A Look at “The Perfect Couple” 2024: A Story That Could Have Been A Sharp Satire But Turned Into A Clichéd And Foolish Work
The Perfect Couple: Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber star in this story set on an island where they are preparing for their son’s wedding, only for the body of one of the guests to be found on the shore.
Who is the perfect couple? Could it be the tyrannical matriarch and her philandering husband? The loving groom and his indifferent bride? The opportunistic pregnant woman and her reckless and inconsiderate partner?
The Perfect Couple, The ironic twist in The Perfect Couple, Netflix’s new six-part drama series, is that despite all the beachfront properties, designer clothes, and wedding cakes that could feed a small army, there’s not a trace of perfection in sight.
Greer (Nicole Kidman) and Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) are very popular in Nantucket. Greer is a successful crime novelist; Tag is a lovable and carefree husband. Their middle son, Benji (Billy Howle), is marrying a beautiful but brash stranger, Amelia (Eve Hewson), an event that brings the entire family and all their connections to the island.
A Look at “The Perfect Couple” 2024
The Perfect Couple, Among the attendees are Amelia’s bridesmaid Merritt (Meghan Fahy) and the mysterious family friend, Isabel (Isabelle Adjani). But the wedding of the year takes a dark turn when a body—the body of one of the guests—is found on the shore. And nothing ruins your big day or unearths old secrets quite like a corpse.
The Perfect Couple, based on the novel by Elin Hilderbrand—dubbed the “queen of beach reads”—is captivating and melodramatic. The star-studded cast and their creative backgrounds should be viewed with caution: the series is, in fact, a polished display of sheer tastelessness.
The Perfect Couple, In his wedding speech, Benji declares, “I love this woman, till death do us part.” After such an ominous and foreboding statement, you can practically hear the “dun dun dunnn!” But screenwriter Jenna Lamia (whose most recent writing credit is the ill-fated reboot of Resident Evil) seems unfazed.
After all, The Perfect Couple was a book written to be read by the poolside in Cabo, alongside a piña colada—and the TV adaptation is intended for bleary-eyed commuters on crowded trains.
Beach reads rely on a simple formula—clichéd characters and a set of pre-packaged plots—but television no longer offers anything fresh or innovative. If The Perfect Couple reminds you of Big Little Lies (swapping Monterey for Nantucket), Nine Perfect Strangers, or The White Lotus, it’s because this is blatant, cynical imitation.
The Perfect Couple, The fact that Kidman starred in two of the three source projects for The Perfect Couple suggests that the Oscar-winning actress is willing to dive into this type of flashy streaming content.
Kidman may be the icy queen at the center of the promotional campaign, but it’s Hewson and Fahy (following their stellar performances in Bad Sisters and—yes, you guessed it—The White Lotus) who carry the drama of The Perfect Couple. In a story about a wealthy family (how wealthy? As the wedding planner says, “We’re talking so rich you could kill someone and get away with it”—dun dun dunnn!) they bring depth beyond the stereotypical imitation.
But overall, The Perfect Couple is as silly as it is derivative. The lavish lifestyle of Big Little Lies has been Netflix-ified—with bolder colors and catalog-like lighting—which makes Nantucket less inspiring than it should be. This is a series uncomfortable with silences or slow character development, and its rushed pace makes its nonlinear timeline feel somewhat confusing.
The Perfect Couple, Are we in the time before or after the death? Those watching on a six-inch iPhone screen may feel like the narrative is slipping away. The Bollywood–style choreographed dance in the credits is undoubtedly the most entertaining part of the show—but it feels mismatched in a series that refuses to embrace its own absurdity.
Even Kidman’s cry of “The shells are by the front yard!” as if defending the walls of Rome doesn’t fully commit to the farcical nature of the story. This leaves The Perfect Couple feeling hesitant, when it could have easily been a sharper satire.
The Perfect Couple, And don’t be misled by the presence of Danish Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier: The Perfect Couple is, in every sense, the quintessential Netflix formula. Lacking originality, it leans into Big Little Lies territory but without the tension or thrill of that drama. What we’re left with is a shallow and unfinished work, much like the incomplete lives it portrays.
The Perfect Couple is available on Netflix.
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