But the limited series “Sirens” is funny, surreal and yet ultimately grounded in emotion enough to put “The Perfect Couple” out of mind entirely by the time the credits roll on this satisfying summer escapade.
“Sirens” has a strange cocktail of tones that doesn’t always go down smoothly.
“Sirens” is also the emergency code word between sisters Devon (Fahy) and Simone (Milly Alcock), now living separately after enduring unimaginable trauma in their youth.
“She makes me sad, Kiki,” Simone tells her boss, by way of explaining why she’s never mentioned her sister.
“Sirens” has a precise read on Michaela’s relationship with each sister, no matter how uncategorizable.
A second series in which a wealthy woman on a picturesque New England island intimidates a deeply flawed character portrayed by Meghann Fahy may seem unnecessary for Netflix to order. Maybe it is from the perspective of audience development. However, by the time the credits roll on this enjoyable summer adventure, “The Perfect Couple” will have been completely forgotten thanks to the humor, surrealism, and emotional core of the limited series “Sirens.”. The tone of “Sirens” is an odd concoction that doesn’t always work well. However, “Sirens” — particularly the core trio of outstanding actors — has a captivating pull that draws you in and holds you there for its exciting five episodes, much like the mythological creatures that give the show its name.
The emergency code word for sisters Devon (played by Fahy) and Simone (played by Milly Alcock), who are now living apart after experiencing unspeakable trauma as children, is “sirens.”. Devon loses it and follows her younger sibling down to the opulent Cliff House estate when her distress signals are ignored, save for an extravagant edible arrangement. Simone resides and works there as Michaela Kell’s (Julianne Moore) slavishly loyal personal assistant. Michaela Kell is a corporate lawyer who became a socialite and bird conservationist, and her close friends may call her “Kiki.”. “”.
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The playwright Molly Smith Metzler’s “Sirens” is essentially a sequel to “Maid,” the Margaret Qualley-starring memoir adaptation that became a huge streaming success in 2021. The main characters in Qualley and Fahy do fit a certain description: they are both young women with a history of hardship and misfortune that have left them unprepared to handle the upscale communities they find themselves in. “Maid,” on the other hand, was painstakingly grounded in the everyday grind of American poverty, whereas “Sirens,” which is based on Metzler’s own play “Elemeno Pea,” which was first written almost 15 years ago, has a fantastical feel that sets it apart from both the creator’s previous show and the numerous series about extreme wealth and class divides that have emerged in the wake of “Big Little Lies” and “The White Lotus,” on which Fahy also appeared.
Devon is surrounded by such a common uniform of Lilly Pulitzer pastels that it resembles Stepford when she boards the ferry that will take her to her sister’s workplace, which is on a fictional island that is obviously intended to evoke wealthy havens like Martha’s Vineyard. In addition to being a mansion, the Cliff House where she confronts Simone is a clapboard castle with a long, precarious staircase leading to the beach and its own lighthouse. Furthermore, Michaela herself exudes a charisma and wealth that seem to transcend both. She commands her followers to recite quotes from Rachel Carson and has complete control over Simone’s life, including who she dates. Devon doesn’t mince words when he calls this organization a cult right away.
In addition to providing a sense of the paranormal, this dreamy setting sets the stage for Devon, who is bold and wears all black, to stomp around in combat boots before telling Simone that she is “dressed like a doily.”. While Devon is stranded at home in Buffalo, tending to their widowed father Bruce (Bill Camp) as he succumbs to dementia, Simone has fled their troubles and entered Michaela’s suffocating, codependent embrace. The two of them collaborate to write a sext to the older woman’s distant hedge-funder husband, Peter (Kevin Bacon). When Bruce’s ongoing neglect of Simone led to her placement in foster care, Devon had already left college to take care of her sister. This complicated past has resulted in layers of guilt and resentment that have only grown over the years.
Fahy is slightly going against the grain here. The majority of the actresses in her prior high-profile roles, such as a magazine employee on “The Bold Type” or a happy trophy wife on “The White Lotus,” were women who were comfortable in opulent settings. Fahy gets to play a conflict between her character’s real and fake personalities, which is entertaining to watch, when Devon basically goes undercover as a Michaela disciple to watch over Simone. Australian up-and-comer Alcock, who made his debut on “House of the Dragon,” demonstrates the cracks that begin to appear in Simone’s tight, athleisure-clad exterior. Devon’s provocations cause Simone’s blunter, sharper, more natural self to emerge, and the scenes where the two trade accusations of abandonment are made contain all the harsh reality that Michaela’s bubble does not. To explain why she has never brought up her sister, Simone tells her boss, “She makes me sad, Kiki.”. Here, I don’t want to feel depressed. “”.
Both actors compete with Moore, a living legend whose prior television appearances, including the scathing costume drama “Mary and George” and the Stephen King adaptation “Lisey’s Story,” haven’t garnered the viewership that her reputation merits. Like her peers Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who have both embraced the small screen in recent years, Moore has her best chance yet to gain notoriety thanks to Netflix’s reach and the ostentatious consumption, albeit absurdist, that is on display in “Sirens.”. In “Sirens,” Moore, who was wildly passed over for her part in 2023’s “May December,” takes another stab at a woman who is vehemently defending her ostensibly perfect but scandal-plagued life. While still wed to his first wife, whose disappearance is the focus of local rumors, Peter met Michaela. ).
However, there is a distinction between fuzziness that hides important facets of character and plot and vibey vagueness that evokes a sense of ominous mystique. Regardless of how indefinable, “Sirens” accurately depicts Michaela’s relationship with each of her sisters. Because she is not sexually intimate, her intense intimacy with Simone—whose bed she occasionally sleeps in—is all the more disturbing; her confrontations with Devon are rife with insecurity and hostility on both sides. The marriage between Michaela and Peter, however, is never fully explored. It is obvious that his easygoing manner is intended to give the audience, Devon, and Simone a false sense of security, but deception is ineffective if it isn’t believable in the first place. His easygoing manner never works for a titan of industry. The difficult task of progressively transforming Michaela from a witchlike antagonist into a real person is hampered by her husband.
The spell of “Sirens” can occasionally be broken. Given that the Kells’ domestic workers, such as chef Patrice (Lauren Weedman) and house manager Jose (Felix Solis), are primarily humorous characters devoid of Simone’s emotional complexity, a running joke about the house staff griping about Simone’s control-freak tendencies in a group chat borders on the cartoonish. Additionally, the Kells’ characterization problems add up, making the series’ ending less impactful than it might have been if the couple had made more sense as a couple, like Devon and Simone do. Even though the ones that land produce a distinctive and exhilaratingly unpredictable energy, “Sirens” just has too many tonal switchbacks for all of them to work together successfully. Nevertheless, viewers will become engrossed in the series. It’s not necessary for a siren’s song to have flawless notes to stick in your head.
Netflix is currently offering all five of “Sirens” for streaming.
