The Perfect Couple: Netflix’s Knives Out Meets Succession
Dakota Fanning leads Netflix’s The Perfect Couple, a psychological thriller that blends a dark murder mystery with the lavish world of a powerful family. Released on September 5, 2024, the six-episode series combines the whodunit appeal of Knives Out with the family rivalries and obsession with appearances seen in HBO’s Succession.
Netflix has no shortage of thriller series. Some, such as Gabriel Basso’s spy thriller The Night Agent, have become major hits and regularly appear on the streamer’s global charts. Others remain comparatively overlooked, including The Chestnut Man, an especially dark mystery series that follows a new murder investigation each season.
For viewers who prefer thrillers built around recognizable stars, The Perfect Couple stands out. Its appeal comes from bringing together two familiar formulas in a way that gives the story its own identity.
How The Perfect Couple Combines Knives Out and Succession
The clearest connection to Knives Out is the series’ murder-mystery structure. At the center of the story is the wealthy Winbury family, whose members all have secrets, personal interests, and potential motives that make nearly everyone a possible suspect.
The family dynamic also recalls Succession. Like Logan Roy, Nicole Kidman’s Greer is a powerful family figure who cares deeply about maintaining appearances and controlling the family’s public image. Her children, meanwhile, have their eyes on the family fortune and are willing to deceive one another in pursuit of their inheritance.
Greer effectively fills a role similar to Logan, while The Perfect Couple puts its own spin on the dynamic.
The series also borrows an important storytelling device from Knives Out: an outsider caught in the middle of a wealthy family’s secrets.
Eve Hewson plays Amelia Sacks, who is preparing to marry Billy Howle’s Benji and become part of the Winbury family. As the investigation unfolds, Amelia finds herself surrounded by people whose relationships and loyalties are far more complicated than they initially appear.
That setup is reminiscent of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, where Ana de Armas’ Marta Cabrera, the nurse of murdered novelist Harlan Thrombey, becomes the audience’s entry point into the wealthy family’s tangled web of lies. Marta, like Amelia, is an outsider trying to navigate a world she does not fully belong to.
Netflix Has Plenty of Follow-Ups
At only six episodes, The Perfect Couple is an easy series to binge. Viewers who finish it and want to stay with its murder-mystery atmosphere have several options on Netflix.
Since The Perfect Couple draws so heavily from the formula of Knives Out, the most obvious next choices are the two Knives Out films available on Netflix in the United States.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery brings Daniel Craig back as detective Benoit Blanc, this time investigating a mystery involving a tech billionaire and his private island.
There is also Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which uses faith as the backdrop for its mystery.
Another Dakota Fanning Thriller to Watch
Viewers who would rather continue with another psychological thriller featuring one of The Perfect Couple’s stars can turn to Ripley, an adaptation of the classic novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Fanning plays Marge Sherwood, one of the major obstacles standing between Andrew Scott’s Tom Ripley and the life he wants.
Like The Perfect Couple, Ripley is a psychological thriller centered on deception, secrets, and dangerous relationships. For viewers drawn to the darker side of Fanning’s Netflix series, it offers a natural follow-up.
