Sadie Stanley, Lexi Underwood and Griffin Gluck star in the latest chapter of the Freeform franchise.
Cruel Summer has a new mystery on its hands.
Freeform's teen mystery thriller, told through multiple perspectives and set in three different timelines, returns for season 2 this June. The official trailer, which was released Monday, teases a traumatic event that takes place some time around Y2K in a seemingly idyllic town in the Pacific Northwest that begins to unravel the friendship -- and love triangle -- between Megan (Sadie Stanley), Isabella (Lexi Underwood) and Luke (Griffin Gluck) as their friendship is impacted for years to come.
The trailer opens with Megan and Isabella being questioned by the sheriff about a missing friend. It's clear through the line of questioning that they're the prime suspects in a potential murder investigation. As it cuts to some time before their interrogation, life is good for Megan and Luke, but when Isabella -- the newbie in town -- moves in, that's when things get turned upside down.
After a body is found in the lake, Megan and Isabella are at the center of a possible murder as they promise each other, "We have to get our story straight." The tension ramps up as scenes of Megan furiously scrubbing clean evidence, Isabella dumping dozens of pills and a VHS tape being set on fire.
Luke asks Megan in the closing moments of the trailer, as a tearful Megan in the future appears in frame: "Do you wish you could go back? Just undo something?"
Watch the eerie season 2 trailer, which warns "There are two sides to every secret," below.
KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada and Sean Blakemore also star in the new season, with Paul Adelstein and Braeden De La Garza recurring.
Elle Triedman serves as showrunner and executive producer, along with Bill Purple, Tia Napolitano, Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple. Bert V. Royal created the series.
Napolitano, who oversaw the first season, had this to say in 2021 when looking ahead to the show's creative future: "I know we want to deliver another really satisfying, complex mystery that is also a character study, that deals with some heavy themes, much like they were in this season."
Cruel Summer returns with a two-hour premiere Monday, June 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform, before moving to its regular 10 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.
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