Between Knives Out, Only Murders in the Building, Murder Mystery, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Afterparty, and so many other shows and movies, the whodunnit mystery is officially back in business. Audiences cannot seem to get enough of this addicting format, constantly returning time and time again to soak up the vibes. Netflix’s The Perfect Couple presents the latest in a long line of these types of shows, collecting an all-star cast for a Nantucket wedding gone awry. Only, we never get to the actual wedding due to the body on the beach that sets the craziness into motion. Based on the book by Elin Hilderbrand, not even committed turns from Nicole Kidman and Dakota Fanning can rescue The Perfect Couple from feeling like a repetitive retread of much better titles.
You are cordially invited to Benji and Amelia’s rehearsal dinner! Amelia (Eve Hewson) is about to marry into the obscenely wealthy Winbury family, and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, famous author Greer (Nicole Kidman), has many words to say about it. Her three sons deserve only the best, and judging by Amelia’s social status—her fiancé, Benji (Billy Howle), met snake handler Amelia at the zoo—she appears less than worthy. The first episode starts out innocently enough, with throwaway interviews about the big day from most of the Winbury family, and the festivities seems to promise an even better wedding ceremony. A scream rings out deep in the nighttime, and by morning, one of their party has been killed. Who did it, and why does someone want to ruin Amelia and Benji’s most special day?
Through six one-hour episodes, we explore all different sides and recollections of the day, with intimate interviews that call into question who may or may not be telling the truth. There are definitely crossovers—nearly everyone remarks that Tag (Liev Schreiber), the family’s patriarch is pretty “fuckable.” As one-on-one interviews play out, flowers for the postponed wedding show up at the gates, and strange pairings of the bridal party play out in surprising ways. This is one weird family that demands NDAs from outsiders just to throw a normal dinner party. That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of their warped interpersonal relationships, so assuming everyone involved is a spoiled rich cheater with vapid lives seems to be a pretty safe bet.
Deeply pregnant Abby (Dakota Fanning), the wife of defiant and rebellious Thomas (Jack Reynor), steals basically every scene. The youngest brother, Will (Sam Nivola), Greer’s favorite child, was the only other character that draws much interest, as a potential relationship develops with his friend, Chloe (Mia Isaac). Maid of honor, Merritt (Meghann Fahy), seems interesting on the surface, but the more revealed, the less I cared. Wasted entirely is Crazy Ex Girlfriend standout Donna Lynne Champlin as Detective Nikki Henry, the primary force in investigating the murder. Other than a wonky accent and brooding looks, the scripts give the actress little to do. Abby is easily the runaway best character of the series, and makes it watchable even when it becomes boring. Speaking of boring, the bride, Amelia, should be the outsider audience surrogate, or at least she would be in any other story. Here, she annoys more than draws sympathy.
The one sequence I looked forward to in every episode was the opening titles, a fun number with the entire bridal party doing an energetic dance to Meghan Trainor’s “Criminals.” Unfortunately, that’s just about the only aspect that feels ready to let go in any way. The juxtaposition between this happy moment and the actual atmosphere of the series may be intentional, but it makes the viewer yearn for a tone that they do not receive. For the rest of the runtime, these characters feel wound up so tightly that they are less than intriguing to watch. The plotting is so slow that only tiny crumbs of reveals emerge little by little. Every episode seems to have a different length and the pacing just does not work—I feel pretty confident in saying this could be easily edited down into one feature-length movie rather than six episodes.
Wasting a cast this good should be viewed as a crime. At one point, a brotherly fight breaks out over wedding cake that at least manages to bring some levity to the situation. Not even Thomas’s sassy dialogue can manage to spice up it up. An eventual reveal in the final episode attempts to justify what came before to those attempting to piece it all together. As a one-day binge, this could be semi-passable, but imagine watching week to week? What kind of watercooler conversations would even emerge? Lacking a gripping narrative throughline and stumbling from one middling situation to the next, The Perfect Couple fails to even flirt with perfection, stranding its morose characters in a lifeless tapestry of repetitiveness.
Are Benji and Amelia really The Perfect Couple? Find out when this slow-paced mystery washes ashore to Netflix viewers globally on Thursday, September 5th.
