LIMITED SERIES REVIEW
THE PERFECT COUPLE
Rated TV-MA
Six 60-minute Episodes
Released September 5th on Netflix
The Perfect Couple, a Limited Series streaming on Netflix, is an American version of the classic British stories of scandal and juvenile behavior among royals, such as Belgravia and Upstairs Downstairs. This is an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery with colorful characters whose personalities and motives are revealed just a step at a time, to each other and to the audience.
As the story goes on, these characters become more and more co-dependent and entangled in each other’s messy lives. It’s based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Elin Hildebrand about the “Winbury” family who have created their own isolated and absurdly elite existence of moneyed privilege on their Nantucket compound. The idyllic location provides a counterpoint to the deeply dysfunctional people who inhabit it, who present themselves as examples of evolved, privileged members of society, all the while harboring the personality traits of gang members and mafia bosses.
Hildebrand has written some 30 novels set on the Massachusetts coast. As a child, her family spent their summers there. When she was 16 her dad died, and those vacations stopped, so it became her dream to go back to the place that had given her happiness. In 1994, she moved to Nantucket, and six years later her first novel was published.
Location manager Liliana Kondracki and crew shot extensive footage on Nantucket, with the idea that the setting would become a secondary character in the story. Director Susanne Bier gave cinematographers Shane Hurlbut and Roberto De Angeles her blessing to design the shots of the location if they followed her vision. The setting is spectacular and presented well throughout the series. The way that it’s presented, it creates an environment of peace and brightness that has drawn people to the area for decades, which underscores the dark emotions of the characters. The cinematographers noted that they wanted to shoot the landscape in the daytime and let the characters provide the darkness and drama. The house that portrays the family mansion is a real home on the island.
Hurlbut and De Angeles were also drawn to the eyes of the excellent ensemble, especially to Eve Hewson who plays the outsider – the edgy, conflicted, reticent fiancée of “Benji Winbury” (played by Billy Howle.) Hewson is an Irish actress who is at the beginning of probably a long career. Her parents did not encourage her to become an actress, but she persisted. Notably, her dad is Bono of U2. Other cast members include the always brilliant Nicole Kidman as “Greer Garrison Winbury,” a hugely successful novelist, Liev Schreiber as “Tag Winbury,” who turns in some of his best work, Jack Reynor, who is on point as always as the renegade “Thomas Winbury,” and Indian actor Ishaan Khatter, who stands out as “Shooter Duval.”
There is a Bollywood-style dance sequence that occurs at the wedding rehearsal dinner which begins the story and is repeated before each episode. Most of the cast were against this scene because they felt their characters would never have danced like that. However, audiences love it. I believe it emphasizes that counterpoint between darkness and light, and the deception that is a main theme.
I believe this story should have been a two-hour feature rather than a six-episode series. But watch all six episodes, even if you feel it loses momentum in the middle. The payoff is like finding a spectacular waterfall at the end of a long hike.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
