"Sterling Point" Review: A Flawless Escapist Series from the Gossip Girl Team

I'll be honest: I braced myself to grit my teeth through Prime Video's new coming-of-age series 'Sterling Point,' expecting a run-of-the-mill high school drama. The show follows a type-A teen who leaves New York for a sun-soaked journey of self-discovery on a picturesque Canadian island. On the surface it's a modest, summer-camp-flavored story; but like last year's seasonal phenomenon, the third season of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' it pushes past the boundaries of the teen-drama niche into something delightfully soapy.

Our lead, Annie (Ella Rubin), is an anxious 17-year-old who still hasn't gotten over being rejected from a summer business program. Right then, news arrives that her estranged maternal grandfather has left her a mysterious inheritance. Having lost their mother years ago, Annie and her twin Connor (Keen Ruffalo) begin digging up family secrets despite their father's (Jay Duplass) discomfort. Upon learning they've inherited a house in Canada, Annie sets off on a secret journey to find answers about her mother's life.

In Sterling Point, Annie quickly finds a free-spirited group of friends: the carefree, sexually confident cornerstone of the group Oona (Bo Bragason), the playful local boy Ellis (Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie) who ferries Annie to the island in a rickety seaplane, sensitive New Yorker Rory (Daniel Quinn-Toye), who's compared to Timothée Chalamet, and Ramona (Amélie Elisabeth Hoefe).

Coming from the creators of Gossip Girl, the show does what that team does best: sharp dialogue, brisk pacing, and secrets doled out at exactly the right moments. But this time, instead of darkness and cruelty, there's warmth and humor. The result is the most relaxing, most gripping escapist television of the summer.