Elin Hilderbrand's 2018 novel The Perfect Couple marks the first adaptation of her work for broadcast. Hilderbrand, once dubbed by New York magazine as the "queen of beach reads," has carved out a niche for herself over the past 20 years. Since 2000, she has published 30 novels and four short stories. With her books using the idyllic Nantucket setting and dealing with the lives and various scandals of the island's residents and visitors, it's surprising that it took so long for this to happen.
Review of the Netflix series The Perfect Couple
About a death that occurs right before the wedding at a wealthy Nantucket estate, it feels like a perfect show for the last days of summer, and it feels especially suited for Netflix. Unfortunately, flat characters and inconsistent tone keep The Perfect Couple from reaching must-see status.
Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) is about to marry Benji Winbury (Billy Howle), part of the famous – and immensely wealthy – Nantucket Winbury family. All of this happens under the watchful eye of her disapproving soon-to-be mother-in-law Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), a famous novelist. Add in the much more expected eccentricities of a wealthy East Coast family, and it's safe to say there's some tension surrounding the wedding.
All that tension boils over when a dead body is discovered on the beach on the morning of the wedding. The ceremony is postponed while police investigate, working to determine if this was an accident or murder. And if it was murder, they've got their work cut out for them – everyone who lived on the Winbury estate had a viable motive, and as such are all suspects.
