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We Were Liars (2025) show: Everything you need to know About the dark Secrets and Twists of the Sinclair Family
Prime Video just dropped the first official trailer for We Were Liars, and it’s already sending waves through the YA thriller community! Fans of E. Lockhart’s bestselling novel have a lot to be excited about, especially with the series promising a mix of dark secrets, intense drama, and a mysterious atmosphere that grips you from the start.
Behind the scenes, the show boasts an impressive creative team, including executive producer Julie Plec, who’s known for delivering unforgettable young adult adaptations. The cast, led by Emily Alyn Lind, brings fresh energy to the story’s complex characters, teasing powerful performances that are bound to captivate audiences.
This guide uncovers everything you need to know about We Were Liars, from casting secrets to the creative minds steering the show — all while teasing just enough to keep you hooked. Trust us, you won’t want to miss what lies beneath the surface of this gripping series. Stay tuned and keep coming back, because we’ll be adding fresh updates and insider info as soon as it hits the shore!
Release date & Where to Watch
The eight-episode series We Were Liars is scheduled to debut on Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
What is the plot of the We Were Liars show?
Based on E. Lockhart’s best-selling novel We Were Liars, the series centers on Cadence Sinclair Eastman and her close-knit group known as the Liars, as they spend their summers on her grandfather’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
The Sinclair family, often regarded as American royalty for their generational wealth, good looks, and tight bonds, live a seemingly perfect life—until a tragic accident shatters their world. Cadence, who suffers from amnesia following the incident, returns two years later, determined to uncover the truth behind what happened, only to discover that everyone around her harbors secrets.
Set against the idyllic backdrop of Beechwood Island, the story dives into the complex lives of the three Sinclair daughters and their children. While summers used to be filled with carefree escapades, the mysterious accident leaves Cadence questioning the people she trusted most, including the other Liars.
As hidden truths come to light, the family’s facade begins to crumble, revealing layers of betrayal, pain, and deception beneath the surface. The series promises to unravel the tale of this privileged group, whose summers of joy turn into a struggle against dark secrets—secrets that threaten to sink the entire family like rough waves in a storm.
Cast of the We Were Liars show
- Emily Alyn Lind (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) as Cadence Sinclair Eastman: The eldest Sinclair granddaughter who navigates a complicated summer romance while struggling to recover from a traumatic brain injury.
- Shubham Maheshwari as Gat Patil: A thoughtful and ambitious New York City native who often feels like an outsider among the privileged Sinclair family on their private island.
- Esther McGregor (Babygirl) as Mirren Sinclair Sheffield: A keenly observant artist who carefully studies the world around her.
- Joseph Zada (Total Control) as Johnny Sinclair Dennis: The charming and unpredictable leader of the four Liars, known for stirring up trouble.
- Mamie Gummer (True Detective) as Carrie Sinclair: Eldest daughter of media mogul Harris Sinclair, who oversees the family’s private Beechwood Island retreat. As a mother of two, she faces challenges that threaten her sobriety during the upcoming summer.
- David Morse as Harris Sinclair: The family patriarch and grandfather to Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny.
- Caitlin FitzGerald (Succession) as Penny Sinclair: A golden retriever breeder navigating a complicated and painful divorce.
- Candice King (The Vampire Diaries) as Bess Sinclair: The youngest Sinclair daughter, a fiercely organized and meticulous mother of three.
Julie Plec, creator of The Vampire Diaries, spoke to Deadline about reuniting with Candice King for We Were Liars. She said to Deadline:
“Carina [Adly Mackenzie] and I, from almost day one, were writing Bess in Candice’s voice…but we thought she was too young, and we didn’t think we’d be able to get her hired. Then we realized that we didn’t care."
Plec added, “Candice has a very grown-up, mom soul, in addition to being this young, vibrant woman. We knew she could do it, and we just decided to put her forward and hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed and prepared to go into battle for her. And then nobody said no. Everyone just thought it was a great idea. All of our anxieties were for not.”
“And honestly, if Caroline Forbes is the part she was born to play, Bess Sinclair is the part that she’s meant to play next. They’re the same person, just separated by two generations and some children,” she further added.
- Rahul Kohli (The Fall of the House of Usher) as Ed: Carrie’s partner and Gat’s uncle, who plays a significant role in the family dynamics.
- Wendy Crewson (Tracker, Gray) as Tipper Sinclair: The grandmother of Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny, overseeing the family’s legacy on Beechwood Island.
Is There a Trailer for We Were Liars?
The trailer for We Were Liars paints a dreamy summer on Beechwood Island — until everything shatters.
It opens with golden sunlight, crashing waves, and the serene charm of an affluent family’s private world. “Some people call us American royalty,” Cadence says in voiceover, as we see her and her three closest friends — Mirren, Johnny, and Gat — sailing, laughing, and dancing around a beach bonfire. They are known as “The Liars,” a tight-knit group bonded by history, privilege, and secrets.
But cracks quickly emerge beneath the glossy surface. “We were happy. We wanted for nothing,” Cadence recalls. “But something terrible happened last summer. And I have no memory of what — or who — hurt me.” Her words play over a harrowing image of her lying unconscious on the shore, bruised and broken.
As the trailer intensifies, we learn Cadence has returned to Beechwood Island with dyed-black hair and emotional scars, trying to piece together what happened during the summer she can’t remember. “She’s hoping that being here will jog her memory,” her mother confides to Aunt Carrie.
Cadence’s voice continues to haunt the visuals: “I need to see if all the lies lead to me, on that beach, alone.” Her romance with Gat resurfaces, full of longing and mystery, but there’s tension in every exchange — are her friends hiding something?
The trailer hints at something sinister surrounding Johnny, as his mother warns him sharply: “You cannot tell anyone. Do you understand me?” As the mystery deepens, everyone becomes a suspect — even the people Cadence trusts most.
In the final moments, Cadence's chilling voiceover declares, “But not every fable ends happily. Some stories have no hero at all. Sometimes, the castle crumbles.” The idyllic facade collapses, leaving behind a trail of secrets, betrayal, and a desperate search for the truth.
The trailer masterfully blends sunshine and dread — setting the stage for a twisted summer mystery where nothing, and no one, is what they seem.
Watch the previously released teaser below.
Is There a Sequel to the We Were Liars book?
Yes, E. Lockhart followed up We Were Liars with a prequel titled Family of Liars, released in 2022. Set in the 1980s on the same private island, the novel dives into the teenage years of the previous generation—Penny, Bess, Carrie, and their youngest sister Rosemary.
Much like the original, Family of Liars is packed with haunting secrets, emotional twists, and, unsurprisingly, more lies woven into the Sinclair family legacy.
How will Lockhart’s Prequel book Family of Liars fit into all of this?
Julie Plec is also set to adapt Family of Liars, the prequel novel that explores the secrets of an earlier generation of Sinclairs. In her interview with Deadline, she teased the possibility of incorporating its storyline into a potential second season of We Were Liars.
“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,” Plec shared.
She added, “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, which theoretically is going to take us deeper into the moms’ lives as well and add another generation to the story.”
While nothing is officially confirmed, it's clear that Family of Liars could play a major role in expanding the show’s world—especially if it moves beyond just one season.
Filming Details
Filming was mostly done in Nova Scotia, Canada, with locations including Meisners Island, Chester, and Dartmouth. Shooting began on May 30, 2024, and ended on September 27, 2024 (via 4Filming).
Behind the Scenes
We Were Liars is helmed by Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie, who serve as co-showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Plec wrote the first episode, while MacKenzie penned the second. Also joining the executive producing team are Emily Cummins for My So-Called Company, Brett Matthews, Pascal Verschooris, and E. Lockhart, the author of the original bestselling novel.
The series, which received a formal series order in March 2023, is produced by Universal Television (a division of Universal Studio Group) in association with Amazon MGM Studios. The pilot episode is directed by Nzingha Stewart. The original novel was published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.
Vernon Sanders, head of television for Amazon and MGM Studios, said (via US Magazine), “E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars is a gripping story centered on family, love, secrets, and lies that is perfect for our Prime Video audience. Lockhart, Julie Plec, and Carina Adly MacKenzie are each brilliant at creating complex characters and we’re looking forward to teaming up with these incredible storytellers, along with Universal Television, to bring this show to life.”
E. Lockhart shared with Entertainment Weekly, “A TV show and a novel are so radically different. The TV show has to expand and reinvent. We Were Liars is about the inside of one teenage girl's head, so I absolutely understood that they were going to explode it out and show other people's perspectives. A TV show is never centered on solely the experience of a single character.”
Carina Adly MacKenzie, the showrunner, added, “We really want readers of the book to watch this and still feel like they're getting something new. So we did want to make some adjustments, but we wanted to make sure none of those adjustments flew in the face of what the core of this book is. So I think that readers of the book, even readers who are diehard fans and do remember every word of the book, are going to find some exciting new things in here.”
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