User Reviews

Summary

Packed with some interesting ideas, this short Belgian police miniseries fails to shake off its listless tone for most of its run, due in part to unconvincing performances. She is also not helped by certain implausible aspects of the script.

Review

Anya, a student, is arrested in Paris on suspicion of a murder. Hélène, her mother, travels from Berlin to help her. From the beginning, we know that Anya (Eden Ducourante) is not telling the whole truth, and the series is a path towards solving the murder.

This Belgian series has some interesting ideas but does not translate them well. The Perfect Mother doesn't work well either as a thriller or a family drama. The script has some inconsistencies (1) (among others, the participation of the lawyer that Hélène contacts, certain alternatives to the investigation that both undertake; see spoiler zone below) and as a drama, everything looks tired and listless, due in part to the cold performances of Ducourant (yes, I understand that it hides things) and a Julie Gayet in the role of a mother whose perfect world is progressively falling apart. Nor does the subplot that takes place in Berlin with Anya's father and brother contribute much. On the other hand, the issue of illegal immigration appears, and the series manages to convey some effective messages in this regard.

Anya had elements to be an interesting character, especially because of her motivations and contradictions, which the series exposes, but there is something wrong with her staging and they do not generate much dramatic interest.

The miniseries is very short and could have been a movie. As usual, the last chapter picks up the aim and the rhythm and the series concludes with a successful ending.

Ok. Holds interest since you want to know ending. The mother looks confused the whole series. Her face is frozen. Tthe daughter and son are 2 whining rich kids. The ending leaves you wondering, with mom standing on the steps totally confused again. Give it a try.

This series was short, only 4 episodes, by the end of the second episode, I had already figured out everything about Anya, and how it would end, nevertheless, it was easily watchable.

The series builds up very good suspense and mystery build up during first two episodes of the series. During the third episode you donot know whether to believe in victim innocence or not. Donot go by very low ratings. It is definitely more than 7 and worth your time.

A lot of reviews here are pretty critical, and they all have a point, but I found the whole package convincing enough. The main weakness was the rather wooden performances of the mother and daughter who are under immense stress; the plot around the son was a bit weak too, I agree that it might have worked better if he was gay; the issues raised (family, parenting, law, guilt and innocence, illegal immigration, the Paris / Berlin connection) held it well. It might have been better as a film. Let's see a few more family dramas set in a wider context, the formula is irresistible if it's done well.

This story is a very interesting idea, unfortunately there are several issues. To begin with, none of the characters are likable. At the beginning you may have some sympathy for the mother but as the story progresses you start to lose it. The end is very very very disappointing and makes you wonder what was the purpose of this series. Usually you finish a show wishing the characters get the best outcome, but this time I wish they'd had it worse (except for the lawyer). The more I watched the less I liked them. I wouldn't mind hating the characters if at least they've got what they deserve, but they don't.

There are some plot twists, which is good, but you could predict them along the way. It should also have been shorter than 4 episodes, the last one was too slow and got boring some times.

No pun intended - no one is perfect of course. Also I am no one (or was it nobody?). Kidding aside, the show does not warrant too many jokes - it actually is quite serious. And it is quite twisty to say the least. I reckon some of the twists will be sort of predictable .. or at least you will be able to guess which direction this will go.

So there are some repetitive things going around and maybe you are suspicious of certain things ... whatever the case, I do like thrillers and the show does a decent job of keeping us occupied and engaged ... even if we are not entirely sure who to root for. It probably could have done being shorter (an episode or something along those lines) ... but it still is a nice thing to watch ... especially if you are into this kind of genre. Acting is fine and the language change from time to time is not really something that should bother you either.

Albeit a little slow paced this series is well paced and with the watch , the lawyer is excellent and all characters are well defined even the father who shines as a kind of loser which is not easy to cast...good narrative and script with interesting twists .. maybe not quite dark enough and a lack of interest can come up as the story line does come through as not very original ...the movie deserves a better rating because in the genre there is suspense and it is enjoyable to watch ..in fact it lacks a little plausible aspects which ruins to some extent the interest . I do recommend the watch as you will spend some good time watching it.

This got more annoying as it went on. Far, far too much padding, notably with the Berlin angle. It needs a good edit down. The final episode progressed at a snail's pace and was utterly tedious. In the end I didn't really care about any of characters with the exception, perhaps, of the lawyer played by Tomer Sisley.

This series has a original plot and the story is pretty well told. However, the last episode is atotal let down and makes you wonder whether the makers were out of money or if they simply forgot to finish the story decently. Well done but ends with a disappointment that ruins it all.

I ended up really enjoying this. The four episodes moved along well and thought the plot was pretty good. Definitely worth a watch. Though it switches between Paris and Berlin it is clear and not at all confusing. A good way to spend about four hours.

I'd worked out whodunit by halfway through episode two but not why - that would come near the end of the final moments of the drama. But how could the cops be slower than me? In the face of continual lying and stories that didn't add up they seemed to be bending over backwards not to get the correct person convicted.

At the same time that all this was going on in Paris, another drama was playing out in Berlin. Neither the main plot in France nor the sub plots in Germany were particularly convincing; I'd have been more impressed if Lukas had turned out to be gay which looked for a while how things were going.

I'm not sure a French lawyer would have compromised his ethics as badly as Maître Duc. I can't imagine a British barrister doing what he did. That he wasn't up before the disciplinary committee for his known infractions was a wonder. As he himself said, lawyers aren't allowed to investigate themselves for obvious reasons. He was doing so openly.

The ending was equivocal. Did Hélène stop being the "perfect mother" and seek happiness instead or did she carry on with the sham? I don't think there'll be a second season so we shall never know.

Good 4 part series with a murder mystery at its heart. The final episode has a few good twists. Lead actresses and actors well played. Better than user rating for sure probably reflective of french and german language dialogue ( curiously Netflix offers English dubbing for French language dialogue only with German language dialogue undubbed - this leads to awkward juxtaposition of certain characters speaking English and then German depending on what dialogue they are speaking).

OMG! This is nothing but a fast running soap opera in Paris and Berlin.

I don't care about any character and when the physician father just had a heart to heart with the son, I choked, it was so ridiculous. I can't take anymore of these people. Oh, papa....

A friend recommended it. Some are hits. This as a massive miss for me. Gladly, I'll miss it.

This was tedious to watch. It's only four episodes long... and that's five episodes too many. By the end of the fourth episode I was fast-forrwarding to shorten the torture. The acting by the two female leads is so flat and lifeless that it might be the real crime in this series. Mother Hélène's face rarely moves much, and she spends a lot of time speaking in breathless, whispered tones. The viewer suspects that Hélène may in fact suffer from Resting B Face all the time, not just when her daughter stands accused of murder. And what police force would tolerate her messing about in an investigation like this? It feels totally unrealistic and frankly I wish they'd put her in jail too. (How do you say "entitled Karen" in French?) As for daughter Anya, she evokes no sympathy even at the outset. She made bad choices, and bad things happened to her. But that alone isn't enough to make her character or predicament intriguing to the viewer. Other characters in this slow-paced melodrama the just felt irrelevant and pointless through the entire story. Does it really matter in every episode if Lukas gets to finish his exams on time? Were various hospital scenes exploring the complications from little Farida's face transplant surgery necessary? Tangents anyone?? There were some twists and turns in here--and the ending certainly turns the tables on Anya. But by the time you get to the end, you just don't care anymore. You just want it finished.