The Perfect Lie Review
Director: Dana Nechushtan and Margien Rogaar
Date Created: 2026-09-10 18:42
3.5
The Perfect Lie Review: Directed by Dana Nechushtan and Margien Rogaar and created by Dorien Goertzen, De Eetclub is a Dutch Netflix thriller based on Saskia Noort’s book. The series stars Loes Haverkort as Karen, alongside Remko Vrijdag as Ivo, Noortje Herlaar as Babette, Edwin Jonker as Evert, Rifka Lodeizen as Hanneke, Matthijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen as Simon, Charlie-Chan Dagelet as Patricia and Teun Luijkx as Michel. The series runs for seven episodes, with each episode lasting around 50 to 60 minutes.
The Perfect Lie Review
Netflix’s The Perfect Lie starts with Karen, who joins her family in moving to Bergen and is introduced to a very select group called the “Dinner Club.” At first glance, this club has its act together. They have gorgeous houses, money, social influence, and an outrageous lifestyle that makes it seem that all is well in their meetings. However, this illusion is shattered when a fire breaks out in Evert’s house, taking away his life but leaving his wife Babette and their children alive but barely so. Slowly, Karen learns that all of the people she has become closer to are hiding secrets regarding relationships, money, marriage, and betrayal. A tragedy quickly turns out to be something much bigger.
What I found most fascinating about the Netflix Dutch series The Perfect Lie was how Karen was portrayed as being within the group itself but, at the same time, an outsider and eventually becoming a participant. It’s not like she was just looking into the lives of some suspicious individuals from a distance and was doing a job. On the contrary, she became personally attached to them, started making decisions and even ended up having secrets. She was much more fascinating in this light than any perfect investigator who always knows what to do.
Karen’s faults are especially significant considering the way that the show constantly emphasises that she is not morally superior to the individuals she seeks to comprehend. The love affair between Karen and Simon provides a rather obvious illustration of that. As she is surrounded by individuals who lie to their loved ones, she herself gets entangled in an affair which impacts her family life negatively. It was great that her character did not become absolutely blameless because she was the protagonist of the movie. Her temper and impulsiveness made some of her actions questionable and difficult to comprehend, but also made her character very realistic.
The concept behind the Dinner Club is likely the most interesting concept throughout the show. I found it interesting to see how social gatherings would begin to feel awkward since I knew there was always more beneath the discussion taking place. A social gathering, a meeting, or even just an interaction could suddenly take on a whole new meaning once another secret was brought out into the open. The reason for this is that these individuals have secrets about one another and hold leverage over each other.
This is how the series makes some of its best tension work. The people have always had to balance between what they know and what they want to share. The marriages that seem steady are actually not steady at all; the friendship is not as genuine as it seems, and even the position of Karen in the circle begins to get more complicated. What I also liked about the show is that it lets its people make mistakes instead of behaving logically in order to progress the mystery plot. However, sometimes those mistakes were so annoying that I found myself wondering why everyone couldn’t just face up to their issues.
The character development also varies. Loes Haverkort provides Karen with enough vulnerability and intensity to make the character likeable, as her faith in the people she is surrounded by starts to fade away. Also, there is sufficient support from the rest of the cast, which convinces the viewer that each one of the individuals in the social group has more than meets the eye. Babette, Evert, Hanneke, Simon, Patricia, and Michel all have their share in convincing the audience not to believe everything that appears to be going on.
And now for the reason I have the biggest problem with the series: the plot can actually be much more predictable than it thinks it is. Netflix’s The Perfect Lie series falls into the typical pattern of an entertaining thriller that takes place in a community of rich people, with gorgeous mansions concealing very disturbing truths about supposedly happy families. This kind of plot is very typical for me to see, and thus the show needed to come up with some really unexpected turns in order to distinguish itself from other examples.
The pacing was also a little bit of a mixed bag for me. It is nice to see how the story jumps through time in their life stories since each jump helped to slowly shape my perception of them. There are moments when there are too many unnecessary loops back into the relationships without giving the overall mystery enough of a boost. The murder investigation of Evert’s death should be the main engine pushing the story forward.
However, I definitely cannot say that I did not like the Netflix series The Perfect Lie. Firstly, the coastal location, fashionable houses, and overall dark atmosphere match the story perfectly. Secondly, the contrast between the shiny world in which the characters live and the gradually emerging ugliness underneath it is fascinating to watch. Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that the show is not completely dependent on massive twists; sometimes, the best episodes arise from the dialogue in which you can feel the unspoken truth.
Netflix The Perfect Lie Review: Summing Up
Overall, I would say that 2026 The Perfect Lie series ends up being a bit more in the middle for me. There is enough conflict between characters, the suspicions and tensions that keep you going through the seven episodes, and I really enjoyed the concept of a group of friends who all have some piece of information that could bring down another person.
