How delightful the old “who killed” in the series format is. If well conducted, it never fails. In the new Netflix series, The Perfect Couple, all the clichés are used with an incredible female cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Isabelle Adjani, Dakota Fanning, Meghann Fahy, and Eve Hewson in a plot of mystery, drama, and of course, murder.

To the sound of Meghan Trainor – Criminals – the credits open with everyone at a party for millionaires in the most VIP stronghold of the United States: Nantucket. A few hours before the wedding for which everyone is there, someone turns up dead on the beach and everyone is a suspect. If you think of The White Lotus (interestingly with Meghann Fahy having participated in season 2), it’s because it’s basically the same thing. From the crime, which takes a while to reveal “who” died, we go back in time to see how the whole party was just a millimeter away from disaster from the beginning.

The series is an adaptation of the book by Elin Hilderbrand, the best-selling author (who lives in Nantucket). It plays – obviously – with how the facade of luxury and happiness only hides people on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The first episode takes a while to reveal who the victim is, and it is the influencer and bridesmaid, Merritt Monaco (Fahy), whose body is found floating in the harbor by the bride, Amelia Sacks (Hawson). The police have to navigate between lies and suspicions to identify who killed the young woman and there is no shortage of candidates in a web of revelations that include infidelity, financial problems, and personal revenge.

It is difficult to contain spoilers from a story that has been retold many times. In the book, the narrative shifts between different perspectives, providing insights into the characters’ backgrounds and the events that led to the wedding, and in this way, readers put the pieces of the mystery together.

The truth is that The Perfect Couple didn’t come to reinvent the wheel and what holds it together is that, even without decent material in hand, the actors manage to maintain interest in the plot and that is already a feat to be recognized. Nicole Kidman, who is one of the most active actresses in Hollywood in the last three decades, is officially on all platforms, and in this “debut” on Netflix, she does not disappoint. It is not necessarily her best work, but she is doing her best in any genre she chooses to try. What is really bizarre is to see the French star Isabelle Adjani again in an American production, less for her status. She manages to have her face even more deformed than Nicole and this needs to be mentioned because it distracts us when she is on screen, unfortunately.

The series drags on, like a soap opera, the revelation is only made at the end (I will give spoilers later) and honestly, it is just a distraction. Extending it to six hours is an exaggeration, I bet that you, like my sister, will deduce what happened in mere minutes. But if you don’t, here’s the classic tip: if the most famous guy isn’t the good guy? He’s the guilty one.

But be careful! In the book, the killer is Nicole Kidman, but by accident. Of course, in the first episode we saw that the victim, Merrit, was having an affair with Greer’s (Kidman) husband, Tag (Liev Schreiber) and the confrontation is hilarious – yes! – and that’s thanks to Nicole Kidman’s gigantic talent.

If you can’t stand the delay, skip to the end because losing Nicole? No way. She can handle anything. And yes… changing who was killed in the series. Of course, I’ll spare you the spoiler, but if you read between the lines you’ll be able to figure it out…

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