The perfect couple doesn’t exi—. Wait a minute, scratch that. The Perfect Couple does exist, and the teaser trailer was released this past Thursday.
Starring Nicole Kidman as the matriarch of the wealthy Winbury family, the upcoming limited series is an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s 2019 bestseller of the same name. Greenlit by Netflix in 2022, the series covers Amelia (Eve Hewson) and her upcoming marriage into the powerful Nantucket-based family, only to have the event ruined by an ‘accidental drowning’ and the impending investigation in which everyone is a suspect.
With the series set to premiere on September 5th, the teaser trailer reveals further details on both the production, as well as the stellar cast that will be supporting the Oscar-winning Kidman in her role as Greer Garrison Winbury. Directed by Susanne Bier, the first female director to win a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a European Film Award collectively, the series is fleshed out by other award winners, including Ray Donovan’s (2013-2020) Liev Schreiber as Kidman’s husband Tag and former-child star turned Indie-queen Dakota Fanning.
Unlike other recent adaptations of ‘affluent murder mysteries’, it would seem from the trailer that The Perfect Couple leans further into its campy inevitabilities than the likes of Big Little Lies (2016-), or the previous Kidman and Bier collaboration, The Undoing (2020). With the series being a Netflix production, a more self-aware take seems inevitable after the streamer’s success with The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (2022). This limited series poked fun at the same genre The Perfect Couple resides in.
“The key to this family…” Fanning’s Abby warns Amelia, alongside a dramatic pause, “…is to just stay on the periphery… where it’s safe” as splices of removed sunglasses and longing glances filter between shots of a crime scene on an otherwise serene beach. As the tension builds, a finely cut rendition of Frankie Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ plays as we are introduced to our cast alongside a list of suspects, including Emmy nominee for The White Lotus (2022) Meghann Fahey who whispers “I see you b****” in Amelia’s direction.
Whilst the general dark comedic tone of the series was highlighted in the teaser, audiences will have to wait until September to better decipher The Perfect Couple and their hidden imperfections.
Words by Ben Carpenter
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