The HBO Max reboot of Pretty Little Liars is a hit with critics, garnering a near-perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sins premiered Thursday, July 28th, with three episodes introducing a new cast of Little Liars. While we’re only a week into the series, 12 Rotten Tomatoes critics have given it a 92% rating at the time of this writing, with 12 critics chiming in. As for the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sins‘ Audience Score, it currently sits at 79% among 71 users. The Pretty Little Liars revival is doing better than HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot, which has 36% on the Tomatometer and 64% average Audience Score.
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“Boasting a tantalizing new mystery along with a refreshingly grounded crop of pretty little liars, Original Sin is a gossipy good time,” the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads. The next week two weeks will see two episodes released on August 4th and August 11th, with the final three episodes saved for August 18th.
Many of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are overwhelmingly positive. Brad Newsome of Sydney Morning Herald says the series is “highly self-aware with a slightly heightened design that contrasts with an earthy cynicism and visceral darkness.” Paul Dailly of TV Fanatic states, “This new iteration of A is one of the scariest villains to hit the small screen… The girls know they’re being left in the dark about many things, but at least they know they aren’t imagining this masked serial killer popping up in random places.” Decider‘s Joel Keller calls Original Sin “a more violent reboot of the original series. But there’s a lot going on in this series, which might get overwhelming at some point.”
The logline for the series reads: “Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in present day, a disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago…as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-age, horror-tinged drama PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: ORIGINAL SIN, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.”
“We’re such huge fans of what I. Marlene King and her iconic cast created, we knew that we had to treat the original series as #CANON and do something different,” Aguirre-Sacasa and Calhoon Bring said in a statement when the series was first announced. “So we’re leaning into the suspense and horror in this reboot, which hopefully will honor what the fans loved about the hit series, while weaving in new, unexpected elements.”
“Roberto and Lindsay are expanding the Pretty Little Liars universe with more murder, mysteries, and scandal, and we can’t wait,” added Sarah Aubrey, head of original content, HBO Max.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is now streaming on HBO Max.
