The Perfect Couple

Academy Award winner Susanne Bier’s recent Netflix series, The Perfect Couple, adapted from the titular novel by Elin Hilderbrand, is a black comedy and a murder mystery that unveils a buried secret of a family where each of the members has something to hide. While it boasts of a competent ensemble cast and plenty of red herrings, it lacks the thrill and dramatic tension to keep us invested uniformly and ultimately, falls significantly short of its intended goals.

Greer Winbury (Nicole Kidman), a famous mystery novelist, is married to Tag (Liev Schreiber) and blessed with three sons –  Thomas (Jack Reynor), Benji (Billy Howle), and Will (Sam Nivola). She is a rich matriarch and looks after the whole family. Thomas is married to Abby (Dakota Fanning) and they are expecting a child. Benji is getting married to Amelia (Eve Hewson), a young woman not as rich as the Winburys. A luxurious wedding on the island of Nantucket is organized and guests arrive to be part of the grand event. But when one of them is found dead on the beach the morning of the ceremony, the jovial atmosphere is shattered. And as Greer has a new book to launch, the ongoing investigation and media attention put her on edge…

The title of the series serves as an epitaph by which Greer and Tag are known to the world and doubles as a publicity stunt to put Greer’s books on the bestseller lists. Predictably and unbeknownst to the world, there is an unhappy compromise beneath the surface of this ‘happy marriage’. Greer is aware that Tag has been unfaithful, but she takes it in stride rather than risk harming her career. Not just the two of them, all the characters are trying to keep up appearances, which underlines the central theme of the series. Every new episode brings a revelation with the uncovering of new information by the officers and the moment one riddle is solved, another emerges. While this keeps the series chugging along, the narrative flow is anything but satisfactory.

The writing team — Show Creator Jenna Lamia, Alex Berger, Courtney Grace, Evelyn Yves, Leila Cohan, and Bryan M Holdman – manage to invoke a plot that feels highly laboured and struggles due to a lack of engaging moments of intrigue. The suspicions created around one character after another are resolved so conveniently that they diminish the overall tension to keep us on the edge of our seats. There are moments of sporadic black humour, which work well in scenes such as the dinner table revelation or where Tag sabotages Greer’s book launch. However, for the rest of the series, scenes like Thomas’s interrogation or the fight between two brothers over the three-tier cake fall flat to say the least.  To make things worse, the big reveal of the killer is utterly banal. For one, the buildup is much too random, and second, the motive behind the murder feels unconvincing as if the writers ran out of steam. And after a while, the series stops being like a murder mystery and seems more like a dysfunctional family drama highlighting the fault lines in various relationships.

The performances do lift the series a notch or two. Nicole Kidman brings a confident and controlling presence to Greer. She never loses her calm when confronted with adversity and maintains a composed and assertive demeanour throughout. Eve Hewson confidently portrays Amelia as a straightforward woman who doesn’t hesitate to call a spade a spade, causing Greer to question her standing in the household as well as in life. Liev Schreiber portrays Tag with a deceptive charm to veil his self-serving tendencies. Dakota Fanning portrays Abby as a caring family member who adheres to her mother-in-law’s expectations. Donna Champlin as the detective, and Michael Beach as the Chief of Police, are not particularly memorable characters while Ishaan Khatter, Meghann Fahy, and Isabelle Adjani contribute effectively enough to the overall dynamic of the supporting cast.

The cinematography by Roberto De Angelis and Shane Hurlbut captures the bright ambience of Nantucket and the opulent interiors of the house with splendid detail. The close-up shots of the characters’ eyes when they are hiding the truth become a powerful visual metaphor for their emotional conflict. The display of light and dark in the interrogation room creates a palpable sense of unease in the weight of their secrets. Sam Williams and Morten Højbjerg’s editing maintains the rhythm and tempo of the scenes and the flashback sequences blend seamlessly with those set in the present. The music by Rupert Gregson-Williams strengthens the visual flow of the film.

Overall, The Perfect Couple is surprisingly bereft of the control and sharpness of Bier’s previous shows, The Night Manager and The Undoing. Given the calibre of a filmmaker like her, nothing from this series has anything spectacular to offer. It is at best, watchable primarily due to its casting and little else.

English, Thriller, Color