Everyone is asking whether the drama-mystery Cruel Summer on Freeform is based on a real incident.
As one of the Texas teenagers is kidnapped, the story shifts to the other girl and eventually reveals the truths that both of them have been attempting to keep hidden. It’s not completely fictitious, right?
Is Cruel Summer Based On A True Story?
Cruel Summer is not based on any actual events, despite the ominous prologue and setup. Skylin, Texas, where the program is located, and all of the people that live there are made up. Yet, Bert V. Royal, the show’s creator, and writer (he previously penned Easy A), revealed to Deadline that he drew on personal experience while penning the series’ script, as reported by Good Housekeeping.
Royal said that they wanted to tackle a topic that would “start intriguing debates about how our culture can upend a person’s life and send them to the hell of notoriety before, and sometimes even against, the facts.”
Unlike many modern psychological thrillers, Cruel Summer is not based on a book. Jessica Biel, who is also an executive producer, starred in and produced the book-based USA Network crime thriller The Sinner.
If there’s any consolation to be had, it’s that we know the events of Cruel Summer weren’t based on any true events, at least not in their current form.
You’ll find some links to more forthcoming television programs farther down this page; we’ve included them for your convenience:
- Don’t Miss Out: Where to Watch Scream 6
- Wolf Pack Season 2 Release Date, When Might We Expect To See Wolf Pack Season 2?
Where Does The Action Of “Cruel Summer” Occur?
The town of Skylin, Texas is made up for the sake of Cruel Summer. In order to avoid having to shoot in a made-up city, the actors of Cruel Summer mostly shot their scenes in Dallas. The Cinemaholic reports that numerous different commercial and residential areas of Dallas were utilized during filming.
Keeping with the show’s 1990s backdrop, the creators specifically sought locations that hadn’t been renovated or changed since the era.
One Nostalgia Tavern is located in Dallas, Texas’s fictional Lake Highlands district and is frequented by Brooklyn Sudano’s Angela Prescott. The Interskate Roller Rink in Lewisville, Texas, is the location of the roller skating scenes in both episodes 1 and 7 of Cruel Summer. Cruel Summer Season 7, Episode 7 was shot on location at the rink and the Music City Mall.
‘Cruel Summer’ Fans Pointed Out One Plot Hole About The Texas Location
It’s possible that many of the events depicted in Cruel Summer really occurred. That’s why a lot of supporters had the same thought. Yet there’s one thing that Texan viewers found implausible:
“This show is supposed to take place in Texas,” one viewer wrote on Reddit. “Kate was locked in Martin Harris’s [Blake Lee] basement. As someone from Texas, I know just how rare it is for there to be A BASEMENT IN A TEXAS HOME. It’s so rare I’ve never seen it. It just feels like it would have made more sense to either 1) have the show take place elsewhere or 2) have her locked in the attic. That would be much more realistic.”
See the tweet below posted by Cruel Summer:
Creep meter off the charts. #CruelSummer pic.twitter.com/Knk4RRQAfh
— Cruel Summer (@cruelsummer) June 2, 2021
Several Texans and Floridians watching the show were likewise curious about what was going on in the cellar. Hence, the fact that Kate was imprisoned in a basement may have given some viewers a hint that Cruel Summer was fiction.
If you are interested in gaining further knowledge on tv shows and movies, you are welcome to follow us on Twitter and engage in conversation with us about these articles.
