Romance adaptations are having a moment. If you’ve been paying attention to the genre’s status on TV, it’s been on a roll for years, with shows like Bridgerton and The Summer I Turned Pretty rapidly evolving into pop-cultural phenomena. These adaptations are appealing to book fans who already love the source material and the general audience who wants to be swept up by a love story. People are yearning to yearn, and these series deliver. In particular, Prime Video has become a hub where these romance adaptations flourish. From international hits like Maxton Hall—The World Between Us to underrated gems like My Lady Jane, the streamer is quietly bringing back the types of series that used to thrive on The CW. Last month, Off Campus took the world by storm, and now, Every Year After is joining the ranks. While many might try to make comparisons to The Summer I Turned Pretty, Every Year After distinguishes itself as two coming-of-age stories centered on first love and second chances.
What Is ‘Every Year After’ About?
Based on the book Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, Every Year After revolves around Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) and Sam Florek (Matt Cornett), two friends who spent their summers together at Barry’s Bay and fell in love along the way. Nearly a decade after their relationship ended, Percy returns after Sue (Elisha Cuthbert), Sam’s mom, dies of cancer. Although the pair has grown apart, their reunion reignites the sparks that had gone dormant between them — but will their past decisions prevent them from finding a future together?
Setting is crucial in romance, and Barry’s Bay proves to be the right place to explore this particular story. Rather than dunes and salty water, the lake town feels both familiar and entirely its own place. It’s not just the setting of a romantic melodrama, but also a summer escape set apart from the rest of the world. The mountains surrounding the lake lend a cozy comfort despite the grief that hangs over Percy, Sam, and Sam’s older brother, Charlie (Michael Bradway). At the beginning of the series, you might feel a kinship with Chantal (Aurora Perrineau), an outsider who’s along for the ride to support her best friend Percy, but by the end of the season, you’ll be much more deeply connected to Barry’s Bay. The show’s soundtrack, too, embraces reassurance. The past timeline incorporates 2010s pop hits to embrace the story’s youthful innocence, while the present timeline opts for indie artists like Mumford & Sons, Lizzie McAlpine, and Noah Kahan to best capture the feelings of longing, missed opportunities, and regret.
‘Every Year After’s Stars Bring Chemistry and Complexity To Their Characters
Romance lives and dies by its leads, and Every Year After is no exception, as Soverall and Cornett have the tricky task of portraying both young love and a second chance with one’s soulmate. Not only do the two have palpable chemistry, but they also capture longing effortlessly. A look from either actor says everything without the necessity to utter a line of dialogue, and the co-stars can switch from playful flirtation to heavy tension with ease. Simply put, they understood the assignment.
Beyond Soverall and Cornett’s performance, what makes Percy and Sam stand out is their complexity. There are layers to each character that get peeled back over the course of Every Year After‘s eight episodes, exposing their flaws and nuances without tipping into toxicity. Percy could’ve fallen into the “not like other girls” trap (although she definitely is), but she remains relatable in her messiness. She’s been running from her heartache and past actions, but she doesn’t lose her kindness. Sam, too, isn’t the perfect romantic lead. It certainly looks like he’s primed to be at the beginning of the season, but over time, the series reveals that he’s equally at fault for why his relationship with Percy didn’t last beyond high school.
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Every Year After explores two coming-of-age stories in the past and in the present. Death has a way of waking a person up to look around at their life, and that’s true of the series’ three leads. Despite the time and distance, Percy, Max, and Charlie are confronted by their past when they return to Barry’s Bay, and separation from the outside world gives them the space to evaluate themselves and what they actually want out of their lives. Juxtaposing the innocence of youth with present-day grief is a smart narrative move, as the two timelines intersect throughout the season in meaningful ways.
‘Every Year After’s Supporting Cast Is Equally Compelling as the Main Couple
Every Year After may center on Percy and Sam, but Barry’s Bay is filled out with equally strong supporting characters. Chantal, a successful lawyer who doesn’t enjoy the murkiness of life, gets more than she bargained for when she joins Percy as moral support for Sue’s memorial. Sam’s best friend, Jordie (Joseph Chiu), initially comes across as a disinterested motel manager, but over time, his genuine thoughtfulness for the people he cares about shines through, making him one of the series’ most emotionally secure characters. Percy’s childhood friend, Delilah (Abigail Cowen), initially seems like she’s there to fill the role of preppy mean girl, but has her own secrets and pain that she’s avoiding. There’s a lot of history between her and Percy, and the show takes time to rediscover their friendship without the typical pettiness.
The biggest surprise of the season is Sam’s older brother, Charlie, who projects himself as a playboy with no desire to settle down. He hardly seems to want to be back in Barry’s Bay for his mother’s memorial, but his grief manifests differently from his younger brother; once the reasons for it are revealed, his behavior starts to make a lot more sense. He, too, grew up alongside Sam and Percy, but as the older brother, Charlie took on more than his younger brother realized. Should the series earn a renewal, it will be very interesting to see where Charlie goes from here, considering how the first season ends for him.
If any characters in the series feel underdeveloped, it’s Sue and Percy’s parents. While Percy was incredibly close to Sam and Charlie’s mom, there isn’t a sense of why she trusts Sue more than her own parents. There are a handful of scenes between just Sue and Percy that try to do the heavy lifting, but they’re not spread evenly throughout the season. This might seem minor, but the lack of onscreen development for Percy’s family weakens the believability of her connection to Sue, especially once Sue leaves something major behind for Percy.
‘Every Year After’ Is Another Summer Romance Standout for Prime Video
I confess that I haven’t read Every Summer After or its sequel, One Golden Summer, so I can’t say if this series is a worthy adaptation of Fortune’s novel; I’ll leave that to the book fans. However, as a fan of the romance genre, some elements of Every Year After are extremely predictable. I correctly finished certain lines of dialogue right before the characters did, and guessed Percy’s big secret from the premiere. Yet while the show’s formula might be familiar, its execution grabbed my attention. I was invested in each of the characters and their backstories within a couple of episodes, while Barry’s Bay evolved from a mere backdrop to a destination I wanted to visit.
Every Year After ultimately doubles as a success for Prime Video and for the romance genre on television. With its small-town lake setting, compelling dual timelines, and rich characters, the series does plenty to stand out from its peers. The melodrama might be clichéd at times, but there’s enough maturity to balance it. If showrunner Amy B. Harris has her way, we’ll hopefully be spending more summers in Barry’s Bay, and I’d welcome the chance to return.
Every Year After premieres June 10 on Prime Video.