The Perfect Couple–an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel, is launching on Netflix and everybody is a suspect.

It’s a busy holiday weekend in Nantucket as the Winbury family is set to welcome Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) into their clan. Amelia’s future mother-in-law, bestselling novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), might disapprove of her but this doesn’t stop the family from planning for Amelia’s wedding to Benji (Billy Howle). Well, until somebody’s body turns up on the beach. It’s all fun and games until somebody gets right, right? But now that a body shows up on their property, secrets and tensions come to the surface. It’s almost as if Greer Garrison Winbury is beginning to live out one of her own novels. Nantucket police chief Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin) bringing everyone in for questioning.

The Winbury clan consists of Tag (Liev Schreiber), Greer, and their children: Thomas (Jack Reynor), Benji, and Will (Sam Nivola). Abby (Dakota Fanning) is married to Thomas. Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter) is Benji’s best friend while Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy) is Amelia’s best friend. Will is friends with Chloe Carter (Mia Isaac), the police chief’s daughter. Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) is a longtime family friend. Audiences will get to know them through the course of roughly six hours, give or take a few minutes.

Without having read the book, it’s interesting going into the series. At the moment when you think that maybe it’s this person, the show then takes audiences in a different direction. If it’s not that person, maybe it could be that person because they appear to have a motive. Oh, it’s not? Just tell me who it is already! The smallest things in the background could turn into a moment that gets a callback during later interrogations.

If you don’t want to spend this weekend visiting the afterlife, you can’t go wrong in binge-watching the six episodes. No episode overstays their welcome. Much like other whodunits, each episode keeps the audience’s attention and are over before you realize the end credits are rolling! I’ve never been one to read books in the summer beach reads genre but The Perfect Couple piqued my interest by casting Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and Eve Hewson. The fact that Shawn Levy is involved is also a factor. By the end of the first episode, the writing and acting drew my interest in seeing things to the end. How did someone’s body turn up on the beach and who did it? I NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW!

Let me tell you, it doesn’t hurt that the miniseries feels cinematic in experience. Sure, I’m not watching it in a theater but it appears just as gorgeous as if I were. Streaming can have its benefits. If this weren’t on a streamer, I really don’t know which network would have been a tonal fit. It was ordered by Fox back in the day but then the Disney acquisition impacted its future. Having watched the 6-episode series, I don’t think it’s possible to stretch it out to thirteen episodes, let alone ten. But I digress.

Comedic whodunits might be all the rage right now but sometimes you need to add some drama into the mix. The Perfect Couple might have some humor now and then but they certainly bring the drama. Like I said earlier, everybody is a suspect. There’s no doubt that they all have their own reasons for wanting to commit a crime. The who, why, and how of it all is why The Perfect Couple may turn out to be the last big juicy binge of the summer. Fans of the book might be in for something of a surprise though. The series keeps the spirit of the novel but in Jenna Lamia’s words, “it has evolved over time into its own separate thing.” With Elin Hilderbrand’s approval, of course.

The Perfect Couple keeps everyone guessing while still feeling authentic to its Nantucket setting.

DIRECTOR: Susanne Bier
DEVELOPED BY/SHOWRUNNER: Jenna Lamia
WRITERS: Jenna Lamia (101, 106), Jenna Lamia and Bryan M. Holdman (102), Jenna Lamia and Leila Cohan (103), Jenna Lamia and Courtney Grace & Evelyn Yves (104), Jenna Lamia and Alex Berger (105)
BASED ON THE BOOK BY: Elin Hilderbrand
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Susanne Bier, Jenna Lamia, Shawn Levy, Josh Barry, Gail Berman, Hend Baghdady, Elin Hilderbrand, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari
CAST: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Billy Howle, Meghann Fahy, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jack Reynor, Michael Beach, Ishaan Khatter, Sam Nivola, Mia Isaac, and Dakota Fanning
GUEST STARS: Isabelle Adjani, Michael McGrady, Dendrie Taylor, Irina Dubova, Patrice Covington, Adina Porter, Tim
Bagley, Patrick Languzzi, Blair Baker, Thomas Flanagan

Netflix will release The Perfect Couple on September 5, 2024. Grade: 3.5/5

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