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regular-article-logo Monday, 14 October 2024

The Perfect Couple: Nicole Kidman, a good murder and a viral song make it binge worthy

The six-episode Netflix series also stars Liev Schreiber and Ishaan Khatter, and is adapted from Elin Hilderbrand’s novel

Agnivo Niyogi Calcutta Published 09.09.24, 04:55 PM
Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple, streaming on Netflix

Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple, streaming on Netflix Netflix

There’s something irresistibly indulgent about Netflix’s latest mystery series The Perfect Couple, starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber as a stinking rich, oh-so-in-love married couple that you know not everything is quite right about them.

Not only is the show trending at No.2 on Netflix, the title credits song sequence of The Perfect Couple has gone viral too where the entire ensemble cast is dancing to the tune of Meghan Trainor’s Criminals in a choreographed routine.

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Adapted from the novel The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand, the six-episode limited series directed by Susanne Bier is set in the world of wealth, luxury and privilege where the Winburys — Tag and Greer, played by Schreiber and Kidman — get together at their picturesque beach home in Nantucket for the wedding of their middle son Benji (Billy Howle).

The plot revolves around the events of the day before the wedding, revealing the complex undercurrents in the Winbury household — between Tag and Greer, between their three sons, between the boys and their parents, between the elder son Thomas (Jack Reynor) and his pregnant wife Abby (Dakota Fanning), between the house staff and the owners, and between Benji’s bride-to-be Amelia (Eve Hewson) and Greer.

Thrown into the mix are a few of the family’s friends who have gathered for the wedding rehearsal dinner — the maid of honour Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy) and the best man Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter).

The main plot point in The Perfect Couple happens quite early on in Episode 1 itself — maid of honour Merritt floats up on the beach, dead. Enter police chief Dan (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry Donna Lynne Champlin, and from then on, it is a reconstruction of the events leading up to the incident through their investigation. Following the classic detective story formula, what one has in front is an array of characters, their backstories and their possible motive for murder, and Bier’s ensemble cast strike out as individuals with enough cunning and ambition to drive a knife for their self-interest.

At the centre of it all of course is Nicole Kidman as Greer Garrison Winbury, a romantic novelist whose porcelain smoothness gives little away. Kidman has played this icy, poised and full-of-mystery role so many times — think Big Little Lies, Expats and The Undoing — that she can probably do it now in sleep.

Beneath her pleasant exterior, Greer is juggling quite a few balls — micromanaging the wedding details, tearing apart Amelia behind her back and never missing a moment to make her feel inferior.

With 29 years of marriage, Greer and Tag fit the bill of the perfect couple but like the show itself, their bond is skin-deep. Tag is shrouded in mystery, just like his wife, and Schreiber is a master at doing very little to convey a lot. Schreiber easily glides behind Kidman and comes under the spotlight when you are least expecting it.

In the midst of such heavyweights, a self-assured Ishaan Khatter makes his presence felt as Shooter Dival, the best man with a history with the bride. Dival is a charmer and Ishaan nails it with his ripped muscles and a killer smile.

Though the strength of The Perfect Couple’s lies in its gloss and frothiness, the plot and pacing back it up too. The carousel of suspects spins at just the right speed, with revelations and twists unfolding with precision. It is the kind of series that demands your attention right from the start as you make a mental note of all the side glances exchanged between the key characters, and tempts you to devour all six in one sitting.

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