A series which is guaranteed to transform you into an observer frenzy if you are not already a
Karachi:
If there is one thing from the new Netflix treat to its viewers, The perfect couplemanages to do well since the jump, he transforms you into an observer frenzy if you are not already one. It’s almost a challenge: can you spend the six episodes in one session? The answer is yes. It is addictive from the start with this glorious Bollywood style dance sequence out of the note in the opening credits. If the six whole hours were only this rehearsal sequence, I would be glued to the screen anyway.
Money, money, money
From the start, the main player is presented: money. It is not only a backdrop – it is practically a character, breathing in life in the reasons for each of the gloriously dysfunctional sets. Just like the slide of an agatha Christie Whodunit crossed with the dark hilarity of The white lotusMoney is the invisible hand guiding each secret, power struggle and, of course, murder. Of course, he has no face, but it is omnipresent – like a puppeteer perfectly maintained in the shade, pulling all the strings.
The configuration is real estate to its best: a mansion (which has at least 50 rooms) perched on the Nantucket coast. He organized a bigger event than a royal marriage, where Nicole Kidman, playing Greer Garrison Winbury, takes on his role as a matriarch very seriously. Greer is the quintessence of rich and icy perfection, smiling through tight teeth at the imminent marriage of his second son, Benji (Billy Howle), in Amelia (Eve Hewson), a girl who is, in polished terms, a “Golden male” in the eyes of Greer. But to his great joy, marriage does not quite rise because of the corpse that washes on the beach in the morning. And in the mystery fashion of classical murder, everyone is suspect. No one is beyond the hook here, and they all have a reason.
Susanne Bier, who gave us this brilliant glow Hugh Grant and Kidman-Starrer The lossreturns with another luxury offer. This time, the stakes feel even higher, thanks to its effortless order on the story that gives us a mystery of murder where, in a way, you suspect everyone, but nobody at the same time. And although some of the same kinds force you correctly in halfway, it does not allow it.
Cracks in the facade
Kidman, like Greer, is back in his favorite role: Rich Woman in Peril. She is an incredibly successful mystery writer whose main alleged glory is the adventures of her fictitious couple Dash and Dolly. Dash, of course, is shaped on her ridiculously rich husband, Tag (Liev Schreiber). But this is where things become spicy – the perfect external marriage of the Greer is anything but. His empire, built on stories of love and mystery, begins to crack while the secrets bubble on the surface.
It is not only the cold perfection of Greer that keeps you hanging. We are initiated into the rest of the characters in rapid succession. There is his eldest son Thomas (Jack Reynor), a edifying story of what is happening when you are raised in a dysfunction. He is married to Abby (Dakota Fanning), who finds the joy of watching the others wiggle – a match made in paradise. Then there is the youngest forgetable son, Will (Sam Nivola), who, well, if you blink with your eyes, you might miss all his scenario. And let’s not forget the selection of family friends: Merritt (Meghann Fahy), Shooter (Ishaan Khatter) and Isabel (Isabelle Adjani). Together, they form a perfectly toxic mixture of suspects, all with various degrees of secrets and lies that make you guess.
The initiate and the detective
But the real winner of the Hearts? Gosia, the longtime frightening cleaning lady. Gosia’s disgust for anyone apart from the inner circle of Winbury is palpable, especially when the parents of Amelia, Karen (Dendrie Taylor) and Bruce (Michael McGrady), Waltz with their basket of fruit bought in store (hacking!). Her comment is brutal – she is also quick to reject a character to “make her bed like a poor” that she must roll her eyes on the “dying” disease of Karen who forced marriage to be reprogrammed. She is also a particular admirer of the tight revival of Greer. “Without fear, there can be no control,” she said to the police. And Greer does well to register fear – in his family and in the public. His steel shards and wild comments cross the screen by making viewers wishing that they never end up with a mother-in-law like that.
The real tension is triggered once the police are involved, and it is not the flashy manor or the glorious Kidman wardrobe that steals the show. No, the star is Donna Lynne Champlin as a detective Nikki Henry, the police detective whose expression always moves as much with each new absurdity that she is forced to support this oddly privileged crowd. The interactions of Nikki with the local police chief, Dan (Michael Beach), are a masterclass of professional frustration. She knows that she is against a system rigged by the rich – and even if she could roll eyes in a secret, she is clear like a bug and more than willing to exceed all the rich belettes on her way.
While The perfect couple Provides a lot of decadence coated with cashmere, sarcastic remarks and family drama, the mystery itself is simply correct. The big revelation is not the breathtaking turn to which you could expect – it is more a slow burn that ends up spreading. It works, of course, but in the large scheme of the mysteries of murder, he does not reinvent the wheel. That said, granted the general horror of all the characters, you don’t really care in the way, they all deserve to be in prison for their pure deplorability.
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