The Perfect Couple: Nicole Kidman’s Murder Mystery Drama Drops This Week

4 months ago

It’s a seaside murder mystery

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Summer may seem like it never started, but our attention is already turning to autumn – aka the best season for TV. As temperatures drop and rain increases, many TV channels carefully select dates in the latter half of the year, hoping more people will be curled up on the sofa than getting merry in a beer garden – and streamers are no different. Kicking off the season and coming to Netflix this week is a star-studded murder mystery series entitled The Perfect Couple. Here’s exactly what to expect.

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(L to R) Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks, Sam Nivola as Will Winbury, Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury, Billy Howle as Benji Winbury, Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury, Dakota Fanning as Abby Winbury, Jack Reynor as Thomas Winbury in episode 103 of The Perfect Couple. Seacia Pavao/Netflix © 2024

The Perfect Couple: Plot, Cast, Release Date

In the works as early as 2019, our anticipation is mounting for The Perfect Couple, a six-part murder mystery coming to Netflix this week.

What Is The Perfect Couple About?

The Winburys are the wealthiest family in the dollhouse town of Nantucket: matriarch Greer (Nicole Kidman) is a best-selling murder mystery novelist, while charming patriarch Tag (Liev Schrieiber) is the proud inheritor of Summerland, the family’s beachfront compound, which has been in the Winbury family for five generations. Their beloved son, Benji (Billy Howle), is about to wed Amelia Sacks, and while Greer doesn’t exactly approve of the coupling, she has planned a no-expense-spared wedding for the betrothed.

Amelia is besotted with her dream man Benji, but when she wakes up on the morning of their wedding, it’s not a perfect start to what promises to be the perfect day. On the contrary, a body has been found floating in Nantucket harbour. Instead of attending the champagne-fuelled wedding of the year, all of the guests are now suspects. As an investigation commences and secrets bubble to the surface, the picture-perfect day descends into a mystery plucked straight from the pages of one of Greer’s best-selling novels.

Combining all the best elements of a romance novel and a murder mystery, expect a glamorous old money New England backdrop and a whole host of famous faces to tell the tale.

(L to R) Billy Howle as Benji Winbury, Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks in episode 101 of The Perfect Couple

The Perfect Couple Cast:

The Perfect Couple is a star-studded affair, featuring the following big names in the cast:

Nicole Kidman as Greer Garrison Winbury, a famous novelist and mother of groom Benji
Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury, Benji’s father
Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks, the bride
Billy Howle as Benji Winbury, the groom
Meghann Fahy as Merritt Monaco, Amelia’s best friend
Sam Nivola as Will Winbury, Benji’s brother
Jack Reynor as Thomas Winbury, Benji’s brother
Dakota Fanning as Abby Winbury, an oil-heiress married to Thomas
Ishaan Khattar as Shooter Dival, Benji’s best friend
Michael Beach as Dan Carter, chief of police
Donna Lynne Champlin as Nikki Henry, a detective
Mia Isaac as Chloe Carter, the chief of police’s daughter
Isabelle Adjani as Isabel Nallet, a family friend
Nick Searcy as Deputy Carl
Irina Dubova as Gosia
Stuart Whalen as another police officer
Blair Baker as Bronwen Canals
Sidney Bottino as a wedding guest
Sara Choukri as a ferry passenger
Heidi Garza as a hairstylist for People Magazine
Belen Cusi as a reporter

(L to R) Ishaan Khattar as Shooter Dival, Meghann Fahy as Merritt Monaco in episode 101 of The Perfect Couple

Is There A Trailer?

Fancy a taste of the action? Netflix has released its first teaser trailer, and you can watch it below.

Is It Based On A Book?

Yes, Netflix’s The Perfect Couple is based on Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel of the same name. This adaptation has been in the works since 2019, when Fox Entertainment announced Jenna Lamia would be adapting the book for the screen. By 2022, a six-part series had been greenlit by Netflix, with Lamia serving as showrunner, Susanne Bier directing, and Hilderbrand on board as an executive producer. Production companies 21 Laps Entertainment, The Jackal Group and Blossom Films are also involved, the latter being headed by Kidman and Per Saari. Like many projects produced by Blossom Films – including Expats, Big Little Lies, The Undoing and Nine Perfect Strangers – Kidman will star as well as produce.

One notable change from the book to the TV series is the bride’s name: she is Celeste Otis in the book, but Amelia Sacks in the series. Interestingly, Hilderbrand has written more than 30 novels yet The Perfect Couple, her first murder mystery, is the first to be adapted for the screen. Meanwhile, Ellen Pompeo has been working with ABC to adapt Hilderbrand’s Paradise Trilogy into a TV series, but the fruits of her labour are yet to be seen.

(L to R) Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury, Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in episode 103 of The Perfect Couple.

Where Was It Filmed?

The Perfect Couple was filmed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 2023, according to the Cape Cod Times, with some scenes filmed on Nantucket itself. That said, the Winbury family’s beachfront compound, Summerland, was filmed in the private neighbourhood of Eastward Point in Chatham, a mainland peninsula.