Netflix’s new Nordic noir jumps up UK charts despite having “big gaps in logic”
A new four-part Swedish thriller has stormed up the Netflix charts this weekend.
A Couple of Lies – or Bytet in the original Swedish – is based on the novel by Stefan Ahnhem. It's centred on two couples who swap homes between Sicily and Stockholm, only for their respective abodes to reveal increasingly dark secrets.
Think of it as The Holiday with a nefarious edge, then.
Helene (Frida Gustavsson) and Carl (Fares Fares) are thrilled about their Sicilian villa getaway; she's newly pregnant and he desperately needs a break from the hotel he owns after he took his volcanic stress out on a guest.
They arrange the swap online with Scarlett (Emma Appleton) and Adam (Jakob Oftebro), whom they've never met, and who will, in return, come to their home on an island outside of Stockholm.
Helene and Carl find a dead rat in the villa pool. Scarlett and Adam find their holiday home full of CCTV cameras. The mystery begins.
The series is currently fifth in Netflix's top ten, behind the third season of Nobody Wants This and the second season of Black Doves.
Yet, audiences and critics are divided on whether the series is actually worth the binge.
The Decider's Joel Keller gave A Couple 0f Lies a mixed review, pointing out several odd choices, including Scarlett's wonky American accent.
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"If you don’t let some of the clunkier aspects of the show distract you", their review reads, "A Couple of Lies is an interesting, fast-moving thriller where everyone has something to hide."
Over on IMDB, one largely unimpressed user wrote: "A Couple of Lies is not a complete waste of time, but it is a weak series with big gaps in logic.
"The main problem is that the characters make choices that do not make sense, and the series never explains them.
"Too many elements are added and then left unexplained. It starts well enough, but it does not work as a whole."
Black Doves has, however, received a far more glowing reception, even in its sophomore outing.
Digital Spy's Laura Jane Turner called it "stronger than the first and the perfect binge-watch experience.
"The action and unfolding twists never let up, and while we had some minor complaints about the lacklustre way the season 1 finale reveals landed, this new instalment – still standing at a tight six episodes – ends on a much more unexpected note."
A Couple of Lies is streaming now on Netflix.
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