Despite Nicole Kidman's stellar performance, ‘The Perfect Couple’ falls flat as a whodunit
When “The Perfect Couple” dropped on Netflix, streamers wasted little time in binge-watching the six-episode offering.
And with Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber and Dakota Fanning heading the cast line-up, how could anyone resist diving into the whodunit?
The series opens on a celebratory note. Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) is marrying into one of the wealthiest families in Nantucket.
Greer Garrison Winbury (Kidman) is the groom’s mother. As the family matriarch, she’s a perfectionist in every sense of the word. Honestly, her svelte figure and ravishing appearance belie her 57 years.
A world-famous author, she rules the family with an iron fist. As the one keeping them afloat before the trust funds kick in for her three sons, she has every right to.
Image is everything for her. When it comes to her son Benji’s nuptials, no expense is spared.
Tag (Schrieber), the groom’s laidback father, panders to his wife’s every whim.
Meanwhile, Thomas (Benji’s brother) seizes every opportunity to stir the pot, rubbing everyone up the wrong way with his entitled attitude.
Thomas’s heavily pregnant wife Abby (Fanning) reads the room better than her hotheaded husband, saying less and observing more.
She’s adapted well to the family and isn’t keen on rocking the boat in any way that would threaten the future of her family.
Then there is Will (Sam Nivola), the youngest sibling. Socially awkward, he is ragged about his failed relationships. It’s almost a running joke in the family.
The arrival of Merritt Monaco (Meghan Fahy), who is the bride’s BFF and a social media influencer, as well as Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khattar), the groom’s best man and ride or die, add a different dynamic to the festivities at the party before the big day.
Unfortunately, the celebratory mood changes the next morning when Merritt’s body is found on the beach.
Everyone in attendance becomes a suspect with Dan Carter ( Michael Beach), the, chief of police at the Nantucket Police Department, partnered with a brusque Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin), a detective from Massachusetts State Police, to solve the case.
In this small town, money buys influence. And the Winburys wield a fair amount of power, which sees Dan tread very lightly. However, Nikki feels differently about the family.
As the suspects are brought in, including the camp wedding planner Roger Pelton (Tim Bagley), the enigmatic longtime family friend Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) and the family housekeeper Gosia (Irina Dubova), secrets are revealed through their skewed recollection of events.
Of course, Greer, who is tired of keeping the family together and cleaning up after Tag, isn’t beneath throwing a loved one under the bus.
But actions have consequences and she has to face the music as well when her past comes back to haunt her amid a pivotal book launch.
“The Perfect Couple” does give off a “Big Little Lies” vibe but it isn’t a patch on the brilliant latter offering.
Instead, it devolves into a soap-esque drama, where Amelia, grappling with grief and guilt, faces off with Greer. Determined to uncover the murderer, Amelia goes down a rabbit hole, where she starts to question her relationship and future.
Meanwhile, a henpecked Thomas, drowning in an abyss of poor decision-making, finds himself in a Catch-22 situation.
Tag drowns his sorrows at the bottom of the bottle and Amelia’s mom, who is battling cancer and dad finds themselves ensnared in the unfolding chaos.
Kidman delivers a stellar performance as a conflicted wife and mother. She wonderfully straddles the emotions of calm and calculated.
Of course, she needed a powerhouse alongside her and Schreiber held his own, tone-deaf moments notwithstanding.
If being annoying as hell was the objective of Hewson’s character, then she nailed the role.
The writers use the struggles of their flawed characters as a distraction. That said, all the smoke and mirrors fail to mask the fact that it is a weak whodunit.
“The Perfect Couple” offers the perfect escapist into the dilemmas of the rich and messed up. Don’t expect more from it.