As a new hub for YA romance, Prime Video has been specializing in the book-to-screen adaptation, taking a page out of its success from The Summer I Turned Pretty. Just when you think another of these novel-based adaptations might grace your screen, in comes a rather refreshing and novel story (pun intended). Sterling Point, an original work from Megan Park (My Old Ass), follows a pair of adopted twins who discover that they have inherited an island in Canada (the show’s namesake) from their late, estranged grandfather, and that their late adoptive mother actually had a biological daughter of her own. With EPs Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage onboard, who have nailed the teen drama formula with shows like The OC and Gossip Girl, we had high hopes for Sterling Point, which were not only met, but exceeded.

Opening Shot: Automated curtains part to reveal Manhattan skyscrapers out the window, as a teenage girl awakens, removes her eye mask, and exclaims, “Sound machine off.”

The Gist: 17-going-on-18-year-old twins Annie (Ella Rubin) and Connor Jacobson (Keen Ruffalo) live a comfortable life in New York City thanks to their doting adoptive father, Steven (Jay Duplass), leaving the primary worry on Annie’s mind to be whether she gets accepted into Wharton’s elite summer program. After being rejected from the program, she turns to her clearly closeted boyfriend Oliver (Luke Avoledo), with whom she has been with since the sixth grade, for ideas on how to spend her summer. Just when Annie thinks Oliver might finally come out to her, ending their facade of a relationship, Connor bursts in and reveals that a lawyer just called to inform them that their grandpa died; specifically, Gordon, their adoptive mother Goldie’s father, who for whatever reason, makes their dad “dark and sad” to talk about.

The lawyer makes a house visit, where she shares that Gordon has left Steven nothing (surprise, surprise), and that Annie and Connor have been made beneficiaries of his trust, meaning that when they turn 18, they receive control of property he owns in Muskoka, Canada. They are also left letters from Gordon, though Steven snatches them before they can read them. It turns out the latest letters aren’t the only ones that Steven has gotten their hands on. Annie cracks into her father’s safe — pro tip: don’t use your birthday as the combination) — and discovers years’ worth of birthday cards and notes for her and her brother. One tear-jerking note reveals that his property, Sterling Point, was her mother’s “favorite place on Earth,” and that there is someone she must “find” there, who will need her after he is gone. Summer plans, unlocked!

Telling her father via Post-It that she went to Thailand with Oliver, Annie hops on a plane to Toronto, learning only after she pops an Ambien that the flight is only 45 minutes long. She groggily meets point one of her soon-to-be love triangle, Ellis (Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie), who flies her via seaplane to Sterling Point. When they arrive at her digs for the summer, Ellis is surprised to learn that Annie is staying at Gordon’s home. Annie plays coy about how she found the cottage, and finds out that he owned the entire island. Once she’s inside the cottage, Annie finds pictures of her mother, and a young girl (Amélie Hoeferle) who looks eerily similar, which she just assumes are older pictures of her.

After attempting to secure a boat at the marina from Joe (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), he plans to set her up with boat lessons from his son (who we learn is Ellis). But the smooth-talking Oona (Bo Bragason) steps in first. The gang is ultimately rounded out by Sully (Nikko Angelo Hinayo) and Oona’s little sister Maple (Mabel Strachan). However, Annie’s worlds collide when they take her to a rich-people party, at a home owned by the real estate mogul parents of her childhood friend — and love triangle point number two — Rory (Daniel Quinn Toye). At said party is where she also reunites with Rory’s mother Denise (Missi Pyle), who lets slip that Goldie had filed for divorce from Steven before she died. Annie gets spooked when she finds another girl (Hoeferle) inside the cottage, claiming that it’s her grandfather’s.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Thanks to its romantic summer scenery and emerging love triangle, Sterling Point will most likely remind you of another Prime Video series, the aforementioned TSITP. Maybe it’s being by the lake, but Dawson’s Creek also comes to mind.

Our Take: Sterling Point manages to fulfill the typical tenets of a YA romance — the love triangle and a scenic, summery landscape, for example — while also bringing in fresh faces to an original story. Conversations between its characters feel natural and timely for 2026, capturing the comedic teenage cadence of new friends meeting for the first time (Annie and Oona, for instance) and even the awkward gaps of two childhood friends reuniting (Annie and Rory).

The first episode of Sterling Point ends with quite the shock factor, as Annie comes face to face with the girl who Gordon wanted her to find. As for whether the series manages to uphold this suspense, and unfold it in a way that isn’t too overwhelming, is for viewers to determine over the course of the following seven episodes. While Annie setting out to reconnect with her roots appears to take centerstage, the series’ surrounding characters are just as, if not more, entertaining,

Performance Worth Watching: The casting in this series is phenomenal overall, with young talent like Ella Rubin holding her own alongside onscreen vets like Jay Duplass and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Rubin certainly anchors the first episode, though I must give out honorable mentions to Bo Bragason and Missi Pyle for stealing multiple scenes. 

Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.

Parting Shot: Annie stunned after meeting the girl who strikingly resembles her mother inside Gordon’s cottage.

Sleeper Star: Keen Ruffalo proves he’s beyond his nepo baby status with effortless comedic timing.

Most Pilot-y Line: After Ellis walks Annie home, she tells him, “This is Canada, right? Nothing bad happens in Canada.”

Ellis teases, “Actually, no. Bad shit happens all the time. Just, not on this island, though.”

Our Call: Did we just find our show of the summer? I think so. STREAM IT!