Rapid Insights: ‘Sirens’ Dismantles the Luxury Mystery Trend to Reveal What Works

Who’s the typical audience for this type of show? 
Mostly women 30+. In keeping with the broader mystery-thriller sweet spot, this ‘wealthy crime’ subgenre also tends to appeal most strongly to a female audience, with streaming viewership landing at 57-68% women and 68-77% aged 30+; Sirens falls toward the upper end of both ranges (65% women, 74% aged 30+). An exception can arise if the series also weaves in darker, bloodier elements to bring in more men; the violence-filled The Fall of the House of Usher, for example, actually skews slightly male (55%).

How important is wealth to these shows’ success? 
Very. The elite status of the protagonists is what sets up the series’ core themes and provides the contrast between the rarefied setting and the sordid crimes within it. Story elements like the characters’ high Social Status, conspicuously Wealthy Lifestyles, and efforts to rise higher still (Power Struggles)–especially when set against dark Secrets & Lies, a Criminal Investigation, the Death of a Loved One, or a Murder Mystery–help to drive ratings, bingeability, and social buzz. A number of these shows also feature an audience surrogate (Fish Out of Water) in the form of a lower-class outsider, who serves as an effective onramp for viewers by being just as taken aback at the disturbing peek behind the 1% curtain (e.g. Sirens’ older sister, The Perfect Couple’s new fiance, The White Lotus’s hotel staff).

What else helps these series bring in viewers?
Centering on family. Nearly all shows within this microgenre–even those with a more wide-ranging set of characters (e.g. The White Lotus, Nine Perfect Strangers, Death and Other Details)–explore Family Relationships within this moneyed milieu, honing in particularly on themes of Family Dysfunction and Family Tension. Though shown through a fairly melodramatic lens, it’s nevertheless these universal themes that make the shows more broadly relatable and accessible to viewers, and the wealthy protagonists more sympathetic. Audiences can feel for the broken Father-Child Relationships (135) in The Fall of the House of Usher, for example, or the strained Sibling Relationships (128) on The White Lotus while still scoffing at the absurd behavior of their out-of-touch elite.

What’s setting Sirens apart? 
Dark comedy. While Netflix’s newest show incorporates all the key elements of its subgenre, it also adds a heavy dose of Twisted Humor (128) into its exploration of wealth and power. The series examines a young woman’s creepy, worshipful devotion to her billionaire boss, and its depiction of the billionaire’s absurdly curated ‘Stepford Wives’ persona and over-the-top cult-like influence has viewers snickering–while still leaning into its mounting sense of danger and tension.

What’s the buzz potential for these types of shows? 
Very high. Most of these series immediately maxed out our social buzz meter (to 160) upon release, with a number sustaining that level of online activity for weeks (especially The White Lotus and The Undoing). Sirens seems on track to make a similarly impressive splash; it’s currently still holding at (160) twenty days after its premiere and has already outpaced last fall’s The Perfect Couple.

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