Dakota Fanning’s new whodunnit limited series The Perfect Couple is a great reminder to watch her other great Netflix series from earlier this year. Released on Netflix on September 5, 2024, The Perfect Couple has a great cast led by stars Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor, and Dakota Fanning. Created by Jenna Lamia (Good Girls, Resident Alien, My Best Friend’s Exorcism), the 6-part series was directed entirely by Susanne Bier, best known for directing Bird Box, The Undoing, and The First Lady.
The Perfect Couple takes place in an idyllic coastal town on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket. The series has been compared to HBO’s Big Little Lies due to Kidman’s leading role in a murder mystery series based on a popular novel. Despite The Perfect Couple’s mixed critical reception, its intriguing premise and ensemble cast was enough to launch the new Netflix series to the number one spot on Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the U.S. list, a position it has held for nearly two weeks straight. Based on the 2018 book by Elin Hilderbrand, The Perfect Couple has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 61% after it debuted at 54%, although its audience score is more impressive at 68%.
Dakota Fanning also recently starred in the fantasy horror film
The Watchers
, which is streaming now on Max.
After The Perfect Couple, Watch Dakota Fanning’s 2024 Netflix Crime Thriller Ripley
The Perfect Couple and Ripley are two very different murder series on Netflix
While The Perfect Couple is a more lighthearted and accessible murder mystery series, Dakota Fanning also starred in the much bleaker and darker murder series Ripley. The psychological thriller series is based on the renowned 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by celebrated novelist Patricia Highsmith, which was also adapted into the 1999 Matt Damon movie The Talented Mr. Ripley. Fanning plays Marge Sherwood in Ripley, who suspects that Andrew Scott’s Tom Ripley has murdered her boyfriend Dickie after pretending to know him on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.
Ripley was nominated for Best Limited Series at the 2024 Emmys Awards but ultimately lost to another popular Netflix series, Baby Reindeer. Fanning was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series at the 2024 Emmys for her role in Netflix’s Ripley, losing to Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning. Although Ripley is entirely black and white, it was shot entirely in Europe, primarily in Italy, and features stunning cinematography of one of the most beautiful places on Earth. This, along with the murder-centric narrative and Fanning’s great performances, connects Ripley and The Perfect Couple despite apparent differences.
Writer/director Steven Zallian won the 2024 Emmy for Best Directing in a Limited Series for
Ripley
.
How Ripley’s Reviews & Netflix Popularity Compare To The Perfect Couple
Ripley is one of the most critically acclaimed Netflix series of 2024
Ripley has better reviews than The Perfect Couple, but both series are among the most popular original limited series released in 2024 on Netflix. Ripley earned a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 86% along with an audience score of 83%. Critics praised the series for its outstanding compositions and camerawork, with Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic calling it “the most beautiful series I’ve ever seen” on Netflix. While there’s nothing truly unique or outstanding about The Perfect Couple, it’s still a highly entertaining project and a reminder that not every new series needs to be an Emmy contender to be considered watchable.
