Moving house is always a stressful experience, but it’s reassuring when your neighbours are hospitable and welcoming. Well, that’s how it seems for Karen, the lead character in Netflix’s upcoming crime drama The Perfect Lie. When she moves to a new elite community with her family, they’re invited to join an exclusive dinner club.
But when a fatal fire breaks out, the picture-perfect community is torn apart. Dark secrets come to the surface – and it’s up to Karen to try to unravel the twist-filled mystery. With its idyllic setting, wealthy characters who seemingly have it all and a female protagonist, it could well be the new Big Little Lies – and it’s bound to be your next TV obsession.
Set to arrive on our screens this autumn, here’s everything you need to know about The Perfect Lie, including the cast, plot and exact release date.
What’s The Perfect Lie about?
The Dutch drama is based on the bestselling novel The Dinner Club by Saskia Noort, and introduces us to Karen and her family, who’ve just moved to the mountainous city of Bergen in Norway. They’re quickly swept up by the community’s elite dinner club – a sophisticated, extravagant group that centres around priortising enjoyment to the highest degree.
However, the community is quickly broken apart when one of the family’s luxurious villas goes up in flames. Evert, a father, is killed, with his wife and children barely surviving. And Karen soon discovers that the apparent friendships between members of the dinner club aren’t what they seem, with their bonds based on secrets and deceit. But will Karen ever uncover the whole truth? And if so, at what cost?
‘It was a wonderful challenge to reinvent the well-known story of The Perfect Lie together with Jop Esmeijer and translate it into a series format in which tension is always at the forefront,’ Dorien Goertzen, who co-wrote and adapted the series, told Netflix.
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‘We chose a different narrative structure and gave both the story and the characters a modern, contemporary twist. The dream cast brings the characters to life in a way that exceeded all our expectations.’
Who’s in the cast of The Perfect Lie?
The cast of The Perfect Lie includes:
- Loes Haverkort (Obsession)
- Teun Luijkx (Fenix)
- Remko Vrijdag (Alfie, The Little Werewolf)
- Rifka Lodeizen (Judas)
- Charlie-Chan Dagelet (Dirty Lines)
- Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen (Full Moon)
- Noortje Herlaar (Broken)
- Edwin Jonker (Just Say Yes)
How can I watch The Perfect Lie?
The Perfect Lie will be available to watch on Netflix from 10 September.
What other crime dramas can I watch now?
If you’re after a gripping murder mystery to watch now, BBC’s What Remains takes us to a London block of flats where a woman’s body is discovered, having gone unnoticed for two years. All residents soon become suspects in her death, with the lead detective DI Len Harper (David Threlfall) left to unravel the secrets that linger within the four walls of the block. What Remains is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. For something more atmospheric, we’d recommend The Marnow Murders. The series revolves around detective duo Lona Mendt (Petra Schmidt-Schaller) and Frank Elling (Sascha Alexander Gersak), who must get to the bottom of a string of gruesome murder cases that plague a small town in northeastern Germany. You can watch The Marnow Murders now on Channel 4.
