The sound of leaves blowing the wind, an engine puttering across a lake and the feeling of a sunburn after a summer day is what “Sterling Point,” an Amazon Prime series, encompasses. Releasing on Aug. 5, the show ends summer on a fulfilling note, mirroring what watchers are up to during the season.
The series follows Annie Jacobson, played by Ella Rubin, an adopted twin, as she discovers her family’s secrets. Being left mysterious letters and a lakeside estate from their grandpa, Annie travels to Sterling Point to find out the story of her late mother.
As Annie figures out her family’s backstory, she is forced to pick between two suitors, Ellis Anderson played by Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, a seaplane pilot, and Rory Ballantine, played by Daniel Quinn-Toye, a wealthy piano prodigy.
When Annie arrives at the cabin, she meets Ramona, played by Amélie Hoeferle, who has a complicated past and romantic relationship with her best friend Oona. Her character arguably has the most emotional development throughout by exploring what it means to be family.
The first episode was a bit slow paced, but after that, plot twists happened left and right. The premise and the timeline of the show was definitely unrealistic, but I was willing to look past it since the various romances pulled everything together.
Similar to “Outer Banks” or even “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the show captured a carefree summer feeling in the gorgeous setting of Muskoka Lakes, Canada. For me, this show had a nostalgic feeling of growing up and visiting my grandma on her lake.
While the film quality of the show was higher than the 2000s, it felt similar to older TV shows due to the lack of phones and screens appearing throughout the show. Characters often read, hiked or found things to do rather than being glued to a screen,
Because the cast was all mainly emerging actors, you could see them as their characters rather than actors which made each scene seem real. Lately, many movies I have watched seem to repeat the same celebrities, which takes away from the ability to believe they are real characters.
My main criticism of the show is that I wanted more than eight episodes. In some episodes, plot lines would begin and end, only to never be brought up again. I think that the show would still have been straightforward even if some fluff had been added, like more moments of the friend group Annie found just existing.
“Sterling Point” has been renewed for a second season and until then I will be reminiscing about that lighthearted and summery feeling of the show. Overall, I would give “Sterling Point” ⅘ stars due to some difficulty to follow, but also because of the feel good atmosphere the show creates for audiences.
Leave a Reply