#1 New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand has been whisking readers away to Nantucket for years and in her 2018 novel, The Perfect Couple, she drops us right back onto the shores, and into a murder investigation. Now, fans have the chance to enjoy the story on screen with the premiere of the Netflix adaptation.
The Netflix adaptation boasts a star-studded cast including Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning and Liev Schreiber. The rich family whose wedding weekend is turned upside down is full of the delicious drama and backhanded behavior you’d hope for. Is there such thing as a perfect couple? And can you be too rich to go down for murder?
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
It should be the wedding event of the season, but when a body washes up on the shores of Nantucket the day of the ceremony, everything is thrown into chaos. As an investigator swoops in to question the whole wedding party, suspicion spikes and every guest is a suspect. Featuring characters from other beloved Hilderbrand novels, this story is a domestic thriller full of intrigue and secrets.
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Spoiler-free Episode 1 Review
When the show opens, we’re quickly thrown into the opulent life of the Winburys. The family is headed by Greer (Kidman) and Tag (Schreiber), their perfection and beauty, undeniable. They have three sons, one of which, Benji, is getting married. His wife-to-be, Amelia, isn’t exactly cut from the same cloth, but the two appear to be in love and the family gathers for the celebration, happy, if not stiff and a bit snobbish.
In forward and backward flashing scenes, we learn a body is found.
Quickly, we’re introduced to a series of supporting cast members as they are interviewed in the wake of the discovery. Though we don’t yet know who has died, the claws quickly start to come out as each guest describes what they know of the Winburys. From well-liked and desired, to cold and calculating, the staff and some of the wedding attendees begin to describe to investigators the sharks that lurk beneath the tepid waters of the family estate.
Dakota Fanning’s character, Abby, married to the eldest brother, offers, perhaps, the most delightfully, nasty portrait of the people involved. Snarky and a bit sinister, she offers cutting insight into the family dynamics.
The show feels both dramatic and, at times, comedic as it slowly starts to trickle out clues as to who they missing person could be and who is responsible.
As the episode races to its conclusion, we finally learn who lost their life in the shallow Nantucket water, but the mystery has only just begun.
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