Sisters Devon and Simone DeWitt aren’t exactly close these days. Ever since Simone scored a swanky gig as assistant to Michaela Kell, the activist wife of billionaire Peter Kell, she’s tossed her family on the back burner and effectively shut it off. Living on a luxurious compound surrounded by an army of staff bound by an iron-clad NDA, Simone has long forgotten her struggling sister, their ailing father, and everything having to do with their emotionally wrought upbringing.
Based on Molly Smith Metzler’s play Elemeno Pea, Netflix’s Sirens is a limited series exploring the complexities of familial bonds and the corrosive effects of privilege. Simone (Milly Alcock) works as a personal assistant to the controlling Michaela (Julianne Moore), spending her days catering to her boss’s every whim and her nights doting on billionaire boyfriend Ethan Corbin II (Glenn Howerton). But on the insular island of Martha’s Vineyard, everything falls under Michaela’s watchful gaze, something that doesn’t sit right with Simone’s estranged sister.
Meghann Fahy plays Devon, a self-sabotaging mess determined to free her sister from Michaela’s grip. During an impromptu visit to the island to confront her sister, ghosts from their past resurface as key figures on the estate get caught in their orbit and pulled into their conflict.
As estranged sisters who reunite in Cape Cod’s bougie cousin for a seaside showdown, Alcock and Fahy share a chemistry that creates a portrait of a family shattered by mental illness and addiction. As Devon, the older sister who gave up her independence to raise her baby sister to the best of her abilities, Fahy fully inhabits a woman on the brink: emotionally volatile, impulsive, and burdened by unresolved mental health issues. Alcock portrays Simone as the younger sister on the receiving end of much of that trauma, using her job as a socialite’s assistant as a means to escape. Together, they deliver a compelling portrait of two women shaped by damage, duty, and divergent paths to survival.
The supporting cast is stacked: Moore shines as the ultra-controlling Michaela, while Kevin Bacon plays her husband Peter, a laid-back billionaire who quietly tolerates his wife’s escalating frenzy. Howerton portrays a wealthy tycoon smitten with Simone despite a notorious history of summer flings. Together, the supporting ensemble adds fuel to the dysfunction surrounding the sisters, deepening an already volatile dynamic.
Despite its powerhouse performances, Sirens falters with tonal inconsistencies, veering from absurd comedy to emotional intensity. While it sets out to satirize the ultra-wealthy, the series never fully commits to its dark humor, offering only brief flashes of snark without the follow-through. This inconsistency extends to some of its characters, who feel more like narrative devices than fully realized people. As a result, some characters come off as caricatures, while the motivations of others are lost in the plot.
Sirens isn’t just a dramedy about the complicated bond between two sisters — it’s a meditation on the fragility of relationships in general: marriage, work, lovers, parenthood, even that high school himbo who lingers past his due date. Though the series has issues concerning tonal shifts and character development, the themes of Metzler’s play remain sharp, relevant, and emotionally resonant. Sirens captures the chaos of personal connection, reminding us that even the most dysfunctional relationships are often rooted in love and the hope we can fix what’s broken — even if that broken might prove unfixable.
“Sirens” is streaming on Netflix.
