So much to watch, such little time.
12 Shows Like ‘The Perfect Couple’ to Put on Your Binge List
So much to watch, such little time.
When The Perfect Couple dropped on Netflix, a few things happened. An iconic opening number was born (never skipped it once), the show raced to the streaming giant’s top spot – and a serious viewing void was left behind.
And it makes sense, with the mystery miniseries having many of the right ingredients to ensure a recipe for success: an all-star cast (hello, Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber), a high society family with secrets to hide, and a bestselling book by Elin Hilderbrand backing the plot.
So, if you, like us, inhaled the show, and you’re after something similar to binge, you’re in luck. From campy dramedies about the ultra-rich to nautical whodunnits that keep you guessing, keep reading for 12 shows like The Perfect Couple to watch right now.
1. Expats
Where can I watch it? Amazon Prime
As far as similarities to The Perfect Couple go, Expats ticks some prime boxes. Nicole Kidman playing a wealthy mother? Check. Exploring the theme of appearances vs. reality? Double check. One of the best shows on Amazon Prime, the story centres around a trio of American women in Hong Kong whose lives are upended after the sudden disappearance of one of their young sons.
2. KAOS
Where can I watch it? Netflix
When it comes to dysfunctional families doing diabolical deeds, it doesn’t get any better than the ancient Greek gods. Like Stephen Fry’s Mythos meets The White Lotus, KAOS is a darkly comedic tale set in a modern world where three humans hold the key to Zeus and Mount Olympus’ undoing. Cue: family drama on a cosmic level – imagine having a paranoid king of the gods as dear old dad – murders and a game of retribution that only The Fates could see coming.
3. Death and Other Details
Where can I watch it? Hulu
If you loved the nautical setting of The Perfect Couple, this ‘whodunit’ has it in spades. While aboard a luxury cruise ship, Imogene Scott finds herself the prime suspect in a murder when a guest is killed at a decadent party. Desperate to clear her name, she reluctantly teams up with Rufus Cotesworth – formerly known as “the world’s greatest detective” and who she’s hated since she was a child – to sniff out the true culprit among an eclectic set of guests, each of whom has something to hide.
4. Apples Never Fall
Where can I watch it? Apple TV+
Based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book of the same name, Apples Never Fall revolves around the disappearance of Joy Delaney, the matriarch of a seemingly happy family. Her vanishing sends shockwaves through the community, and when her husband Stan winds up the prime suspect in the case and secrets begin to surface, her four adult children begin to look at their ‘perfect family’ history very differently.
5. Bloodline
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Veering more ‘thriller’ than ‘dramedy’, this underrated Netflix show packs plenty of twists over its three seasons. Following Florida Key’s respected Rayburn clan, their well-to-do world appears set to unravel when the ‘black sheep’ of the family returns home and threatens to expose long-festering secrets many wish to keep buried – at all costs.
6. Bad Sisters
Where can I watch it? Apple TV+
An Irish black comedy set in present-day Dublin, Bad Sisters is a riotous tale of revenge and easily one of the best shows on Apple TV+. Centring around sisters Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi, and Becka – the latter of whom is played by The Perfect Couple’s Eva Hewson – the story switches between two timelines: one where the sisters plot to kill Grace’s abusive husband John Paul, and one after his actual death when they find themselves at the centre of a life insurance investigation.
7. The Undoing
Where can I watch it? Prime
Not only does The Undoing star Nicole Kidman, but it was also helmed by The Perfect Couple’s director Susanne Bier, so you know your screen time will be well-spent. The Academy Award-winning actress plays Grace Fraser, an affluent Manhattan therapist whose perfect-on-paper marriage comes under scrutiny when her husband (Hugh Grant) becomes the main suspect in the murder of the mother of a student who goes to their son’s fancy private school.
8. Little Fires Everywhere
Where can I watch it? Amazon Prime and Apple TV
While it’s not a murder mystery à la The Perfect Couple, this best-selling book-turned-show has a similar ‘feel’ thanks to its artful use of suspense and exploration of secrets that lie beyond a picture-perfect surface. Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington play two very different mothers who come to find themselves on opposite sides of a custody battle over a Chinese-American baby – an event that unsuspectingly threatens to reveal hidden truths and upend both their lives in the process.
9. Dynasty (2017)
Where can I watch it? Netflix
If you like your murder mysteries on the campy side, Netflix’s remake of the iconic ‘80s soap opera Dynasty delivers. The tale of two of America’s richest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys have a complicated rivalry – one that naturally lends itself to plenty of foul play in the fight to secure prestige, power, and fortune.
10. The White Lotus
Where can I watch it? Hulu
Probably the show The Perfect Couple has been most compared to – not just because both star Meghan Fahy and have excellent theme songs – it would be remiss of us to leave The White Lotus off this list. Deftly balancing the dark and the comic, each season of this satirical anthology series spotlights several wealthy holidaymakers staying at a White Lotus resort – only for a spot of murder to destroy all merriment and set a chaotic chain of revelations in motion. Bonus? White Lotus season 3 is on the way, so there will be more where that came from.
11. Revenge
Where can I watch it? Disney+
If you missed this classic when it came out in the early 2010s, now is the time to add Revenge to your watch list. The story of a young woman out to avenge her father’s death 20 years after the event, the show has The Perfect Couple trifecta: a wealthy American family, an affluent coastal setting where things are not as they seem, and a dark, deep-rooted mystery that will keep you on the hook. Plus, each of the four seasons has over 20 episodes (remember those days?), so it’s ideal if you’re after a show that’ll last you a while.
12. Big Little Lies
Where can I watch it? Hulu
The first of Liane Moriarty’s best-selling books to be adapted into a TV show, Big Little Lies has all the ‘musts’ for bingeworthy viewing. With a stellar core cast comprising Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz, the show sees the outwardly perfect lives of a group of upper-class mothers unravel when a murder takes place in their town. Moreover, a third season of the show has been confirmed, so it’s the perfect time for a watch (or rewatch).
