Every Year After (Prime, 2026) poses a very compelling premise: What if your childhood best friend was destined to become the love of your life?
Stage this romance in a picturesque lakeside summer idyll with non-linear timelines that move languidly between past and present-day events, and, of course, cast attractive leads; for optimal effect, one with a sad eyes and one with dopey ones.
Have the girl be a cute, horror-obsessed nerd and the guy, an introspective, science geek, who is secretly hot, but doesn’t really know it. The result is an unbalanced power dynamic, where one person is oblivious to his own appeal (although, so are we, but that’s more accidental, than intentional), while the other builds her sense of worth around it. As in: If he hangs around me, I must be worth something.
Borrow from bona fide, tried-and-tested cinematic filmmaking techniques used and perfected in other hit Prime YA coming-of-age, emotionally gripping romance vehicles, like The Summer I Turned Pretty, and add in a well-choreographed soundtrack to ground the emotional undercurrent of the story, since we’re all, in some way or another, products (descendants or otherwise) of the MTV generation. In other words, no feeling is complete without a good song to help us process our trauma memories and properly expunge the bad juju.
And for good measure, painfully tease a horrific event/catalyst in the trailer that leads to the breakup of the main couple. The last part is a bonus play for this particular franchise, which is an adaptation of the wildly successful Carley Fortune’s “Every Summer After” series.
As a reader of all of Fortune’s books, I can tell you that you’re better off with the source material. But, if you’re looking at the ratings, this show hit #1 on Prime Video worldwide, so there’s that.
So here are the three areas where this show veers off course and loses points on the rubric.
Sam’s Acting & His Chemistry w/Percy: Matt Cornett is cast as Sam Florek, the male lead. Cornett played E.J. in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a former boyfriend of Olivia Rodrigo’s character, Nini, for those of you who are pop culturally curious. I grew to really like E.J.’s character arc on HSMTMTS. His acting was nuanced there, he showed good range, and his character evolved into someone far more emotionally available. So I know he has the ability to play someone less wooden. But as Sam, he’s hard to root for. His dialogue is delivered in a stilted fashion, and something just feels off. You’re never convinced that he’s really pining for Percy (Sadie Soverall) and similarly, that she can fully stand to be in the same physical space that he occupies. It didn’t help that my husband observed Sam/Matt looks like a young Armie Hammer. My mind immediately went to cannibalism.
Here for feet, only. The Big Teased Secret, Its Betrayal, and Its Reveal: The fact that Charlie, Sam’s brother, and Percy had sex/got it on is not a big deal. But the whole, WE ARE ON A BREAK concept is lost on these GenZs. Maybe this is an unpopular opinion of one, but I can honestly say the trailers made me want a BIG betrayal worthy of its hype. The fact that Percy found solace in the arms of a nicer, hotter dude, who thought the world of her was not the issue. Apparently, him being Sam’s brother was. The severity of the response was over-the-top. The nothing-will-ever-be-the-same headline written on Charlie’s guilty face and Percy’s panic attacks are testament to this. And yet, again, the act didn’t justify the actions. Sam treated Percy pretty poorly and broke up with her, to boot.
And all this leads into…
The Greek Tragedy of it all Translates to Doomed Coupledom: Percy’s name, which is short for Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, whose abduction and forced marriage to Hades is one of Greek mythology's most enduring tales of deception, betrayal, and lost agency. She's condemned to spend part of eternity with a man who never truly deserved her.
All this, feels oddly on brand for Percy's relationship with Sam, who may be no Hades, but he's certainly no angel either. He repeatedly puts her through the emotional wringer, like a modern-day Persephone trapped in a cycle she can't quite escape. In the flashback scenes, Sam breaks up with Percy every time something physically separates them, which is absolute hogwash. Their entire relationship is built around summers together, for crying out loud. Percy’s family vacations at the lake every year, and Sam’s family lives there year-round. They already know how to survive nine months apart. Then, when Sam leaves for a summer program at Stanford, he once again goes back to his pattern of love ‘em and leave ‘em with Percy. This guy is like a Pavlovian experiment. Instead of communicating, he invents excuses to push Percy away and manufacture a breakup. Meanwhile, she’s still sitting there thinking he’s the best thing since sliced bread. That made me genuinely sad.
Example of a breakup dialogue:
Sam (via EMAIL!): “I can’t do this, Percy. I need to focus on my studies.”
Percy (to herself): “Wait...what?”
Percy immediately calls Sam.
A suspiciously attractive-sounding girl answers.
Girl: “Ohhh, Sammy’s busy picking up the beer,” she purrs, somehow managing to roll non-existent rs seductively.
Percy (to herself): “I knew I never should’ve let him go!”
Meanwhile...
Charlie, Sam’s hot, older, emotionally available brother: “Want to build a boat?”
Me: “Percy, the answer is standing right there.”
If what follows is betrayal, then color me Dynasty—because guess what? I’m absolutely here for that story. The one where Percy chooses Charlie, the guy who’s been waiting in the wings all along and is actually capable of loving her the way she deserves. He listens. He waits, and he pounces. They run the Tavern together. He, with his financial acumen. Her with her, well Percy-ness.
This is the twist the series needed, and as such the poster would have to be revised to include the three of them. It becomes a classic Sabrina plot, with reverence to The Summer I Turned Pretty because who isn’t a fan of two brothers vying for the hand of the lovely maiden.
Elisha Cuthbert, former 00s Maxim it girl, who hasn’t been in Hollywood for a minute is way too young to be Sam and Charlie’s mom, even if she had Charlie at like 16. However, she’s expertly cast as the kind, cool mom who is the perfect maternal stand-in for Percy, given her own parent’s being unavailable most of the time
Aurora Perrineau as Chantal, Percy’s bestie, was the breakout star of this show. She was fun to watch, the perfect foil for Percy, and brought much-needed levity and tough love depending on the occasion. Her unexpected romance with townie Jordie was not only a departure from the book but also one of the highlights of this season.
Chantal and Jordie’s relationship is the perfect illustration of what can happen when you veer a little off-script from the source material to create something that translates more effectively onscreen. I can’t wait to see more of them!
FOR THE LOVE OF FLORALS, TUTUS, & TIARAS! Percy’s wardrobe is in major need of an adult style refresh. I can get behind that her emotional age is 18, the age she was when her betrayal occurred, so perhaps that is leading to these unfortunate decisions, but this was terrible. How can you root for these fashion disasters?
Don’t Leave Me Hanging: What DID You Think of Every Year After?
Bonus Read: Substack buddies Ingrid Haring-Mendes of Book Letters and FilmStack member and film enthusiast, Sara of Sara's Soliloquies were BOTH willing to get into it with me on topic of this show and feed my need to dissect it:
Other Beth News
I’ve completed my second draft of my book SO THIS IS HAPPENING, a witty and fun romance launching in February, in time for Valentine’s Day.
Here’s my updated cover reveal:
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