In an era where streaming thrillers compete for impact in the first 10 minutes, 56 days take a more patient and seductive path. Prime Video’s adaptation of Catherine Ryan Howard’s best-selling novel begins with a decomposing body and a simple question: Who is dead and who is responsible? What follows is less a conventional crime novel and more a slow unraveling of intimacy, obsession, and the lies people tell when they fall in love.
Over the course of eight episodes, the series alternates between a murder investigation and the whirlwind romance that preceded it. The structure is binge-friendly, the tone bright and controlled. Even when the narrative falters, the show remains watchable, largely due to the sparks flying at its center.
The story begins with a meet-cute that feels almost unbelievably normal. Ciara Wyse (Dove Cameron) and Oliver Kennedy (Avan Jogia) meet in a supermarket and quickly form an intense connection. Attraction turns into coexistence at lightning speed. So, 56 days After meeting for the first time, the police force their way into Oliver’s apartment and discover a decomposing corpse brutally murdered.
From there, the series divides its timeline. One thread traces the growing intimacy between Ciara and Oliver, the flirting, the secrets, the subtle shifts in power.
The other follows Detectives Lee (Karla Souza) and Karl (Dorian Missick) as they try to piece together what went wrong. As the interrogations mount and inconsistencies emerge, the show keeps one guessing: was this a love story gone sour or something darker from the start? Of course, those who have read the book know better, but the final twist may pleasantly surprise avid fans of the books.
Yeah 56 days works, it is largely due to its advantages. Dove Cameron plays Ciara with calculated restraint, allowing vulnerability and suspicion to coexist in the same gaze. There’s something deliberately unreadable about his performance, and that ambiguity becomes the show’s greatest asset.
Meanwhile, Avan Jogia’s Oliver exudes charm and a certain unease. He’s attentive enough, intense enough, and unpredictable enough to keep audiences on their toes.
Together, Cameron and Jogia generate a combustible dynamic that elevates scenes that might otherwise seem repetitive. Their intimacy, both physical and emotional, is not mere decoration; it becomes the battlefield in which trust is eroded.
However, the love story between the two seems too fast, too rushed, too easy for one to fully invest in. The supporting cast also doesn’t always receive the same depth that is given to the leads. The detectives’ personal subplots occasionally dilute the urgency of the central mystery, compared to the well-developed source material available in the book.
Visually, 56 days leans toward muted palettes and confined spaces that reflect emotional claustrophobia. It’s a perfect atmospheric element for a psychological thriller. Structurally, the dual timeline works with flashbacks showing the heady rush of new love with breathless energy, while present-day scenes carry procedural tension. Contrast works until it doesn’t. Sometimes the romantic drama overshadows the investigation, making the murder itself seem secondary, but perhaps that’s what the creators were going for.
The final climax is competent but not jaw-dropping. On the other hand, the anticlimax is much more interesting. Despite that, the show works because it understands that its real hook is not just in who did it, but in why two people ended up here.
It is available on Prime Video.
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