The Perfect Couple may be set on the island of Nantucket, but the Netflix limited series was actually filmed on a nearby coastal town in Cape Cod.
Despite the fact that all of Elin Hilderbrand’s novels are set on her home of Nantucket, the filming crew opted to stage the show on Chatham to still give it an ‘authentic Cape and island feel,’ the author told Boston.com.
Some scenes were still filmed on the expensive island to give it a real Nantucket feel, but the majority of it was filmed a short distance away where production crews constructed fake police departments and other landmarks.
Production chose to film the Nicole Kidman-led series on the Cape because it made transportation easier as they didn’t need to lug equipment over on a ferry; overall, filming on the Cape was just more convenient.
The Perfect Couple follows Kidman and Liev Schrieiber’s characters as their lives turn upside-down after a body washes up on a beach – a show early reviewers are calling ‘ludicrously good’.
Despite the fact that all of Elin Hilderbrand’s novels are set on her home of Nantucket, the filming crew opted to stage the show on Chatham (pictured) to still give it an ‘authentic Cape and island feel,’ the author said
The Perfect Couple follows Kidman and Liev Schrieiber’s characters as their lives turn upside down after a body washes up on a beach
Chatham is a vibrant tourist town located on the ‘elbow’ of the Cape and is the most easterly part of Massachusetts. It’s surrounded by three sides of water and has a rich maritime heritage, according to CapeCode.com.
Production crews transformed the popular summer spot into Nantucket by constructing a fake police station between Chatham Light Liquors and Chatham Perk coffee shop in April 2023, according to Cape Code Times.
They constructed a fake sign and had vehicles that were marked as Nantucket police cars, while renaming the liquor story Grey Lady Liquors and the coffee shop Lighthouse Perk, allowing the coastal town to transform into the book’s setting.
One of series stars, Meghann Fahy – who starred in The White Lotus – often spent time on the Cape growing up as she lived only an hour and a half outside of Boston.
‘Every summer, even still, I go to Cape Cod with my family,’ she told the Boston Globe. ‘So it’s a really, really special place for me, and I feel like not a lot of stuff even films there, so it felt very exciting to be working there.’
Production chose to film the Nicole Kidman-led series on the Cape because it made transportation easier as they didn’t need to lug things over on a ferry or face other transportation limitations. Overall, filming on the Cape was just more convenient
Production crews transformed the popular summer spot into Nantucket by constructing a fake police station between Chatham Light Liquors and Chatham Perk coffee shop in April 2023. (Pictured: Chatham lighthouse)
Fahy’s character, Merritt Monaco, even leans into the Nantucket fashion sense, a detail she enjoyed about the show, even if it does vary from her personal style.
‘Growing up in New England it’s like a very iconic sort of style that I’ve always been aware of,’ she said. ‘There’s the famous “Nantucket salmon” or whatever that red color is, that’s like so specific to that area. It’s cool when you can really get specific about stuff. It just helps the world feel more alive and authentic.’
The main house on the show is also filmed in Chatham.
However, Nantucket wasn’t entirely skipped, according to the author, who has written 28 books set on the island.
The second unit shot was ‘extensively’ filmed on the wealthy island and places like Bartlett’s Farm had footage filmed overhead.
‘Hollywood legend Fred North took overhead footage in his helicopter, and he later messaged me and said it was one of the most beautiful places he’s ever shot,’ Hilderbrand told Boston.com.
Other parts of the film were shot in London and in Los Angeles.
Some scenes are still filmed on the expensive island to give it a real Nantucket (pictured) feel
The second unit shot was ‘extensively’ filmed on the wealthy island and places like Bartlett’s Farm had footage filmed overhead, the author said (pictured: Nantucket)
The show, which released Thursday, has scooped up a variety of reviews from ‘daft’ to ‘derivative’ to ‘ludicrously good.’
The Guardian compared it to HBO’s The White Lotus and Big Little Lies, another show Kidman stars in.
The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan praised the ‘proper plot’ and the ‘carousel of suspects turns and reveals drop at perfectly spaced intervals.’
‘It may or may not have things to say about the haves and have-nots, the power of money to corrupt, as well as class consciousness, but it doesn’t have anything like the interest The White Lotus, say, took in such questions,’ she added.
The critic insists, ‘it’s almost impossible to resist bingeing the entirety of this classy detective drama set around a posh wedding in Nantucket.’
‘It’s a glorious, perfectly paced delight,’ she says, though the other critics have quite the opposite take.
The show, which released Thursday, has scooped up a variety of reviews from ‘daft’ to ‘derivative’ to ‘ludicrously good.’ The Guardian compared it to HBO’s The White Lotus and Big Little Lies, another show Kidman (right, on the show) stars in
The series could have been a piece of ‘biting satire’ but, according to The Independent’s Nick Hilton, the show is as ‘daft as it is derivative.’
Hilton claims that the irony of the show with this specific title is ‘for all the beachfront properties, the designer dresses, and wedding cakes that could feed a small army, perfection is nowhere to be found.’
He adds, ‘The star wattage of the cast, and their creative bona fides, should be taken with a pinch of salt: this is a neat shot of unadulterated naffness.’
Despite Hilderbrand’s love of Nantucket and setting her books there, she told The New York Times that she’s done with writing about the island. Her last Nantucket-set book was Swan Song, which was released in June.
The series could have been a piece of ‘biting satire’ but, according to The Independent’s Nick Hilton, the show is as ‘daft as it is derivative’ (pictured: a scene from the show)
She said she ‘couldn’t be happier’ about her semi-retirement, according to The Times.
Hilderbrand will next be focusing her energy on a two-book deal with her daughter, where the pair will set the story at a boarding school.
The first book, titled The Academy, is set to be published in September 2025 with the follow-up in September 2026.
It will loosely be based off her experience at the St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, she told Boston.com.
She also has tons of her other books in the works to become films, including The Five Star Weekend, Swan Song, The Winter Street, and 28 Summers.