Cruel Summer Season 2: Trailer, Release Date, New Trailer, and Everything to Know

At last, Cruel Summer Season 2 is returning soon. 

The first season of the Freeform thriller was a wild ride that shocked us with twists and turns and lulled us into the lives of two unreliable narrators. Cruel Summer is coming back with a second season, and though the new installment will feature a completely new cast, we can expect some of the same gripping storytelling.

"We want to hold onto the rules — the three timelines, the dual perspectives, the things that make this show very unique," executive producer Michelle Purple said at Freeform's presentation at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Cruel Summer Season 2 features three timelines around Y2K, and the central mystery follows Sadie Stanley's Megan Landry, Lexi Underwood's Isabella LaRue, and Griffin Gluck's Luke Chambers.

Season 1 of Cruel Summer focused on two teenagers and the lies they told about each other. Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) went missing for months, and when she returned home the teen claimed that Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) saw her while she was kidnapped — but never attempted to save her. Jeanette denied this and sued Kate for defamation. It soon became clear that both girls, and the people around them, were not telling the full truth.

While the story of Kate and Jeanette has concluded, Season 2 of Cruel Summer will share its themes of friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. "So many people love those characters, but we could not maintain the integrity without repeating the same thing again," Executive Producer Jessica Biel said at the winter press tour. Biel also shared what draws her to crime stories focused on female characters: "What stands out is always unreliable narrators," she said. Cruel Summer Season 2 is bound to prompt viewers to question every word that comes out of the characters' mouths.

Here's everything to know about Cruel Summer Season 2.

Cruel Summer Season 2 Trailer

On May 8, Freeform dropped the trailer for Cruel Summer Season 2. The video teases the delicious mystery that surrounds our two new leads, Megan and Isabella. We get a glimpse of their friendship over the years, and it's obvious that a deadly incident complicates matters. Megan and Isabella both have something to hide or, as the trailer says, "there are two sides to every secret."

When is Cruel Summer Season 2 coming out?

We don't have to wait much longer for the premiere of Cruel Summer Season 2. The trailer revealed that the series returns June 5 on Freeform, and will be available to stream on Hulu June 6. 

What is Cruel Summer Season 2 about?

It wouldn't be Cruel Summer if it didn't involve an intense teenage friendship. Set in a waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the millennium, Season 2 will once again jump around to different points in the characters' lives. Freeform's official description, per Deadline, reads, "Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan's best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward."

Cruel Summer Season 2 cast

The second season of Cruel Summer stars Sadie Stanley as Megan Landry, Lexi Underwood as Isabella LaRue, and Griffin Gluck as Luke Chambers. Here are other members of the cast:

• KaDee Strickland as Debbie
  
• Lisa Yamada as Parker
• Sean Blakemore as Sheriff Myer
• Paul Adelstein as Steve Chambers

How to watch Cruel Summer Season 2

Cruel Summer Season 2 premieres June 2023. In the meantime, you can watch the first season of the show on Freeform or Hulu.