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CRUEL SUMMER (Amazon) NEW PSYCHO-DRAMA

This clever psychological thriller shifts between three years – 1993, 1994 and 1995. In the first episode, the action takes place on the same day on each of those years: June 21.

In 1993, this is Jeanette Turner’s 15th birthday. Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia) is a geeky girl with spectacles and braces who wants to be pretty and popular, like Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), a girl in the year above her at school in their Texas town.

When we jump forward to 1994, Kate has been missing for months – we don’t know why. Jeanette has ditched the glasses and braces and is now with Kate’s boyfriend, Jamie (Froy Gutierrez, right with Holt), and hanging out with Kate’s friends. But by 1995, Jeanette has become ‘the most hated person in the nation’ and is preparing for what her lawyers tell her is going to be a ‘very tricky’ case.

Subsequent episodes gradually disclose the terrible thing that has happened but just as you think you know who the bad guy is, a new revelation shifts your perspective. The series keeps viewers guessing right to the end about whose version of events is true. Cruel Summer has already screened in the US, so avoid social media if you want to fully enjoy its twists and turns.