The Perfect Couple: The Biggest Differences Between the Hit Netflix Show and Best-selling Book

Mar. 15, 2025

Liam Daniel/Netflix

Warning:The Perfect Couplespoilers ahead!

There are two sides to every story — includingThe Perfect Couple’s.

Based on Elin Hilderbrand’sNew York Timesbest-selling novel of the same name,The Perfect Couplebegan streaming on Netflix in September 2024 with astar-studded castthat includesLiev Schreiber,Nicole KidmanandDakota Fanning.

The six-episode series' main plotline stays true to the book: the maid of honor at a wealthy Nantucket family’s wedding is found dead on the morning of the big day, leading everyone to become a suspect in her murder. However, although the hit show stems from the best-selling 2018 novel, some significant changes were made while bringingthe story from page to screen.

“I wanted them to make the best possible television show, I wasn’t worried about how they changed the book,” Hilderbrand toldThe Hollywood Reporterin September 2024. “I said to Jenna right from the beginning, ‘I do not feel precious about this. People can go and read the book later or before; it’ll be a different experience because it is a little bit different, they can see how they changed it, and I just wanted it to be excellent television.’ ”

Read on to find out exactly howThe Perfect Couplebook differs from Hilderbrand’s novel.

Changes to key character names

Courtesy of Netflix

The adaptation team changed several character names during the process, with one of the most significant being the bride-to-be, originally named Celeste Otis in the book.

“The bride was named Celeste through many, many drafts of the script,” Lamia toldTudumin September 2024.

But since Kidman, who plays the mother of the groom-to-be, Greer Garisson Winbury, portrayed a notable character named Celeste inBig Little Lies, Lamia decided torename the bride-to-be“just to avoid any potential confusion,” she toldThe Hollywood Reporter.

In the Netflix show, the bride-to-be is named Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson).

New characters like the youngest Winbury brother and absent characters like “The Greek”

Sam Nivola as Will Winbury and Mia Isaac as Chloe in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

Seacia Pavao/Netflix

Amelia and Shooter’s connection

Ishaan Khattar as Shooter Dival and Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

The bride and groom-to-be’s love triangle with best man Shooter is present in both versions of the story. In both the book and the series, Shooter spends a day in the past with the bride-to-be at the Nantucket house before Benji Winbury’s (Billy Howle) arrival, where they instantly form a connection. But, the book develops the weight of Shooter and Amelia’s relationship much more.

In the show, Amelia expresses doubts the day before her wedding, but she and Merritt attribute it to “cold feet.” Her romance with Shooter peaks with a kiss after the wedding is canceled.

Both versions include Shooter as a suspect, but in the book, he has been missing since the night of the murder. In the show, he runs away later, gets caught and appears guilty for both fleeing the scene and making a large wire transfer to Greer.

Tag and Merritt’s affair — and the jewelry he gifted her

Meghann Fahy as Merritt Monaco and Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

The book reveals a lot more of Merritt’s (Meghann Fahy) backstory, from her role as the head of public relations at the zoo where she and Celeste work to the details of when her affair with Tag Winbury (Schreiber), the groom-to-be’s father, began. Readers learn that the two first met while she was visiting Nantucket for her best friend’s bachelorette weekend a few months before the wedding, which leads to a much deeper infatuation toward her than viewers see in the show. For example, there’s a moment in the book where he shows up at her house in the middle of the night because he can’t stop thinking about her.

Like in the book, Tag gifts Merritt a piece of jewelry, but it’s turned from a thumb ring to a more than $18,000 diamond bracelet in the show. In the series, viewers see Greer discover the ring-turned-bracelet receipt but never see Tag gift it to Merritt like in the book.

Greer’s career and how she met her husband

Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

Greer’s career isn’t as glamorous in the book as in the series. Rather than the best-selling author and public image she is in the show, she is a struggling writer on the brink of giving up following Merritt’s death.

In the show, Greer doesn’t slow down after the tragic event. Instead, she tries harder than ever to keep up her public image, including interviewing for afeature in PEOPLEand throwing a book launch party with her devoted fans, a pivotal moment in which the truth of her imperfect marriage begins unraveling.

The launch party is also the first time viewers see her face-to-face with her brother, Broderick Graham (Tommy Flanagan), who doesn’t exist in the book. But in the show, Broderick, who has ties to the Turkish mafia, showing up also leads to Greer’s big (and new) confession about her marriage: She met Tag during her days as an escort — not the meet-cute bar story that aligned with their image as “the perfect couple.”

Merritt’s murder and the motive behind it

Meghann Fahy as Merritt Monaco in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Netflix

Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Netflix

Soon after, Merritt is wandering the beach, where she accidentally cuts her foot on some glass and steps into the ocean to wash it off. There, she spots the ring that Tag gifted her and that she had thrown into the ocean earlier that night after their fight. While attempting to retrieve it, the sleeping pill takes effect, and she accidentally drowns to death.

Justice is never served in the book

Donna Lynne Champlin as Nikki Henry and Michael Beach as Dan Carter in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Liam Daniel/Netflix

“I also wanted to give the police a win, because those characters are so smart and so fun to see play off with one another, and their relationship builds over the course of the series to a really strong alliance,” Lamia told The Wrap. “It was important to give them the win, especially since they’re the everyman of the show, in addition to Amelia. We also needed Amelia to have that closure.”

Amelia’s fate — romantically and professionally

Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

In both the show and the book, Amelia/Celeste and Benji part ways. However, while Amelia calls it off with Shooter in the show, Celeste has more room to rekindle her connection with Shooter in the book.

Although viewers never learn what Amelia decides, according to Tudum, Bier and Lamia both think she goes.

source: people.com