Sterling Point review – this teen drama from Gossip Girl’s creators is brilliant escapist TV

Set on an idyllic Canadian island, this coming-of-age series is juicy stuff. It swaps the darkness of recent YA TV for warmth, humour and a surprisingly compelling mystery

I’ll be honest: I was prepared to grit my teeth through Sterling Point, Prime Video’s newest coming-of-age offering, which I dismissed as another by-the-numbers high-school drama. The show follows a type-A teen on a journey of sun-dappled self-discovery, escaping her native New York for an idyllic getaway on a picturesque Canadian island. It’s an unassuming, summer camp-style narrative, but in the style of last year’s seasonal phenomenon that was series three of The Summer I Turned Pretty, it manages to transcend the limits of its YA niche, revealing itself to be quite juicy.

Protagonist Annie (Ella Rubin) is a highly strung 17-year-old, still reeling from a rejection from a summer business school programme when she receives the news that her estranged maternal grandfather has left her some mysterious assets. Annie, whose mother had died years ago, and her twin Connor (Keen Ruffalo), are prompted to start digging through family secrets, much to the distress of their dad (Jay Duplass of Transparent and Industry). The two learn that they’ve inherited a house in Canada – prompting Annie to take off on a secret trip in search of answers about her late mother’s life.

Sterling Point is on Prime Video