The Perfect Mother ending explained: Was Anya the villain in the series?

Netflix just released its latest four-part French thriller, The Perfect Mother, on June 3, 2022. The nuanced series with a lot of twists was certainly a thrilling ride, with so many ups and downs that would keep the viewers guessing. Paired with a shifting pace and a coherent family drama in the backdrop of a murder investigation, it certainly proved to be a binge-worthy thriller for the weekend.

The tried-and-tested murder story had a lot of unique things to offer, starting from a constantly shifting and expanding narrative to an anti-climatic ending that showed what it means to be a mother. The story followed Helene Berg (played by Julie Gayet) in her quest to save her daughter, Anya (Eden Ducourant), from a murder charge.

Though the story wrapped up in a great way, with startling revelations and completely new plotlines, the multiple twists may leave you wondering what really went down and which version of the story was the right one. Scroll down to read more about the ending of The Perfect Mother.

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The Perfect Mother ending: Anya as both the hero and the villain in the story

The one thing that remained constant throughout the four episodes of The Perfect Mother was Anya's changing narrative of the day of the murder. The only detail that remained constant in the story was how Anya went home with Damien (Charles Crehange). Every other detail of the story came cutting in as more clues and evidence were discovered by the investigators or by Helene and Vincent (Tomer Sisley).

However, the final version that both the authorities and Anya settled on, was the one where she was assaulted by Damien, and she ran away and hid in the bathroom. From there, she called Kamal (Julien Lopez), who came to rescue her but got into a fight with Damien, resulting in Damien's death. This also wrapped up the case perfectly as Kamal had died by suicide while trying to flee from the police.

This had almost succeeded as the acknowledged version of the story, but at the close of the end, Anya's friend, Julie (Ines Spiridonov), came to Vincent and revealed the real version of the story.

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Who began the saga?

It was revealed in The Perfect Mother how Anya had been drugged by Damien. Julie revealed that it was Anya who took the fight to Damien and not the other way round. Anya, who was previously a victim of s*xual violence, decided to step up for all women and against every perpetrator of the assault.

When she found out that Damien had previously assaulted a girl and paid her to keep quiet, she took this opportunity to get him to take her home, where she would blackmail him. This was also the reason she took the roofie, which she could use to prove that he drugged and assaulted her.

But things got out of control as Damien already had a history of abuse. He started assaulting her, and in a moment of self-defense, Anya stabbed him. As a victim of s*xual violence, she was already triggered and hence landed a fatal blow that killed him. Julie was supposed to be a part of the act, but she backed out that day.

After the incident, Anya called Kamal as he was the only one she trusted. Kamal merely got her out of the place but because of the security footage and Anya's twisted tales, he was singled out as the sole suspect.

The final scene of The Perfect Mother saw Helene telling Vincent to get her daughter out despite knowing the truth about the events. This summed up the title of the show and provided a perfect ending.

Viewers can watch The Perfect Mother which is now streaming on Netflix.