Amelia (Eve Hewson) is on the verge of marrying Benji (Billy Howle), the son of a wealthy Nantucket family. We’re talking influential money, fuck-you money, rich-rich money thanks to the family matriarch and famous novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman). Coming from wealth has its own set of rules that Amelia isn’t always privy to; but she doesn’t care because she’s so in love. That is, until a body washes up dead on the beach.
The family moves fast, preparing NDAs and getting their stories straight…a totally normal reaction to a “tragic accident,” right? The police are not convinced, led by the always brilliant Donna Lynne Champlin as Detective Henry. And neither is Amelia, especially when she finds out more than she bargained for about her future in-laws.
The Perfect Couple is a melodramatic mystery about the scary ways privilege moves and how picture-perfect families aren’t always what they seem. Hewson’s Amelia is a charming, if a little helpless, lead and our window into the world. Nicole Kidman is excellent at walking the line between poised and forbidding as Greer; Liev Schreiber plays her husband Tag who’s seemingly more down-to-earth but he’s known to his kids as a womanizer and asshole. Jack Reynor and Dakota Fanning take on the roles of Benji’s brother and sister-in-law who push their family’s buttons for their own twisted enjoyment.
The narrative swings between police interviews, flashbacks of secrets unspilled, and the present-day unraveling of the Winbury family dynamics. It seems no one is above suspicion and the intense need to keep up appearances adds a lot of pressure. The mystery is not anything groundbreaking but the series has a slightly peculiar undertone to it, fueled by the unexpectedly great score.
The acting is what holds it up, though—it’s not surprising with a cast as stellar as this and they propel the story forward. You won’t be able to stop watching as this powerful family works their influence over you; soon enough, you’ll be itching to know what secret is about to come out next.
