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Not all adaptations have to make sense. After all, didn’t Netflix prove that with their amazing adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House that, was at best, only in the spirit of the original novel? Well, Netflix wants us to take that leap of faith again with its latest import: Perfume.

But the changes are bigger this time. Rather than just a jump ahead a few decades but with a similar premise, Perfume leaps ahead centuries, and changes genres from a novel of class and subtle horror to a dark, urban murder mystery.


For those who’ve never read Patrick Suskind’s 1985 historical horror novel, or the 2006 film they made about it, the story follows Grenouille, an unfortunate young man living in 18th Century France who has a remarkable sense of smell but no smell of his own. As he becomes obsessed with smells and learns the art of perfumery, he finds that the most interesting smells are that of young women, which he kills to preserve and turn into the perfect scent. Even though he is found guilty of all the murder he commits, he uses the new perfume he has made to turn the crowd in his favor and save himself. But he finds that he is so disgusted with humanity that his commits suicide by perfume…take that as you will.

This new German show has some of the same ideas. A group of former school mates are using dead bodies to create a one of a kind smell, but detectives are looking for who exactly is committing these murders and why. If the original premise is strange, then this new one seems even more bizarre. The dark, grizzly tone is more in line with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo than the original work but maybe they can make it work.

Perfume premieres on Netflix on December 21, 2018.