Murder thriller keeps you glued

There are enough rich-people-doing-rich-stuff shows on OTT, so what makes this whodunit murder mystery a clickbait on Netflix? For starters, the impressive ensemble, renowned Danish director Susanne Bier and the fact that it is an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s book ‘The Perfect Couple’.

Bier, best known for the 2016 series ‘The Night Manager’, miniseries ‘The Undoing’ and the film ‘Bird Box’, weaves a semi-intelligent plot, but with some brilliant actors to help her carry it through.

Viewers are directly introduced to the perfect couples, Greer and Tag Winbury, and their second son Benji and his fiancee, Amelia. As the family gathers to celebrate their wedding, the murder of the bride’s best friend, Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy), disrupts the festivities. With strong female characters, including matriarch of the family Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), Amelia (Eve Hewson) and lady detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin), the domestic thriller sets the right tone at the outset. Like any murder mystery, everybody has secrets, which raises suspicions about the various characters.

Except for the first episode, which unravels a suspected murder on the Winbury property, the following five shuffle between potential suspects within the family and guests, before the final reveal of the culprit. It keeps you on the edge but is at times superficial, for who among the crazy-rich families in America would talk to the police without lawyering up?

The Winburys talk to the police in a closed room with cameras, like they are breaking the fourth wall for reality TV content.

The Winburys own quite a mansion on an island called Nantucket, which is the background of almost all of Elin’s novels. The picturesque view is compelling. Throw in a high-society wedding, men’s obsession for golf and paddling, and women’s ability to dress like a million bucks even when mourning, and it makes for a classic case of class privilege.

Apart from a dysfunctional family, infidelity, complex relationships, it touches the underlying subjects of class bias, existential crisis and slut-shaming. And Greer is at the centre of it all. Not only does she work as a novelist to maintain the high-society lifestyle of the Winburys, but handles every crisis with a straight face. Nicole Kidman has perfected the role of a rich mom who is judgmental and suspicious of anyone who is not family.

Last seen in the series ‘Expats’ in a similar yet different rich mom avatar, the actress had done ‘The Undoing’, another mystery thriller, with the ‘Perfect Couple’ director. Kudos to her for packaging the same rich, icy mom character differently. Irish actress Eve Hewson as Amelia is the only weak character in the series.

Ishaan Khatter, who makes his Hollywood debut with the series, has given a noteworthy performance. As shooter Dival, the groom’s best friend and the first to be suspected of murder, he successfully figures the character graph to give his best. Dakota Fanning nails the pregnant wife’s role (Abby Winbury). She is married to the eldest son of the Winburys, and plays a perfect insider-outsider psychology with the viewers. She is the little surprise package.

Just like Elin’s beach-read novel quality, the series holds value for a casual background binge on a staycation over the weekend.