BY: Kevin Slane | Boston.com | July 11, 2024
“The Perfect Couple” trailer features Nicole Kidman as a wealthy Nantucket novelist whose family is rocked by a grisly murder the morning of a lavish wedding.
In the first trailer for “The Perfect Couple,” Netflix’s pulpy murder mystery set on Nantucket, a man in a police interrogation room offers a frank assessment of novelist Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) and her family: “They’re rich. Kill someone and get away with it rich.”
Based on best-selling author Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel of the same name, “The Perfect Couple” is a six-episode limited series set on Nantucket — though filming primarily took place on the Cape in Chatham in 2023.
The plot of “The Perfect Couple” centers around Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson, “Bad Sisters”), who is about to marry Greer’s son, Benji (Billy Howle “Under the Banner of Heaven”). Despite Greer’s disapproval, the matriarch has spared no expense to ensure that the lavish nuptials will be the social event of the season on the island.
But when a body washes up on the beach the morning of the wedding, the subsequent investigation begins to mirror one of Greer’s page-turning novels, casting suspicion in every direction and bringing long-hidden secrets to light.
The Perfect Couple filming locations
“The Perfect Couple” began filming in Chatham on Cape Cod in spring of 2023, and wrapped in early summer — though not before members of the WGA halted production with a picket line during its strike.
Though the lion’s share of filming took place in Chatham, Netflix crews visited Nantucket to film B-roll in September 2023.
In an interview with Boston.com, Hildebrand said that although “The Perfect Couple” was filmed in Chatham instead of on Nantucket proper, the show’s attention to detail (and its overhead shots of Nantucket) gave it an “authentic” feel.
“Because the majority of ‘The Perfect Couple’ was filmed on location in Chatham, the production will have an authentic Cape and island feel,” Hildebrand said. “The second unit shot extensively on Nantucket itself, and the script includes inside references to places like Bartlett’s Farm. Hollywood legend Fred North took overhead footage in his helicopter, and he later messaged me and said it was one of the most beautiful places he’s ever shot.”
Future Elin Hildebrand adaptations?
Hildebrand told Boston.com that she hopes “The Perfect Couple” will open up Hollywood to making more Nantucket and Cape Cod-set “beach read” adaptations for the big and small screen.
Several of Hildebrand’s Nantucket-set novels have been optioned for on-screen treatments, including “The Five Star Weekend,” “Swan Song,” and “28 Summers.”
“‘Big Little Lies’ changed the game, as far as taking women’s stories and making them into commercial properties on the screen,” Hildebrand told Boston.com. “As soon as that started winning awards, my phone started ringing. That’s when a lot of my stuff got optioned. What I’m hoping is that after ‘The Perfect Couple’ comes out, Nantucket and beach reads will then be considered fodder for Hollywood.”
The Perfect Couple cast, release date
Along with Kidman, Hewson, and Howle, the cast of “The Perfect Couple” includes Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”) as Greer’s husband Tag, Dakota Fanning (“Man on Fire”) as sister-in-law Abby Winbury, Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”) as Amelia’s best friend Merritt Monaco, Ishaan Khattar (“Beyond The Clouds”) as Benji’s best friend Shooter Dival, and Sam Nivola (“Maestro”) and Jack Reynor (“Midsommar”) as Benji’s brothers Will and Thomas, respectively.
“The Perfect Couple” will begin streaming on Netflix on Thursday, September 5, just in time for a Labor Day weekend marathon.