Elin Hilderbrand’s ‘The Perfect Couple’ Suspenseful Netflix Series Adaptation
With her starring roles in Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers and Expats, Nicole Kidman has become the queen of the prestige miniseries based on a bestselling, much-talked-about novel. So her presence alone is a reason to tune in to The Perfect Couple, the upcoming Netflix series based on the bestselling, much-talked-about 2018 novel by Elin Hilderbrand. There are a lot of other reasons to look forward to this highly anticipated series, so let’s take a look at what we know so far.
Kidman leads an impressive cast as Greer Garrison Winbury, a renowned novelist and the mother of Benji Winbury (Billy Howle), who’s about to get married to a woman Greer does not approve of. Bad Sisters’ Eve Hewson plays that bride-to-be, Amelia Sacks, who’s drawn into the mysteries and scandals of the wealthy Winbury family when a dead body washes up on the shore near the Nantucket wedding venue, disrupting the carefully orchestrated nuptial plans.
The cast also includes Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning, Sam Nivola and Jack Reynor as the other members of the Winbury family. The White Lotus’ Meghann Fahy plays Amelia’s best friend, with Ishaan Khattar as Benji’s best friend, and Isabelle Adjani as a Winbury family friend. On the law enforcement side, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Donna Lynne Champlin plays the detective investigating the case, with Omar Epps as the local chief of police and Mia Isaac as his daughter. Naturally, everyone is likely to be a suspect in the possible murder of someone very close to the wedding party. The book weaves in extensive flashbacks along with the present-day story, revealing surprising secrets about the characters’ pasts.
There’s also plenty of talent behind the screen on The Perfect Couple, with Hilderbrand as executive producer along with Kidman and Netflix veteran Shawn Levy (Stranger Things). Writer Jenna Lamia, known for her work on NBC crime drama Good Girls, is the creator and showrunner, and acclaimed filmmaker Susanne Bier directs all six episodes. Bier’s 2010 film In a Better World won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and she previously worked with Kidman as the director of The Undoing.
The Undoing took quite a few liberties with its source novel by Jean Hanff Korelitz, and it’s not yet clear how faithfully The Perfect Couple will adapt Hilderbrand’s book. Lamia and Bier have already made one major change, renaming the protagonist Amelia Sacks from the original Celeste Otis. The police chief, who’s a character in other Hilderbrand novels, has also been renamed, and it’s likely that The Perfect Couple will downplay or even eliminate the story’s connections to those previous books, which have yet to be adapted.
Given the popularity of The Perfect Couple and Hilderbrand’s work in general, though, the series will almost certainly retain the novel’s essential elements. Part of the filming took place on location in Nantucket, lending a sense of authenticity to the production. Hilderbrand has been called “the queen of the beach read,” and that addictive quality should transfer well to a binge-worthy series. There’s no specific release date set for The Perfect Couple, but Hilderbrand fans can expect to stream it on Netflix sometime in 2024.
About the Book
It’s Nantucket wedding season, also known as summer-the sight of a bride racing down Main Street is as common as the sun setting at Madaket Beach. The Otis-Winbury wedding promises to be an event to remember: the groom’s wealthy parents have spared no expense to host a lavish ceremony at their oceanfront estate.
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Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He’s the former film editor of Las Vegas Weekly and the former TV comedies guide for About.com. He has written about movies, TV, and pop culture for Vulture, IndieWire, CBR, Inverse, Crooked Marquee, and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.