Imperfect Women review – fun if you lower your expectations

Imperfect Women announces itself from the first shots — three women dancing, a voiceover about “a kinship from deep in our souls” — as an overwritten, glossy, derivative murder mystery, a descendant of Big Little Lies. With Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara aboard, it can deliver eight hours of perfectly acceptable entertainment if you adjust your expectations; expect more and you’ll likely be disappointed.

The story opens amid a police interview after one of the women is murdered. Washington’s Eleanor is being questioned, which leaves Kate Mara’s Nancy as the victim; Joel Kinnaman’s Robert is the obvious suspect in the manner of a rich, short‑tempered man. Nancy’s secrets — an affair she told only Eleanor about — and a string of possible culprits from David to the artist Davide (Theo Bongani Ndyalvane) keep the mystery ticking over.

Elisabeth Moss plays Mary, a stay‑at‑home mum married to Howard (Corey Stoll), and the show leans on class signals and polite euphemisms to make social differences plain.

imperfect women, kerry washington, elisabeth moss, kate mara, joel kinnaman, corey stoll, murder mystery, police interview, affair, nancy