You have to love how much love Canada is getting right now in the world of entertainment. First came Heated Rivalry, which sparked a rabid fandom not only for characters Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie), but also for Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid, cottaging in Muskoka, and most recently Canadian Tire plaid totes! Then came Vancouver-filmed Off Campus, based on the book series by Canadian writer Elle Kennedy, which dominated Prime’s most-streamed list for much of the summer.
Toronto author Carley Fortune dropped her fifth New York Times chart-topping novel, while her first one, Every Summer After, was adapted by Prime (rebranded as Every Year After) and became another essential binge. So too did Lucky on Apple TV, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, a show based on the bestselling novel by Canadian writer Marissa Stapley. Prime’s Sterling Point is the latest Canada-obsessed show which dropped all eight episodes last week. It is definitely the biggest love letter to our homeland to date.
The story focuses on New York City-raised teenage twins Annie and Connor Jacobsen (Ella Rubin and Keen Ruffalo), who learn of a new-to-them connection to Canada through their deceased mother. This leads Annie to travel to Muskoka and the fictional island of Sterling Point, in the Port Carling area, to uncover some dark family mysteries.
Series writer and creator Megan Park, 40, was born in Lindsay, Ontario, and went to high school in London, which is why she so intimately understands the summers-in-Muskoka aesthetic. Park has shared in interviews that she has vacationed in Muskoka since the ’90sand recently told The Nightly that setting her YA coming-of-age series against the wildly romantic backdrop of the area was something she was passionate about.
“We knew we wanted it to be a summer show set in Canada, and cottage life in the summer is a really huge part of Canadian culture,” she told the outlet. “We can really show Muskoka for what it really is and talk about some of the things that are happening up there affecting the locals and the community.”
This is what gets you about Sterling Point: how real and familiar it all looks and feels. It’s all in the details: the Kawartha Dairy milk; the Beavertails; the bird’s-eye view of Port Carling’s main street and Turtle Jack’s waterfront patio; the vintage Muskoka Lakes map hung on a cottage wall; and main character Annie arriving at the Porter terminal at Toronto Island Airport, then hopping a Cessna seaplane to cottage country.
There’s even a nod to Muskoka’s legendary status with the celebrity set, with Kaia Gerber name-checked in episode one. Gerber’s family has long had a vacation home on a private island in the area (it was once profiled in Vogue); so too have Goldie Hawn, Martin Short, Lisa Rinna, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg.
For me personally, there is a deep personal connection to this show. The main street of Glen Williams, the quaint hamlet where I grew up an hour northwest of Toronto, subs in for Port Carling in several scenes. My elementary school is just out of camera range, across the street from the show’s market/bakery, which in real time is the Copper Kettle Pub, a charming Olde English-style gastropub.
You fall for all the glorious CanCon of Sterling Point. But you stay for the quirky-cool characters, the buzzy sound track, the coming-of-age/family drama, the yearning of young love, the breezy summer vibes, and Annie’s chic Chanel-centric wardrobe and fully loaded skincare regimen.
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