Matthew Perry docuseries is out: His sister speaks, and the reviews

Netflix's "The One About Matthew Perry" is now streaming. The three-part docuseries arrives a day before the third anniversary of the actor's death.

What to know

• **What:** "The One About Matthew Perry," a three-part docuseries (rated TV-MA), directed by Mary Robertson.
• **Where/when:** Streaming now on Netflix, as of Tue Oct 27.
• **What's new:** His younger sister, Mia Perry Bowick, talks about him on camera for the first time.
• **Who's not in it:** His five Friends co-stars weren't interviewed. They appear only in archive footage.
• **The date:** Wednesday, Oct 28, marks three years since his death.
• **Who made it:** Maxine Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television, for Netflix.

Netflix calls it the first in-depth documentary about Perry. It follows him from his early days as a young actor in Los Angeles to the global fame of Friends, and on to the recovery advocacy that became a big part of his legacy. According to Netflix, the series also uses photos and home videos from the Perry family's private archive that have never been released before.

**His sister, on camera for the first time**

The series is built around Mia Perry Bowick, Perry's sister, who is 14 years younger than he was and works as a psychotherapist. Netflix says it is the first time she has spoken about him on camera. In an interview with The New York Times, she said she and Robertson wanted to show what it was like to love him and who he was beyond his famous roles and his struggles with substance use. She often calls him "Matty." She also told the Times she learned what he was going through when she was about 16, and that it shaped her career.

Netflix's Tudum notes that Perry Bowick had turned down earlier chances to tell her brother's story. She told Tudum that working on the series turned out to be healing for her and helped her understand her own grief. She said she hopes viewers come away seeing him as a whole person, not only as Chandler and not only as someone who struggled with addiction. Robertson told Gold Derby that she interviewed Perry Bowick for two full days at the start of production, going from her first memory of her brother to her last, and that nothing was off-limits.

According to The Independent, which saw the series before release, Perry Bowick also talks about how much the Chandler-and-Monica storyline meant to him. She also says some friends found the 2021 Friends reunion special hard to watch.

**Who made it, and how it started**

The series is directed by Emmy-nominated Mary Robertson and produced by her company, Maxine Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television. Robertson, Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers, per Netflix. Gold Derby notes that Robertson previously directed and produced "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" and was showrunner of "The New York Times Presents," the series behind "Framing Britney Spears."

Robertson told Gold Derby and Vulture that the project began with Perry's 2022 memoir. After reading it, she wrote to people connected to the book but heard nothing back. Months after his death, her team sent a new round of letters and messages to people close to him, and this time some wrote back. She told both outlets she screamed when Perry Bowick's reply arrived, and that their first video call started with both sides admitting they were nervous.

**Who else is in it**

Besides his sister, Netflix lists more than a dozen interviewees. They include two friends of more than 40 years, Roger Castillo and David Pressman, both speaking about him on camera for the first time. Castillo is the friend who drove Perry to his Friends audition. Also featured are former NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield, who greenlit the show, and Jeff Strauss, a first-season Friends writer and producer who helped shape Chandler.

From his film and TV work, the series includes actor Kevin Pollak, his co-star in "The Whole Nine Yards"; director Jonathan Lynn; "Fools Rush In" producer Doug Draizin; and Nate Torrence, his co-star on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Mr. Sunshine." Tim Harrington, who met Perry in recovery in 2001, credits him with saving his life, Netflix says. West Huddleston, who worked with Perry on drug court advocacy as head of the group All Rise, also appears.

**Why the Friends cast isn't interviewed**

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer appear only in archive clips. Robertson told Netflix's Tudum and other outlets that the production reached out to the cast and they declined. She said she respected that they are still grieving. The cast has not commented publicly on the series.

Robertson told Tudum that Strauss's participation and photos shared with the production let the series offer a rare, close look at the making of the sitcom.

**Funnier than you might expect**

Robertson told Vulture she wanted the series to be funny and to feel more like a celebration of Perry's life than a true-crime look at how he died. Vulture says the series includes his public debate with British commentator Peter Hitchens, in which Perry argued that addiction is a disease, not a choice. That cause became central to his work in later years.

Robertson also told Vulture that each episode features at least one song that mattered to Perry, and that she was surprised to learn he loved Enya, John Tesh and Train's "Drops of Jupiter." The series also touches on his love of Batman. Among the Friends moments it revisits is "The One With the Blackout," the early episode where Chandler is stuck in an ATM vestibule with a model and the comedy comes mostly from his face and his inner thoughts.

In the series, his sister says he spent more than $7 million over the years trying to get sober, as Deadline and Variety reported when the trailer came out.

**What reviewers are saying**

Full reviews arrived as the series premiered overnight. So far they are mostly positive, and the most common complaint is the length. HuffPost UK, rounding up the early reviews, called the reception largely positive, even if the series isn't the most revealing. As of early Tuesday, Rotten Tomatoes had not yet posted a critics' score.

• **The Guardian** (4 out of 5 stars): called it an unexpectedly candid, thoughtful and intimate film that gives depth to what is, at heart, a simple and sad story. The review said three hours is long, but the strength of the interviews with his sister and his oldest friends keeps it from dragging.
• **The Times of London** (4 out of 5 stars): praised the quality of the interviewees, people who knew him long before he was famous, and said the series feels like a full, rounded picture of a likable, generous man.
• **Variety** (Alison Herman): described it as a straightforward and deeply sad portrait of a man whose talent and success could not overcome a chronic disease. She noted there are no bombshells and little new information, because Perry had already shared much of his story himself.
• **The Hollywood Reporter** (Daniel Fienberg): found it sincere and generally not exploitative, but padded. He argued it would have worked better as a feature-length film of about 100 minutes and said he learned little new about Perry, though the series' heart is with the people who loved him.
• **The Sydney Morning Herald** (Kylie Northover, 2 out of 5 stars): the toughest review so far. She argued that, as a project made with his family's access, it plays it too safe, leans toward flattery and offers little insight below the surface.
• **The Mirror** (Mark Jefferies): wrote that he didn't expect to be so affected, and that Perry Bowick is a gripping, unflinching interviewee who helped him understand addiction better.
• **The Independent**, in an early look before release, called the series a moving portrait of Perry.

Critics split on the missing famous faces. The Hollywood Reporter argued that big-name interviews would have shifted the focus away from Perry himself, while The Sydney Morning Herald wondered what the absent stars might have added. Even the more critical reviews agree that his sister and his longtime friends are the strongest part of the series.

**More than Chandler**

Perry played Chandler Bing in all 236 episodes of Friends, from 1994 to 2004, Netflix notes. But his career went well beyond the sitcom. He starred in films such as "Fools Rush In" and "The Whole Nine Yards," and on TV in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Gold Derby points out that he also created, wrote and produced several series and wrote an off-Broadway play. Netflix says he wrote "Mr. Sunshine" with a role for Torrence. Robertson told Vulture that "Fools Rush In" is one of her favorite performances of his, partly because his real-life father played his character's father.

**Three years later**

Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at 54. The Los Angeles County medical examiner ruled his death accidental. He spent much of his later life speaking openly about addiction and recovery. He started the Matthew Perry Foundation to help others get treatment, and he wrote about his own experience in his 2022 memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing."

**Before you watch**

The series is rated TV-MA. Netflix's viewer guide warns that it includes substance use, addiction, drug use, discussion of death and strong language. Netflix compares its tone to two earlier documentaries: the family-led "Avicii – I'm Tim" and the frank "aka Charlie Sheen." Robertson told Gold Derby the series doesn't offer an easy answer to why Perry, or anyone, struggles with addiction. She said she hopes it gives comfort to families supporting a loved one in recovery.

**If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use,** call the SAMHSA National Helpline at **1-800-662-4357**. It's free, confidential and open 24/7, in English and Spanish. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text **988** to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

*ARCHIVE PHOTO: Matthew Perry at a Policy Exchange event on drug courts, December 2013. Photo: Policy Exchange / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).*

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