The Perfect Couple starring Nicole Kidman has raced to first place on the Netflix top 10 series chart, and while it’s an entertaining ride, it made one major misstep – although it may have paid off in the long run.
Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s best-selling novel of the same name, the new TV show centers on a wealthy Nantucket family who prepare for a high-end wedding, only for their plans to be thrown into disarray when the rehearsal dinner ends in murder.
What follows is a web of lies, family secrets, and betrayal, with The Perfect Couple keeping viewers guessing whodunnit right up to the shocking ending.
Given the themes it’s dealing with, the show’s opening sequence feels tonally out of place, showing the entire cast – including the murder victim – performing a synchronized dance routine to the tune of ‘Criminal’ by Meghan Trainor.
Every frame of The Perfect Couple opening credits is perfect. pic.twitter.com/o9O4ybcHnp
— Netflix (@netflix) September 5, 2024
We’re talking some big names – Kidman, Scream king Liev Schreiber, Behind Her Eyes’ Eve Hewson, White Lotus icon Meghann Fahy, and Possession’s Isabelle Adjani – all doing a Macarena-style bop to a song that would be more at home in a YA romcom.
The out-of-place intro hasn’t gone unnoticed by viewers at home. Taking to Reddit, one wrote, “Just finished the series, The Perfect Couple. Lots of things to say about this series, but I came here to ask – what was with the dance scene / intro?
“What kind of creative decision was that? I don’t see how it fits into the story and I don’t even think it matched the attempt of a cheeky tone.”
Another agreed, “Omg, it was definitely watchable in a mindless way, but the tone was ALL OVER THE PLACE.”
One person shared a theory about the tone, writing, “My theory right now (after reading the press and Reddit) is that they tried to make it serious, but halfway through filming they realized it wasn’t working, so decided to pivot and make it ‘self aware camp’.
“There is no other explanation for how it went from essentially zero levity or humor the first few episodes to complete silliness the last two. If it was always meant to be self aware, there would have been some hint of that in the pilot.
“That would also explain why they tacked on the dance intro at the end of filming.” And a fourth simply wrote, “Couldn’t hit ‘skip intro’ fast enough.”
If you agree with this opinion, it turns out you’re against the grain. As out of place as it felt, most fans loved it.
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“The intro of The Perfect Couple is truly unskippable,” said one on X/Twitter, while another quipped, “I’m never skipping this intro, so Netflix can stop asking me.”
A third added, “The Perfect Couple’s intro is so fun and unserious – I mean, a literal murder happens in the series – and the intro is everyone doing the electric slide. But I can’t bring myself to skip it. I watched the intro every single episode, and maybe even danced along.”
As one Redditor pointed out, “I think it was intentionally cheesy – to let you know that this is supposed to be a soapy, campy, beach-read turned into a series.”
This latter comment is more or less correct, as The Perfect Couple showrunner Susanne Bier explained to The Hollywood Reporter, “In the script, at some point, there was a dream sequence where a dance turned into a nightmare. I didn’t want to do that.
“But there was something about the dancing thing. So when I took it out of the episode, it stayed with me. And I felt that the title sequence needed to be something which was suggestive that the audience is allowed to have fun with this show.
“There’s something joyous in a lot of people dancing together. And with all these characters, who are not necessarily sympathetic, having that moment, just seemed right to me.”
As for the rest of the cast, they weren’t so keen on the idea. “When we sent it to the cast, everybody other than Liev Schreiber went, ‘No, I’m not doing that. No, no, no,’” said Bier.
“We were doing the rehearsal dinner [from episode one], and everybody was still saying ‘no.’ The producers, everybody, kept asking, ‘Are you sure you want to spend time doing something the cast doesn’t even want to do?’
“Nicole said she couldn’t dance in her dress. It was too tight. They even made a WhatsApp group to not do the dance. But when it came to it, I was just like, ‘Let’s just try it.’ And then they all got totally into it! We shot it all in an hour and a half.”
The Perfect Couple is streaming on Netflix now. For more updates, read everything we know about Stranger Things Season 5, Wednesday Season 2, and Squid Game Season 2. You can also take a look at the new shows coming to streaming this month.