The Perfect Couple Review – Intriguing Premise Hampered by Predictability, Inconsistent Tone

Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel The Perfect Couple marks the first adaptation of her work to make it to air. Hilderbrand, once dubbed by New York magazine as “the queen of beach reads,” has carved out quite the niche over the last 20 years. Since 2000, she has published 30 novels and four short stories. With her books using the idyllic Nantucket setting, and dealing with the lives and various scandals of the island’s residents and visitors, it’s surprising it took so long for this to happen.

About a death that occurs right before the wedding at a wealthy Nantucket estate, it feels like a perfect show for the final days of summer, and it feels particularly suited to Netflix. Unfortunately, flat characters and inconsistent tone prevent The Perfect Couple from reaching must-watch status.

The Perfect Couple Plot

Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) is about to marry Benji Winbury (Billy Howle), part of the famous – and exceedingly wealthy – Nantucket Winbury family. All this is happening under the watchful eye of her disapproving soon-to-be mother-in-law Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), a famous novelist. Add in plenty more expected eccentricities of a wealthy East Coast family, and it’s safe to say there’s a certain air of tension surrounding the nuptials.

All that tension boils over when a dead body is discovered on the beach the morning of the wedding. The ceremony is postponed while the police investigate, working to determine whether this was an accident or murder. And if it was murder, they have their work cut out for them – everyone staying at the Winbury estate had a viable motive, and as such, everyone is a suspect.

The Perfect Couple Review

Any good mystery will present several characters as possible – and plausible – culprits. Everyone likes trying to solve the mystery as they go along; they don’t want it handed to them or made overtly obvious. And on that front, The Perfect Couple succeeds. From family and friends, even the wedding planner, everyone has secrets they would like kept buried, for fear of being targeted in the investigation by the police. The show uses extensive flashbacks to reveal each character’s backstory, setting up potential motives for everyone.

The Perfect Couple does a good job of setting up each of these characters. Not to confirm whether or not the death was a murder or accident, but if it was murder, there are several options that would make sense. And that’s all well and good. But the characters are, most for the most part, simply not very interesting.

Benji’s brother Thomas (Jack Reynor) is one of the few exceptions. It feels like he has a little bit more darkness hidden beneath the surface than the others do. For a show about a devastating death – and potential murder – it could have used a lot more of this. Thomas also provides most of the laughs, something else the show could have used more of. He’s the closest thing the show can offer to a three-dimensional character.

Not far behind Thomas is Meghann Fahy as maid of honor Merritt Monaco. Where Thomas brings some of the darker themes, Merritt has an infectious high-energy personality that the rest of the show is missing. Like in the second season of The White Lotus, where she quickly became a fan favorite, Fahy is a clear standout here as well.

The rest of the characters are all pretty generic. The performances are good, though, which helps soften the blow. Dakota Fanning as Thomas’s wife Abby is a particular highlight. She is at least trying to do something interesting with her take on the character. Kidman’s Greer gets a couple moments that stand out, but her character is mostly elevated by the simple fact that it’s Nicole Kidman playing her.

One thing The Perfect Couple really has going for it is its pacing. It doesn’t reveal too much too soon, nor does it hold too much back for a big finale. There’s a good feel for when to drop a new reveal or twist. And at only six episodes – and with only the finale reaching an hour runtime – it’s not an overstuffed, dragged out season. If the show happens to hook you in, it will make for an easy binge.

As a show whose success feels like it hinges on surprising, gasp-inducing reveals, The Perfect Couple falls flat in that regard. With the exception of a couple late moments, none of the character revelations are at all surprising. You may not be able to match them up to each specific character, but in broad terms, you can generally guess what they will be. It’s a collection of tropes that you’ve seen a thousand times before, with no interesting spins on them even attempted.

But the biggest issue plaguing The Perfect Couple is its lack of consistent tone. At times it wants to be a serious procedural. Other times it wants to be a social commentary. Sometimes it acts like a family dramedy. And at still others it tries to play as a dark comedy. Unfortunately it doesn’t do any of those particularly well. Had it focused on just one or two of those, they might have had something here.

There’s a scene in the finale that maybe isn’t the “best” moment of the show, but it’s far and away the most absurd and entertaining. And that’s what the show should have been. If director Susanne Bier and screenwriter/showrunner Jenna Lamia and gone all in on that vibe, then The Perfect Couple could have been a breakout hit.

Is The Perfect Couple worth watching?

Kind of? If you’re hooked in after the first episode and you plan to binge the season, then it earns a soft recommendation. Even still, you’ll find an average-at-best show, with occasional flashes of a better show that could have been. But if you’re going to wait even a couple days in between episodes, then you can leave The Perfect Couple off your watchlist.

The complete season of The Perfect Couple is now streaming on Netflix. All six episodes were screened for this review.

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