere at the

in Austin, Texas, on June 2, 2023, the second season premiered on Freeform on June 5, 2023, with two new episodes.

Reception

Critical response

''Cruel Summer'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the first season holds an approval rating of 94% based on 33 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Though it may have a bit too much going on, ''Cruel Summer'' delicious twists and delightful turns from its young stars are never less than entertaining." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 15 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Saloni Gajjar of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the first season a B and wrote, "''Cruel Summer'' manages to overcome its convoluted storytelling because it finds interesting, grounded ways to explore the impact of society's expectations of these young girls, and how their town and own families contribute to the pressure they face." On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 69% based on 9 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. On Metacritic, it holds a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on 5 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ratings

On April 30, 2021, ''Cruel Summer'' was the most-watched overall series debut ever on Freeform with an average 3.81million total viewers across multi-platforms for its first week.

Season 1

Season 2

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Freeform 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American LGBTQ-related drama television series 2020s American mystery television series 2020s American teen drama television series 2021 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings American thriller television series American English-language television shows Freeform (TV channel) original programming Kidnapping in television Nonlinear narrative television series Television series about missing people American television series about teenagers Television series by Lionsgate Canada Television series set in 1993 Television series set in 1994 Television series set in 1995 Television series set in 1999 Television series set in 2000 Television shows set in Texas Television shows set in Washington (state)