HOLLYWOOD—I have heard so much about the Netflix mini-series, “The Perfect Couple.” The buzz was building and building, and I finally found time to watch one episode, and without any hesitation I was hooked from episode one until the end of episode six. Talk about smart, clever, witty, juicy and fantastic characters.
I’m going to say something that perhaps many people may not love to hear. Nicole Kidman is one of the best actresss of this century. This woman just seems to get better as she ages. I mean I loved her in “Rabbit Hole,” she was fantastic in “Big Little Lies” and now she is delivering another knockout performance as the Ice Queen Mother-in-Law, wife and mother from hell. Kidman’s performance as Greer is a woman who just oozes chills down the spine, but you love every second of it.
When she speaks it cuts deep; she does it without being over the top and the looks she gives are just like a viper biting you without touching you. Greer is part of the Winbury family. Why is the Winbury family important? They come from money and big money in the Nantucket region. Greer is married to Tag Winbury, whose family is loaded, but as the episodes unfold the audience soon discovers the wealth might come at a cost or it could be the direct result of some bad behavior and plenty of secrets.
Tag is portrayed by Liev Schreiber, who is a bit of a drunk, and he loves to smoke and I’m not referring to cigarettes. Making matters worse, he is a bit of a womanizer. Greer does everything in her power not to present the ‘The Perfect Couple,’ but ‘The Perfect Family.’ Greer and Tag have three sons, Thomas (Jack Reynor), Benji (Billy Howle) and Will (Sam Nivola). Sorry, but these boys are a complete mess. Thomas is a druggie, sleeping with an older woman and appears annoyed with his wife Abby (Dakota Fanning), who is pregnant.
Fanning is a treat as the snarky wife, who loves to toss sly comments. She is not as cutting as Greer, but you can tell she loves to stir the pot and sit back and watch. Benji is getting married to Amelia (Eve Hewson), who within the first episode the audience knows has an eye for another guy, and it’s during the weekend of her wedding. Who is that other guy? Happens to be Benji’s best friend and The Best Man, Shooter (Ishaan Khatter). Everyone in this series is harboring secrets and all those secrets coming out as the narrative moves along.
This series works so well because you think you know who could be the culprit of the big murder that stops Benji and Amelia from getting married for the big weekend. You have many red herrings, but the bad thing is every single person has motive to commit the crime that takes place. I loved that the series didn’t reveal who the victim was until the end of the first episode. I was worried we would know the victim moments after the episode kicked off, but not the case.
The big reveal at the end of the mini-series did catch me by surprise because the person I was certain was the culprit, was not the person at all. It was someone else, and the narrative is done in such a captivating way you get so immersed in the character, their motives and how they navigate this tragic thing with such levity you forget the mystery a bit.
Another standout character in the series is Meghann Fahey, as Merritt, Amelia’s maid of honor who is harboring some secrets, some very dark ones to say the least. “The Perfect Couple” has so many characters that are memorable, likeable and you love to hate, it is difficult to pick a favorite and that is what makes it so amazing for me.
You get a slice of family that makes you say, well there is no such thing as the perfect family, especially the wealthy who plenty of the times put on a façade to make things seem so perfect when that isn’t always the case. This is hands down one of the best series I have watched in 2024, and each episode just gets better than the previous one until the big finale. Yes, “The Perfect Couple” is a bit of a dark comedy, but it has slices of intense thrills that absolutely work. Check out “The Perfect Couple” on Netflix.
