56 Days is an American thriller television series developed by Karyn Usher and Lisa Zwerling for Amazon Prime Video. Based on Catherine Ryan Howard's 2022 novel of the same name, and executive produced by James Wan, the series stars Avan Jogia, Dove Cameron, Karla Souza, and Dorian Crossmond Missick. It alternates between two timelines, following Oliver and Ciara's relationship after meeting in a supermarket, and 56 days later, when a corpse is found in their apartment with two detectives investigating the murder.
The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on February 18, 2026.
Contents
Premise
Oliver Kennedy (Avan Jogia) and Ciara Wyse (Dove Cameron) start an intense relationship after meeting in a supermarket. 56 days later, an unidentified body is found in Oliver's luxury apartment linked to him and Ciara. Detectives Lee Reardon (Karla Souza) and Karl Connolly (Dorian Crossmond Missick) reconstruct the couple's deadly romance across the past 56 days, trying to uncover what happened.
It is ultimately revealed that Ciara's real name is Megan, and that she had initiated the relationship with Oliver to exact revenge on him for the death of her brother, Shane, who committed suicide in prison after being convicted of a death for which Oliver was responsible. Over the course of the series, Megan realizes that Oliver is genuinely remorseful, and she falls in love with him. The body in the apartment turns out to be Oliver's manipulative therapist, whom Megan killed in self-defense. The series ends with Megan and Oliver still together, having had a child named Shane.
Cast and characters
Main
Avan Jogia as Oliver Kennedy / Oliver St. Ledger
Dove Cameron as Ciara Wyse / Megan Martin
Karla Souza as Lee Reardon
Dorian Crossmond Missick as Karl Connolly
Recurring
Alfredo Narciso as Elliot Berhane
Jesse James Keitel as Alison Meadows
Patch Darragh as Dan Troxler
Megan Peta Hill as Shyla Martin
Kira Guloien as Jane Miller
Matt Murray as Kevin Sullivan
David Klein as Declan Kelly
Jennifer Ferrin as Kristi Martin
Dylan Colton as Linus Finch
Celeste Oliva as Camille Russo
Production
The series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Atomic Monster and was commissioned in December 2023. The series is written and executive-produced by Lisa Zwerling and Karyn Usher. James Wan is one of the executive producers, along with Michael Clear and Rob Hackett at Atomic Monster. Nathan Barr composed the score for the series. Multiples changes were made for the series, with the setting from the novel changed from Dublin to Boston. The other major change is that the novel takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Oliver suggesting that Ciara spend the lockdown at his place; however, the pandemic's storyline was removed for the adaptation.
In May 2024, Avan Jogia and Dove Cameron were cast in the lead roles of Oliver Kennedy and Ciara Wyse. In June 2024, Karla Souza, Megan Peta Hill, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Patch Darragh, Kira Guloien, Celeste Oliva, Jesse James Keitel, and Matt Murray joined the cast.
Filming took place in Montreal in June 2024.
Release
56 Days premiered on February 18, 2026, on Amazon Prime Video, with all eight episodes released at once.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 60% based on 30 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "56 Days almost overstays its welcome with this snoozy mystery, but its central conceit is saved by two utterly beguiling performances." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave it a score of 55 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
