Steamy Psychological Thriller The Couple Next Door Fails to Catch Fire

Suburbia is a weirdly liminal space. Neither the city nor the country, it’s both idyllic and foreboding, a symbol of success whose flawless veneer often hides dark secrets underneath and where anything can happen behind closed doors. That’s the general premise behind Starz’s steamy thriller The Couple Next Door, a story that wants to dig into this facade through the stories of two very different couples and the tangled relationship that develops between them. But while it’s clear that the series wants to be provocative and edgy while doing so, its exploration of the complexities of modern-day relationships never quite manages to do more than simmer. 

Based on the Dutch series Nieuwe Burn, The Couple Next Door follows the story of primary school teacher Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson) and her journalist husband Pete (Alfred Enoch) as they move into a new home in a picture-perfect suburban neighborhood and are immediately befriended by their hot neighbors, traffic cop Danny (Sam Heughan) and his yoga instructor wife Becka (Jessica De Gouw). As the youngest people on their street, the foursome find themselves immediately spending time together, and it’s apparent that Evie finds the other couple fascinating for many reasons—not the least of which is that she’s very obviously attracted to Danny. 

Things intensify when Danny and Becka reveal that they’re in a non-traditional relationship, and frequently invite other couples into their bedroom for some extramarital fun. Evie, who hails from a conservative religious family and has only ever been with Pete, romantically speaking, finds this all fascinating—and very tempting. As her curiosity about their lifestyle grows, so does her urge to do some experimentation herself and give in to the sort of desires she’s always been taught are sinful. Pete, for his part, is less into the concept of swinging, and his reluctance to open up their marriage leads to new and increased tensions in his relationship with his wife.

The Couple Next Door is at its most interesting and entertaining when it’s teasing out the messy relationship between this foursome. As various members of the group debate whether they should all sleep together, discuss the rules of non-monogamy, or dance drunkenly on the seashore together, it’s all so much escapist fun. The cast is attractive, the moral questions are suitably complicated, and the steadily building tension as our leads (namely Evie) spiral further into obsession adds an exciting frisson of danger to many scenes. The steadily unfolding drama between the couples is addictive and offers multiple opportunities for some surprisingly nuanced conversations about modern relationship dynamics. 

This show can feel like a peak ‘90s erotic thriller in its best moments, but throughout its six episodes (all of which were available for review) it frequently undercuts its own momentum by focusing on multiple dull and, quite frankly, completely unnecessary subplots. Danny’s financial worries lead him to take on a few extracurricular jobs of the less-than-legal variety, of precisely the sort that Pete’s busy digging into during his investigation into local corruption at work. Elsewhere, a creeptastic neighbor (Hugh Dennis) is busy stalking Becka, in a story that frequently feels as though it’s happening on a different show entirely. None of these secondary threads are remotely as interesting or scandalous as the show seems to think they are, and every time a scene cuts away from the messy emotional entanglement between the two leading couples, it might as well be accompanied by the sound of a balloon deflating.