Sadie Sauveall, who plays Percy Fraser, and Matt Cornett, who plays Sam Florek, appear every year.Kate Cameron/Amazon Prime
Prime Video is turning to Canada with its YA romance theme this summer, following the success of series such as The Summer I Turned Pretty, Maxton Hall, and Off Campus. Every Year After is a series based on Carly Fortune’s debut novel, Every Summer After, which takes young lovers to a vacation home and features eight binge-watching episodes, available to stream now.
In Every Year After, Sadie Soveol plays Percy Fraser, a writer who returns to the quaint Barry’s Bay where he vacationed every summer as a child. She has been away for several years, but a memorial service for her former best friend’s mother, Sue Florek (Elisha Cuthbert), finally brings her back.
Matt Cornett plays Sam Florek, his best friend turned lover, and Michael Bradway plays his brother Charlie. While one was shocked to see Percy, the other invited her over, instantly causing tension.
Like the novel, the series jumps back and forth in time to explore the relationship between Sam and Percy (played in their younger years by Blue Clark and Juliet Hawke) and how they got to where they are now. It’s easy to see that the friendship turned into a romantic relationship before it turned sour. Part of the fun is finding out why and how.
The novels are a starting point, but the first season sticks firmly to the slow burn between Sam and Percy, building the supporting cast in new ways. Abigail Cowen’s Delilah has a complicated backstory involving marriage, the Florek brothers’ partner Geordi (Joseph Chiu) faces a future she never dreamed of, and Chantal (Aurora Perrineau), who’s on the fence about Percy’s ride or die, faces more stress than planning a wedding as she heads to Barry’s Bay with Percy.
The series goes back in time and explores the relationship between Sam and Percy, played by Juliet Hawke and Blue Clark, in flashbacks.Kate Cameron/Amazon Prime
The result is an extrapolated world that feels based on the same dreamy villa life in the book. Pristine shots of lakes, towns, and forests, along with nostalgic references, music, and sets, transport you back to rustic times and are perfect for enjoying summer views. (Although the series takes place in the fictional Barry’s Bay, British Columbia, where it was filmed, it is worth noting that the real Barry’s Bay in Ontario was the inspiration for the novel.)
Set over six summers, Every Year After is at its core a coming-of-age story combined with a young adult romance that asks whether your first love is truly your soulmate. Showrunner Amy B. Harris clearly has experience playing attractive female characters in series like Sex and the City and The Comeback, and Percy is likable despite his questionable past and choices that are revealed.
This is a series about longing and loss, not straight encounters or sexy scenes, although there are certainly some of those. Expanding the world of the aforementioned supporting characters, as well as flashbacks to past summers, help set the pace without worrying too much about what will or won’t happen. But this isn’t a series that fears falling into heartbreak before celebrating love, and some viewers may find it too heavy of a summer watch. For others, it may be the relatable escape they were looking for after their own failed romances or thoughts of the person they ran away from.
Aurora Perrineau (right) plays Percy’s friend Chantal, and Joseph Chiu plays the Florek brothers’ friend Geordi.Justin Yong/Amazon Prime
On the other hand, these characters have genuine chemistry and, thanks to the story structure, viewers will feel like they’re growing along with them. This structure also means it’s easy to predict where the story is going, but the real fun is in getting there. By the time you get a big profit, you’re already invested.
This is exactly the type of series Prime Video seems to be working on these days as it continues to invest in the YA universe. Cornett, Bradway, Fortune and Harris will all be representing Every Year After at the streamer’s Obsessed Fest in Los Angeles, which will also feature personalities and writers from other series, including Off Campus, Overcompensated, and the upcoming Legally Blonde spinoff Elle.
From a Canadian standpoint, it’s great to see a series that celebrates small-town villa life and represents it on a global stage. It remains to be seen whether tourists will flock to the real Barry’s Bay, Ontario after watching Every Year After, but just like Fortune’s book, the show perfectly captures authentic Canadian life and shares the joys of cottage country with the rest of the world.
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