The second the trailer was released for Megan Park’s Sterling Point, I knew we were in for something profoundly moving. With how brilliantly she explores adolescence, grief, and love in My Old Ass, it was a no-brainer that the new Amazon Prime series would fire on all cylinders, and that’s exactly what happens right from the start.
Like Every Year After, when it comes to a lakeside summer show, there’s something particularly lovely about slowing down and letting the emotions unravel as they’re meant to. It’s heartbreaking at times, profound, and endearing in every way when we start to explore the gorgeous dynamics within. It might not be the kind of series everyone’s expecting, but it feels like exactly what we need at this moment, and specifically in a month like August that marks the end of summer.
The Performances in Sterling Point Season 1 Are Brilliant
There’s not a single actor in Sterling Point who feels out of place or underutilized. Ella Rubin and Amélie Hoeferle are the indisputable MVPs, but everyone delivers something remarkable every time they’re on screen, especially when their characters make some sort of big revelation or come to a long-awaited understanding.
The show effectively explores big feelings and gutting revelations throughout, and each actor gives their all when it’s their turn. We’ve got a lot of stars in the making, like Bo Bragason, who’s also set to star in the live-action The Legend of Zelda, and Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, who’s also incredible throughout. Keen Ruffalo brings his A-game, so much so that I didn’t even realize the connection of his last name until afterward, showcasing that talent is indeed bigger than nepotism sometimes. This might also be my favorite Jeffrey Dean Morgan role date, and everything we get with the actor is heartwarming in a way that’s going to stay with me.
Megan Park’s Writing and Directorial Vision Continue to Hit Deep
I had such a visceral reaction to the emotions surrounding grief in My Old Ass that I should’ve known better than to tune into Sterling Point Season 1 without tissues. Park is specifically great at touching on raw human emotions tethered to our childhoods, so it’s easy to be moved by experiences that aren’t familiar to ours. In the same way that My Old Ass is deeply relatable, so is Sterling Point in how it explores loss, sisterhoods, and specific struggles that come in the face of long-kept secrets.
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There’s also something particularly gripping about her directorial style that makes every scene feel so achingly intimate, it punctures. It feels like we’re watching old home videos that don’t belong to us, yet we can’t seem to look back until we know everyone’s going to be okay. And true to what she’s done in the past, that feeling is still present after the credits roll. These characters are going to be okay. There’s a sense of hope in her writing that feels specifically necessary right now, and it makes every plot twist easier to swallow because there’s a genuine care for what’ll happen to these characters.
Park’s writing allows their complexities to be incredibly raw and nuanced, delivering something really special in character dynamics and relationships to sink our teeth into. There are stories that feel like they’re released at the right place and right time, with the right cast at the helm, and that’s exactly what we get with Sterling Point.
The way that Park also subverts expectations throughout and stuns you with revelations is no small feat. Delivering an effective plot twist isn’t easy, nor does it always stick the landing in quieter shows like this, yet how we get to the penultimate, and ultimately the finale, is jaw-dropping—fully admirable. My heart was in my throat the entire time, in the best way, with non-stop tears streaming down my face.
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Every moment is full of heart, and by the time you finish, your stay at Sterling Point will feel like a revelation of sorts. The feelings we’re compelled to sit with are so tender at times, so honest and vulnerable, that it makes the series a stunning coming-of-age drama that feels rare these days. Indescribable, in more ways than one, it’s one of the most emotionally layered shows of the year.
Sterling Point releases exclusively on Prime Video on August 5.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Prime