A fast-paced, quiet and wonderfully twisted crime thriller that deals with a whole range of issues – serious family problems, class prejudice, dangerous love affairs, long-hidden secrets that sow deep mistrust, and the complexity of police work in a city where the rich have disproportionate power – The perfect couplestarring Nicole Kidman, Live Schreiber and Ishaan Khatter (in a major role that he does full justice to), is a near-perfect mix of intrigue, suspense and diversions.
Captivating from the very first second, showrunner and author Jenna Lamia’s adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s bestselling novel of the same name does not let up even during the many twists and turns that follow the discovery of a lifeless body on the beach on the morning of a high-society wedding on the island of Nantucket in the US state of Massachusetts.
It’s the Fourth of July weekend and the family is ready to pull out all the stops when they are interrupted by an incident that Nantucket police suspect was a murder and not a mere accident as some of the revelers would have the world believe.
The core of the Netflix series is reminiscent of Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers (both starring Nicole Kidman and set in a Californian city) and The White Lotus, but The perfect coupIt is most definitely and certainly a beast of its own.
Not only is the film not a run-of-the-mill story, it is also fast-paced enough not to be complicated or slowed down by an exceptionally hectic plot. This plot becomes increasingly complicated until the sixth and final episode, which is the longest of all at 63 minutes.
Director Susanne Bier has plenty of experience analyzing the actions of flawed people in an imperfect world and uncovering the many psychological vagaries of human behavior. She uses all her acumen to portray the residents of a summer villa by the sea, their lovers, friends and enemies, and their individual and collective machinations and fixations.
The perfect couple of the title are anything but a couple that anyone should emulate. The highly successful crime writer Greer Garrison Winbury (Kidman) has 28 bestsellers and 29 turbulent years of marriage under her belt. She is a cynical control freak who has a lot to hide. And that also applies to her husband, Tag Winbury (Live Schreiber), who never misses an opportunity to emphasize that he still loves his wife more than anyone or anything else in the world.
Their lavish lifestyle is funded both by the wealth Greer’s books have brought and by the family fortune the Winburys have held for several generations, allowing Greer’s partner and his three sons the luxury of never having to worry about where their next million dollars will come from.
The first episode of the series begins with the pre-wedding party for Greer’s son Benji (Billy Howle) and the far less wealthy Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson), a zookeeper from Easton, Pennsylvania, who, in the eyes of the snooty novelist, is an intruder without whom the Winburys would be better off.
The groom’s best man and college friend, Shooter Dival (Khatter), arrives on time for the event, but the maid of honor, Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy, who also appeared in “The White Lotus”), a lady with an infectious joie de vivre whose presence is immediately felt by the company, is a little late.
Both guests – Shooter has a special relationship with Greer – influence how things unfold in the next few days for the Winburys and the law enforcement officers of Nantucket.
Hours after the wedding party ends, a body is discovered on the beach. The wedding is called off. The local police, led by Police Chief Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (brilliantly played by Donna Lynne Champlin, who repeatedly steals the show in the six-part drama series), begin their investigation. Everyone in the family and around them is a suspect and a potential witness.
This is basically familiar territory – Greer says in a television interview that she once had “an Agatha Christie obsession” – but The perfect couple has characters and situations that lead the story in directions that are as confusing as they are given the world in which
the Winburys inhabit and the fictional universe that Greer makes great use of.
Greer is a public figure who defends the image of her family, her marriage and the lifestyle she wants to project with all her might. No Winbury, especially no girl who marries into the family, has the opportunity to defy the rules she herself has set. Abby learns to live with this reality, but Amelia is confused when it is suggested that she can’t say what she thinks and follow her heart.
Some of the twists in The perfect couple may feel a little contrived and arbitrary, but The perfect couple always has surprises in store. The film does not fall into a predictable pattern, although the rapid succession of incidents and revelations – which largely come about through the suspects’ and witnesses’ answers to questions during police questioning – prepares the audience not to take anything at face value.
Everyone in The perfect couple have problems with each other, but not so much with the rest of the world, which they can block out of sight at will. Greer’s eldest son Thomas (Jack Reynor), his pregnant wife Abby (Dakota Fanning), who senses the hostility that Amelia arouses in the class-conscious Greer, and his youngest brother Will (Sam Nivola), the Winburys are constantly battling with unnerving, if not downright malevolent, forces around them.
The Winburys’ opulent cottage in Nuntucket is called Summerland. But it is eternal winter, frosty vibes are everywhere, and dark and dirty secrets lurk in every corner of a house that is more of a prison than a sanctuary.
The actors, led by Kidman, are in their element. The script and the directorial interventions provide just the right stage to bring the characters and their weaknesses to life. Schreiber is great as one half of the “perfect couple.” Hewson holds her own as the unwitting troublemaker who causes unrest in the Winbury household. The plot gives Ishaan Khatter the opportunity to stand out from the crowd. And he makes the most of it.
Binge-worthy through and through.
