General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

A Perfect Story

A Perfect Story (Un cuento perfecto) is a 2023 Spanish romantic comedy miniseries produced for Netflix, based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Elísabet Benavent and starring Anna Castillo and Álvaro Mel as Margot and David, two strangers from opposite social worlds who help each other win back the loves of their lives.¹^•² It premiered on Netflix on July 28, 2023 as a five-episode limited series.³

Key fact	Detail
Original title	Un cuento perfecto
Basis	Novel Un cuento perfecto by Elísabet Benavent, published by Suma de Letras in February 2020, 640 pages⁴
Lead cast	Anna Castillo as Margot, Álvaro Mel as David; supporting cast includes Ana Belén, Lourdes Hernández, Ingrid García-Jonsson, Ane Gabarain, and Elena Irureta¹
Creative team	Written by Marina Pérez, directed by Chloé Wallace, produced by César Benítez for Plano a Plano; Benavent and Pérez executive produced⁵
Release	July 28, 2023, Netflix; 5 episodes of roughly 43 to 45 minutes³^•⁶
Filming	Started October 2022 in natural locations in Greece, continuing in Madrid¹
Reception	IMDb 7.4/10 from about 6,100 user ratings; Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 86% from 7 reviews⁷^•⁸

Spoilers

Premise

Margot is the heiress of an important hotel empire, apparently living a happy life with a perfect fiancé, a loving family, and a good job, yet feeling a large emptiness inside. David works three jobs to make ends meet and sleeps on the couch of his best friends. When chance brings their paths together after Margot flees her own wedding, they discover they have more in common than they thought and that only they can help each other get their partners back.¹^•⁵^•⁹

The five episodes trace the pair from a chance encounter on Margot's wedding day, through a liberating trip prompted by a random game and a pact between the two, to a final journey to Ávila in which they decide whether to open the door to new possibilities or shut it for good.³

Production

Netflix announced the adaptation in April 2021, near World Book Day, alongside plans to adapt novels by Javier Castillo and Lucía-Asué Mbomío and to expand its production hub in Tres Cantos, Madrid. Benavent described her novel as one that questions high personal self-expectations as a synonym for happiness.¹⁰

Filming and crew. Production began in late October 2022 in natural locations in Greece and continued over several weeks between Greece and Madrid.¹ Marina Pérez, who also worked on Valeria, wrote the adaptation, and Chloé Wallace directed; César Benítez produced through Plano a Plano, with Benavent and Pérez as executive producers.⁵ Netflix released the trailer on July 18, 2023, ten days before the premiere.⁵

Cast

Anna Castillo (El olivo, La llamada) and Álvaro Mel (La fortuna, Paraíso) play Margot and David. The supporting cast includes Ana Belén as Margot's mother, Lourdes Hernández, known musically as Russian Red, as Patricia, Ingrid García-Jonsson as Candela, Ane Gabarain, and Elena Irureta as Amparo.¹^•¹¹

Context in Benavent's Netflix adaptations

Un cuento perfecto is the third screen adaptation of Elísabet Benavent's work by Netflix, after the series Valeria, which premiered in May 2020 and ran for three seasons at the time, and the film Fuimos canciones, released in September 2021.¹² Benavent later said the series was what she had imagined when writing the book.¹³ A fourth adaptation, the miniseries Toda la verdad de mis mentiras, followed after Valeria concluded with a fourth season.¹⁴

Reception

The series holds an IMDb rating of 7.4/10 from about 6,100 user ratings, with individual episodes scoring between 7.1 and 7.8.⁷ On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 86% Tomatometer from 7 reviews and a 97% average audience score from fewer than 50 ratings.⁸ Critics highlighted the chemistry of the two leads and the warmth of a story set between Madrid and the Greek islands; a Decider review called it a light romantic story with two charming leads, while a Ready Steady Cut review gave it 2/5, finding nothing new for the genre.¹⁵ Common Sense Media rated it 4/5, describing a lighthearted romantic comedy about two people in their late 20s who meet after breakups and plan to make their exes jealous, with messages about breaking free of constraint and avoiding the trap of perfectionism.¹⁶

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › Telenovelas and Latin American/Iberian serials › Spanish serial dramas

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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