A worse teen crime drama than “Cruel Summer” would play to conventions and pit the high school archetypes such as the spoiled mean girl against the nerdy, innocent girl, with no real estate between them for character growth. But the new Freeform series, created by Bert V. Royal and produced by, among others, Jessica Biel and Max Winkler, discards stereotypes and tropes, at least those concerning character, in favor of a modernized portrayal of teenhood. Maybe the mean girl isn’t really that mean or that spoiled? Maybe the nerdy girl isn’t that innocent, though she is quite nerdy? (Not that that’s a bad thing.) Maybe they’re both just kids trying to figure themselves out? “Cruel Summer” saves ample space for their development and self-discovery.
The mean girl is Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), a child of privilege and money, whose mom, Joy (Andrea Anders) doesn’t bother keeping up with the Joneses because she is the Joneses. The nerdy girl is Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia), beloved by her parents, Greg (Michael Landes) and Cindy (Sarah Drew), who make a tradition of waking up their girl on her birthday with the same genuine, affectionate smiles. They adore their kid, Greg especially; he’s a girl dad and she’s a daddy’s girl. The bond they share is sweet. It’s also short-lived in the context of the show, which cuts between the summers of 1993, 1994, and 1995 as Jeanette goes from ugly duckling to popular beauty to public enemy number one.
“Cruel Summer” plays for mystery and thrills, so the particulars of Jeanette’s rise and fall are held back until the end of the season opener, “Happy Birthday, Jeanette Turner,” while Kate’s side of the story is reserved until Episode 2, “A Smashing Good Time.” The basic conceit compels curiosity. What could Jeanette have done between 1994 and 1995 to not only gain the ire of her entire town, including her best friends Mallory (Harley Quinn Smith) and Vincent (Allius Barnes), but to turn her own dad against her? What dangers lurk between the mansions lining the streets of this apparently very well-to-do community that could make Kate disappear without a trace for months? “Cruel Summer” inhabits predominantly white spaces divided along economic lines, where the middle class all live in the shadow of the upper class. The idea that anyone, much less Kate Wallis, could simply vanish is confounding to each character living in her orbit.
Kate herself is a surprise, too: ever-chic and fashionable, the most popular kid in school, quite possibly the wealthiest, but weary of her wealth and her status, which is why she doesn’t blow Jeanette off when they first exchange words in the show’s introductory 1993 segments. She’s, well, nice. It’s her friends who suck (as well as her mom), and the common perception is kids like her mustn’t interact with kids like Jeanette. “Cruel Summer” raises an eyebrow at our immediate expectations of who Kate’s supposed to be; the show stays honest with its young protagonists and treats them like actual people, complex individuals with better and worse merits. Jeanette’s conflict with Kate, generously described as a “rift” to avoid giving away excess detail, isn’t born out of malice. Malice is born out of it instead, the consequence of a moment of selfish weakness.
The balance Royal and his directing team, including Winkler as well as Daniel Willis and Bill Purple, strike while finding the complications of its two leads specifically and teenhood at large is close to remarkable. Less so is the series’ overworked craftsmanship: As the actors do admirable work before the screen, everyone behind it goes to extremes to make “Cruel Summer” look as prestigious and serious as possible. The mistake made regarding aesthetics is that the most directing and the most editing equate with “best.” But so often it’s the opposite that’s true. Too much of a good thing is still too much. Granted, the artifice is impressive, the cuts between each year matching up to one another from transition to transition as Jeanette goes from happy, to happier, to completely bereft. There’s no good reason to take away from the sheer effort put into “Cruel Summer”s aesthetics, not from an execution standpoint.
But this isn’t a series that benefits from this level of effort, especially when simplicity works so well. The most basic cuts do the same job with economy, coupled with logical, easily applied cosmetic changes to each character’s looks. Jeanette loses her glasses and straightens her hair between 1993 and 1994; Kate trades in the hottest trends for navel piercings, flannel shirts, and The Cranberries. Obnoxious blue filters combined with fabricated “one-shot” takes show off, rather than facilitate, plot. If the writing does the audience and the leads a service by respecting them both as adults, the filmmaking has the opposite effect. All of that flashy stylization shows a deep-rooted distrust in viewers’ grasp of what’s happening in each scene, and more importantly when it’s happening.
“Cruel Summer’s” whodunnit narrative avoids taking obvious routes or trodding well-worn ground. Coupling that with the wonderful casting makes the series one worth enjoying. But this could have been more than just enjoyable had someone on set thought to ask the crew putting it all together to rein it in. “Cruel Summer” is smart, original, and just pulpy enough to give the story texture. It’s the overeager construction that holds it back from being something truly special. [C+]
“Cruel Summer” airs new episodes weekly on Freeform.