What Is the Story About?
Convinced of the fact that her daughter Anya Berg(Eden Ducourant)is falsely accused of the murder of Damien (Charles Crehange), son of a beauty conglomerate owner, a devoted mother Helene Berg (Julie Gayet) soon uncovers the Pandora’s box that is her daughter’s life. As Helene digs on the case deeper with her ex-lover and lawyer Vincent Duc (Tomer Sisley) the line between what makes a victim and perpetrator blurs as several unsettling truths and lies rise. What lies ahead of Helene is the collapse of the myth that is perfect parenthood.
Performances?
Julie Gayet who essays the role of Helene Berg, the mother and the daughter, Anya Berg played by Eden Ducourant gets the maximum to do in the show. Both of them appear natural and seasoned as performers. Anya Berg is however the only character in the show that gets a reasonable amount of variations and meat with respect to character arc. Tomer Sisley who plays Lawyer Vincet Duc and Andreas Pietschmann as Matthias (Anya’s Father) are the only supporting characters that stayed relevant throughout the show. However, the writers at the end of the day managed to not write a single root-worthy character (not even the mother or daughter) as the narrative kept juggling around in places, trying to manage a balance between the drama and thriller.
Analysis
The Perfect Mother starts very promisingly. A happy go lucky Anya partying; she meets Damien, a guy from her university and they go back to his place in his bike. Suddenly we are thrown in scenes of a shocked and teary eyed Anya walking in the streets of Paris with her Kajal smudged. We also see glimpses of blood oozing out of Damien. These random scenes are superposed with Helene celebrating her birthday with Lucas (Anya’s brother) and Matthias (Anya’s Father). The opening scenes definitely did the work of awakening an element of curiosity and oh boy! The opening credits montage is a beauty in itself. However, the first episode busts the myth of what Helene thought her daughter Anya was and what she actually is in reality. We now already know that Anya is a very complex character and she is not to be trusted.
What the show essentially has in store for the next three episodes is Anya narrating different versions of what followed on that fateful day. Eden Ducourant does a fine job in letting the audience confuse with her versions and lies while also giving off a right-person-at-the-wrong-time vibes. Although Helena wants to believe in her daughter’s innocence, as much as the audience she is caught back when the pandora’s box of Anya’s life in Paris opens. She takes upon herself the duty of investigation alongside Vincent, her old flame and Anya’s lawyer.
The most disinteresting part of the show is it tries to balance out the happenings in Paris to discoveries in Berlin where Anya’s Father Matthias is stuck with her son Lucas. The screenplay becomes too inconsistent and disjointed as the drama element takes the front seat. It’s almost as if the writers don’t know if they should focus on what subsequently has been happening in Berlin or uncover Anya’s lies and the reasoning behind her lies in Paris.
Every character seems to be hiding something and sometimes the narrative jumps appear clumsy and un-necessary because of the story structure. We know some of the conversations don’t take off and they’re purposefully misdirected to stretch subsequent revelations in the show. It’s true that you still want to know what actually happened on the fateful day, but the level of curiosity is definitely not as same as the pilot episode.
There are many filler scenes in the show. For example a totally unrelated love-triangle, a vaguely mentioned back-story of Helene, and a complicated surgery case in Berlin that stops Matthias from going to Paris along with Helene to help Anya. The moment these filler scenes appear, you’ve totally lost interest in the proceedings of the show. These sequences did barely nothing but stretch the run-time.
On one hand, The Perfect Mother tries to be a drama that busts the myth that is Perfect Parenthood and on the other hand it tries to do so by clutching the thriller-element straws. The writing not only gets lost out on what it wants to be, but also fails to write root-worthy characters. One of the most crucial reveals in the show happens at a point where you go like… Oh is that it?
All said and done, there are few things the show gets right. The atmosphere set in pilot episode is provoking. The show dismantles parenthood while also trying to be politically sound and non-manipulative.
Music and Other Departments?
The opening credits montage is one of the best parts of the show. There’s nothing extraordinary about the background score or editing. Thomas Boullé and Carol Noble’s writing is inconsistent and lost, each time there’s a transition from drama to crime procedure thriller. The cinematography is routine as well.
Highlights?
Good Acting
Decent Drama
Crisp Pilot episode
Drawbacks?
Poorly merged Drama and Thriller
Forgettable supporting characters
Un-mended loose ends.
Routine Background music and cinematography
Did I Enjoy It?
The initial episodes were intriguing, but not essentially the entire show
Will You Recommend It?
Yes. With reservations
The Perfect Mother Series Review by Binged Bureau
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