Two out of four stars
Here’s a simple TV rule: If Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss are in something, you watch it. Add Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Joel Kinnaman and a host of other “oh, I recognize them!” faces, and the eight-episode Apple TV adaptation of Araminta Hall’s 2020 novel is a delightful way to spend a handful of evenings — even if the plot is far from feel-good.
Imperfect Women (airing Wednesdays through April 29) follows three lifelong friends: socialite Nancy (Mara), nonprofit bigwig Eleanor (Washington) and homemaker Mary (Moss). When Nancy turns up dead after a girls’ night out, the other two must trace their past to figure out what happened — and confront secrets they would prefer stay buried.
Soapy, blunt and occasionally confusing, the show doesn’t hit the highs of, say, the intriguing Netflix thriller The Beast in Me, but it’s a good-enough addition to the popular Complicated Rich Ladies Solve a Murder catalog. The whodunit component is the centerpiece, but creator Annie Weisman also attempts to portray a 360-degree version of adult female friendship and the lies we tell ourselves in order to survive.
Although it runs out of steam before the final reveal of who killed Nancy and why, there’s still enough juice (and fabulous fashion) to make it a glossy distraction worth finishing — even if the emotional insights aren’t always as razor-sharp as Washington’s chic bob.
Elisabeth Moss in “Imperfect Women”. Apple TV
The show currently has a 43 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Below, what other critics thought about Apple TV’s Imperfect Women:
The Guardian: “That is, an overwritten, far-fetched, glossy but derivative murder mystery — a descendant of Big Little Lies, intermarried with touches of everything else Nicole Kidman has done in the last 10 years. Adjust your expectations accordingly and you’ll have a perfectly acceptable eight hours of entertainment. Dwell on the fact that you could well have expected better of an Apple TV production and a main cast that includes Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara and you’ll have less of a good time. So don’t do that.”
IndieWire: “The limited series feels equally foolish, down to its last line of narration. Imperfect Women is so inept as a human drama and a murder-mystery that it renders its award-winning cast irrelevant. Washington stares blankly at the ceiling, over and over. Moss berates bad men just like she did in The Handmaid’s Tale. Mara looks aptly frightened and confused, or maybe that was just my own face reflected in the screen.”
One of the benefits of Apple TV‘s less-is-more approach to TV shows is that most of its greatest originals run for long runs. For example, the alternative history/sci-fi series For All Mankind premiered in 2019 and was among the first Apple TV series. It’s returning in March for season 5. But first, Apple TV has […]
Variety: “Imperfect Women is an outstanding mystery thriller bolstered by the resounding lead performances. It is also a profound portrait of friendship, womanhood and the openness needed to build authentic trust and community. Women learn to protect themselves by keeping things in. However, the series shows that the most important thing these lifelong friends can do is to let everything rise to the surface and spill forth, freeing themselves and each other in the process.”
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