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Weird guttural soundscapes and shots of invitingly warm but terribly creepy doorways lend shades of The White Lotus to this conventional thriller set in a cul-de-sac. But a little stylistic imitation isn’t the main problem with the second series of The Couple Next Door.
Despite achieving record-breaking streaming success for Channel 4 when the first series premiered in 2023, this follow-up is incredibly slow to deliver – and the wait is arduous. Given the tantalising promise of neighbourly hanky-panky, viewers must endure hours of tedious hospital drama before they’re rewarded. And even then, director Dries Vos hardly serves up Mills & Boon. Sometimes the intimacy is so over-stylised it makes you laugh, although there is some nicely slo-mo camerawork trailing the flirtatious moments beforehand which titillate more than the sex itself.
