My first glimpse ofThe Perfect Couplewasn’tElin Hilderbrand’s novel, but the teaser trailer for the Netflix limited series that promised a lavish whodunit among a family who all, unsurprisingly, had a motive to kill. The stacked cast withNicole Kidmanis easily one of the reasons to watch the series, even if it bore some resemblance to another 2024 mystery series,Apples Never Fall. But when the Netflix series finally arrived, there was something obvious I picked up on from the first episode. The whodunit behindThe Perfect Couple’s inciting crime wasn’t going to be as compelling as uncovering how messy the Winbury family was.
I noticed too that Netflix was promoting this series as “Big Little LiesmeetsTheWhite Lotus.” Most of the time, comparisons like this are a marketing ploy, and they don’t hold any accuracy, which is the case forThe Perfect Couple. It’s very different from those HBO dramas, and this is especially clear when the opening credits come on and out of nowhere — it’s a dance number.Nicole Kidman’s piercing glare is nowhere to be found as she’s spinning and throwing her hands up along with the rest of the cast. Even after finishing the series, I don’t think I’m over the confusion the opening credits have given me, andwhat makes that sequence even more wildis learning how the show’s director had to fight to get it made when most of the cast opposed it.
‘The Perfect Couple’ Opening Credits Work for Me More Than They Should
Even if Netflix hadn’t tried to lure in new viewers with comparisons to the HBO dramas, it isn’t hard to notice howThe Perfect Coupleis influenced by them. StarringBig Little Liesalum Nicole Kidman andWhite LotusSeason 2 standoutMeghann Fahy, it exploreshow rich folks unravelwhen their elite bubble bursts. For the most part, this is all the Netflix series shares with those HBO dramas, becauseThe Perfect Coupleis cheesier than either of them, which is whythe opening creditsoddly work more than they should.
On a sun-lit Nantucket beach, the cast joins in a flash to dance to a Meghan Trainor song, one suitably named “Criminals,” for a sequence that is overtly cheerful. It’s depicted as a celebration (possibly) during the rehearsal dinner before a body is discovered the following morning and family secrets are exposed. Even before I made it halfway through the first episode, I knew if I wanted more ofBig Little LiesorWhite Lotus,The Perfect Couplewouldn’t do that, all because of the opening credits. The ocean motifs in the addictive intro ofBig Little Liesrepresent the inner lives of its central women. The anxiety-ridden score inWhite Lotuspromises the unhinged stories that will erupt. These are two of the best TV opening sequences of the past couple of years that have stayed with me. In contrast,the opening credits ofThe Perfect Coupleplay out like viewers have been dropped into a dance partywithout any warning.
After ‘The Perfect Couple,’ Watch the Director’s Psychological Thriller With Nicole Kidman
Susanne Bier never disappoints.
I’m Still Trying to Make Sense of ‘The Perfect Couple’s Opening Credits
The camera work captures everything cleanly with wide and medium shots, while the editing isn’t too rushed. Nothing spells out “danger,”there aren’t colorful dresses that are blood-stained in the opening ofThe Perfect Couple.Other than a credit for Netflix and the show’s title, no cast names are seen, further establishing this dance number as not a typical intro and more like a scene that has suddenly been inserted. Some viewers may hit the “skip” button fast, but others may just enjoy it for what it is. While I was watching the series, I started to see how this sequence represented a key theme.
Each time I saw the opening credits appear, it becamea reminder of the artificial happiness within the Winbury family.At the head of bickering siblings and a cheating husband is Kidman’s matriarch Greer, who has carefully built a facade for the public to eat up on how her family is viewed, which gradually dissolves as the police investigation gets going. What sells this idea even more, is how the cast themselves detested filming the dance number.DirectorSusanne Bierfought to get it made, telling IndieWire, “First of all, it’s going to be really joyful and fun, but it’s also going to suggest to the audience, ’Hey, you are allowed to laugh here. You don’t have to think this is very dark and very serious because it’s not.’” She had one ally to help her along.
Nicole Kidman and Most of ‘The Perfect Couple’s Cast Didn’t Want To Dance
Liev Schreiber, who played Greer’s cheating husband Tag, was up for anything. If you watched Schrieber in the grittyRay Donovanor recognized the actor as the doomedCotton Weary from theScreamfranchise, his performance inThe Perfect Couplewould be one heck of a surprise. Not only did he sing more than once –thatscene in Episode 5 is cringe-worthy in the best way possible – Schrieber didn’t share the hilarious excuses his fellow cast members tried to back out of the opening sequence. In aVariety article, Kidman and Fahy, along withIshaan KhatterandDakota Fanning, had a group chat to figure out a way to stop the dancing from happening with concerns based on character motivations.
Kidman complained she had on a tight dressand thought Greer would watch rather than join in on the dance floor. Schreiber went on to add, “The entire cast had a mutiny about this idea except for me, I was already in my trailer practicing the dance moves. I just, like, dancing, and I was kinda disappointed when it came out that I’m not in it more because I thought I did it really well.” What I picked up on as I held off from skipping is that viewers don’t know the context of the opening credits, whether it existed in-show or not. That’s part of the fun and the weirdness. But the original plans could have more wild – yes, that is possible.
‘The Perfect Couple’s Opening Credits Proves the Show Should’ve Been More Fun
Dancing was originally in the scriptas part of a nightmare Amelia (Eve Hawson) has about her murdered friend Merritt (Fahy), seen in a later episode. While the nightmare was removed, Bier loved the concept of including dance inThe Perfect Couple, and it became the last thing the cast shot. Choreographed byCharm La’Donna, who is also Meghan Trainor’s choreographer, the cast accepted doing the sequence and Bier shot it within 90 minutes. But then,the series had another surprisefor viewers. During the last episode, the dance sequence repeats at the end, and this time, director Susanne Bier joins the cast before the end credits roll.
I just thought: good for her.More of the silly mood from the opening credits ofThe Perfect Coupleshould have been dispersedthroughout the series. There are moments, but it isn’t until Episode 6, thefinale, that it lets loose.Greer has a monologuethat lets Nicole Kidman portray an exasperated woman who is done with fabricating the “perfect” image of her family or herself. She delivers one truth bomb after another, then has to specifically confirm to her family that shedid nothire a hitman to silence Merritt. It’s a much funnier scene than it seems it might be.
The laughsthe final episodegot out of me were all based on the character relationships and Greer’s rigid personality that has been well established; it’s just unfortunate the series couldn’t have matched this or even lived up to that opening dance number. It isn’t hyperstylized likethe intro ofPeacemaker, and it’s not as iconic asJenna Ortega’s strange choreography onWednesday, which remains Netflix’s best dancing scene from any of its shows. Still, viewers can watchThe Perfect Coupleletthe Winbury family dance their spoiled hearts outon the screen before everything falls apart.
