A murder mystery really works when you have no idea whodunit until the final episode…and that’s how Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” remains compelling.
Opening with the entire cast dancing to Meghan Trainor’s “Criminals,” the surreal story quickly focuses on extravagant preparations for the wedding of Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) and Benji Winbury (Billy Howle) at the magnificent $40 million Winbury oceanfront estate on picturesque Nantucket Island.
Benji is one of three sons of wealthy Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) and icy Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), a famous author, who’s about to launch her 20th novel featuring her beloved Dolly and Dash characters – with idealized Dash obviously inspired by Tag.
Unaccustomed to the sense of entitlement that comes with massive WASPy wealth, Amelia’s a naïve outsider, accompanied by her beautiful, flirtatious bestie Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy) and middle-class parents, cancer-stricken Karen (Dendrie Taylor) & Bruce (Michael McGrady).
Problem is: the morning after the rehearsal dinner, a body washes up on the white sandy beach.
Upon the arrival of Police Chief Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin), everyone in this affluent, dysfunctional family becomes a suspect. That includes smarmy eldest son Thomas Winbury (Jack Reynor), his pregnant wife Abby (Dakota Fanning), and youngest Winbury son Will (Sam Nivola).
Plus there’s best man Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khattar), family friend Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) and observant housekeeper Gosia (Irina Dubova).
Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel, the escapist wedding-weekend-gone-wrong plot that propels this complicated, fast-paced thriller is deftly guided by showrunner Jenna Lamia and director Susanne Bier.
Once again, Nicole Kidman embodies a brittle, bitter matriarch – not dissimilar to her pained roles in HBO’s “Big Little Lies” and Amazon’s “Expats” – as Liev Schreiber plays her philandering, pothead husband to the hilt. While Eve Hewson (U2’s Bono’s real-life daughter) scored in “Behind Her Eyes” & “Bad Sisters,” her smirking quickly becomes quite tiresome.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Perfect Couple” is a snarky, scandalous 7 – with all six binge-ready episodes streaming on Netflix.
Director Roland Emmerich recruited Anthony Hopkins to head the cast and created a cutting-edge virtual production to replicate ancient Rome for his first television series “Those About to Die,” streaming on the Peacock network.
This brutal, bloody sword-and-sandal epic explores despicable trickery and feverish gambling in the world of Circus Maximus chariot racing and, although it’s derivative, disjointed, repetitive and somewhat incoherent, it should whet your appetite for Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Gladiator 2,” scheduled for release later this year.
Ailing, elderly Vespasian (Hopkins) is the last Roman emperor to reign in the Year of Four Emperors, ruling from 69 to 79 AD. His rival sons are politically naive Titus (Tom Hughes), a celebrated soldier with a Judean consort (Lara Wolf), and sadistic, scheming Domitian (Jojo Macari). Both are waiting to inherit his crown.
Yet the antihero/protagonist is manipulative Tenex (Iwan Rheon), a ruthless entrepreneur who runs Rome’s most lucrative gambling tavern. His ambition is to form his own chariot-racing faction, placing him in direct conflict with various patrician families; the champion chariot driver, arrogant Scorpus (Dimitri Leoniadas), helps Tenex ‘rig’ races.
Traveling from North Africa, there’s Cala (Sara Martins), a determined Numidian mother working to free her enslaved daughters, Aura and Jula (Kyshan Wilson, Alicia Edogamhe), and brave, lion-tracking son Kwame (Moe Hashim), who is forced to fight as a gladiator with his Northman friend Viggo (Johannes Haukur Johannesson)..
Barely differentiated are the Spanish horse trainers (Eneko Sagardoy, Pepe Barroso, Goncalo Almeida), eager for acceptance at the Circus Maximus.
Based on Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 novel, it’s adapted by Robert Rodat (“Saving Private Ryan”) and directed by Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”) with Marco Kreuzpaintner (“Bodies”).
Despite pretensions of prestige filmmaking, the predictable, superficial characterizations and pulpy, violent plot are peppered with gratuitous sex and rampant nudity, although there may be a correlation with today’s sports fandom and online gambling.
Filmed at Rome’s legendary Cinecitta Studios, it’s a virtual production (VP), a relatively new technology that replicates the spectacular outdoor racing venue. “The artifice is what makes it entertaining – and profitable,” notes Domitian.
On the Granger Gauge, “Those About to Die” is a gruesome, gory 5 – with all 10 episodes now streaming on Peacock.
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