Netflix Viewers Say This Twisty Seven-Part Thriller Is ‘Basically Big Little Lies With A European Touch’

Fans still waiting for another dose of Big Little Lies may have found something to fill the gap — and it comes with wealthy families, extravagant homes, buried secrets and a death that threatens to tear an apparently perfect social circle apart.

Netflix thriller The Perfect Lie is climbing the streamer’s Top Ten TV chart, with viewers praising its constant twists and comparing it directly to HBO’s hit drama.

One fan summed it up as “basically Big Little Lies with a European touch,” while another simply called the seven-part series “wild.”

And its central mystery starts with something far more sinister than the glamorous lives its characters initially appear to be enjoying.

An Exclusive Dinner Club With Something To Hide

Based on Saskia Noort’s bestselling novel The Dinner Club, the series stars Loes Haverkort as Karen, a woman who relocates with her family to the affluent Dutch village of Bergen.

It initially appears to offer the sort of fresh start many people would envy.

Before long, Karen is welcomed into an exclusive dinner club — a seductive circle of wealthy friends accustomed to an extravagant and hedonistic lifestyle.

From the outside, they appear to have everything.

But that carefully constructed image begins falling apart when one of their luxurious villas catches fire.

Their friend Evert is killed.

His wife and children barely survive.

And suddenly Karen begins looking at her new friends very differently.

‘Everyone Has Something To Hide’

The fire becomes the catalyst for a much bigger mystery.

According to the official synopsis, Karen gradually discovers that the group’s seemingly close friendships are actually “held together by lies.”

“Everyone has something to hide. Nothing is what it seems,” the synopsis teases.

Karen decides to search for the truth herself, but uncovering what happened could come at a serious cost.

That combination of extreme wealth, fractured relationships and increasingly dark secrets has inevitably drawn comparisons with Big Little Lies.

Both place their characters inside affluent communities where beautiful surroundings and privileged lifestyles conceal far more complicated private lives.

But The Perfect Lie takes that familiar setup to the Netherlands and builds its mystery around Karen’s entry into a social circle she does not yet fully understand.

Viewers Are Comparing It To ‘Big Little Lies’

The similarities have not been lost on audiences.

As the series climbed Netflix’s Top Ten TV chart, viewers began recommending it on social media.

One described the thriller as “wild.”

Another offered perhaps the most direct description for anyone wondering whether to watch it: “Basically Big Little Lies with a European touch.”

A third viewer praised the number of surprises packed into the seven episodes.

“Really enjoyed it. A lot of twists & turns,” they wrote.

They also admitted wanting another season, adding: “If you have seen it, you will know why I say this.”

Another viewer simply branded the series a “must-watch.”

Picture-Perfect Lives Start To Crack

Part of the appeal comes from how quickly the comfortable surface of Karen’s new life begins to collapse.

She arrives in Bergen as an outsider.

Being accepted into the dinner club offers her immediate access to an established group of friends and their privileged world.

But Evert’s death changes everything.

Instead of merely enjoying her place within the group, Karen starts questioning the relationships around her and searching for answers.

The central mystery therefore isn’t limited to what caused the deadly fire.

The deeper question becomes how well these friends really know one another — and which secrets each of them is desperate to keep hidden.

That allows the thriller to gradually dismantle the image of perfection established at the beginning.

Seven Episodes Make It An Easy Weekend Binge

The series is also considerably less daunting than committing to another sprawling multi-season drama.

The Perfect Lie consists of just seven episodes, all of which are available on Netflix.

That compact structure allows its mystery to unfold quickly while still giving the relationships inside the dinner club room to become increasingly complicated.

For viewers who enjoy dramas where virtually every character could be concealing something, the setup offers plenty to work with.

Karen enters the story knowing relatively little about her new friends.

The audience is placed in much the same position.

As she discovers contradictions and secrets, the apparently idyllic community becomes increasingly difficult to trust.

The ‘Big Little Lies’ Comparison Is Easy To Understand

Big Little Lies became known for combining privilege and beautiful surroundings with complicated female relationships, fractured marriages and a dark mystery running underneath everything.

The Perfect Lie operates in similar territory.

Its wealthy community looks enviable from the outside. Its central group enjoys a lifestyle built around luxury. Then one shocking incident exposes the possibility that the people inside that world are nothing like they initially appeared.

But the Dutch setting gives the story its own identity.

Rather than attempting to recreate Monterey, the series uses the affluent village of Bergen and its exclusive social circle to construct its own increasingly uncomfortable world.

The result has been enough for viewers to immediately make the connection while still describing the Netflix drama as a compelling thriller in its own right.

One Fire Changes Everything

At the centre of the seven episodes remains the fire that kills Evert and nearly claims the lives of his wife and children.

It is the moment that forces Karen to question the group that welcomed her so readily.

The friendships she thought she understood begin looking different.

Secrets emerge.

The polished lives surrounding her start cracking.

And Karen’s determination to discover the truth pulls her further into a mystery involving people who may have very good reasons for wanting certain things to remain hidden.

For audiences missing the combination of wealth, secrets and dangerous relationships that made Big Little Lies so addictive, Netflix may have delivered a timely substitute.

Seven episodes, one exclusive dinner club and a group of apparently perfect friends whose lives start unraveling after a deadly fire.

As one viewer put it, it’s Big Little Lies — just with “a European touch.”

The Perfect Lie is available to stream on Netflix.