Abhiroop Das
Created by Dorien Goertzen, Netflix’s ‘The Perfect Lie,’ also known as ‘De Eetclub,’ or ‘The Dining Club,’ tells the story of a friend circle made up of a wealthy couple, who are jolted out of their hedonistic lifestyle when one of their own dies. When Karen, the newest addition to the club, first enters the town of Bergen, she is taken aback by how different everything, especially the people, is. However, at the same time, she cannot help but feel a unique connection with Simon, a charming local who is the co-owner of a successful gym chain named Gym at Sea. As we learn more about Simon, though, it becomes clear that the business is the springboard for much larger secret developments, and somehow they, much like the gyms themselves, are connected to the tragedy that is Evert’s death.
Gym at Sea is a Fictional Gym Chain Which Connects to the Story’s Themes
Gym at Sea is part of the fictional world of ‘The Perfect Lie’ and is not based on any real-life fitness chain. In Saskia Noort’s novel ‘De Eetclub,’ Simon invests in Evert’s sports-store chain, which is later transformed into a gym chain for the show by Dorien Goertzen, Jop Esmeijer, and Ilse Ott. Given that the story is about a group of wealthy couples in the town of Bergen, it makes sense for the writing team to create a believable business connected to Evert, simultaneously explaining why he is affluent and well-built. However, Simon’s role in the gym business adds some darker shades to the story, and it makes sense for the creators to go for an invented chain store, and thus avoid any unwanted comparisons to real-life gyms and fitness chains.
Though neither Noort nor the show’s writers have named any specific inspiration for Gym at Sea, one anecdote from Noort seems to draw a link. In a conversation with Stefan de Vries, she discussed reading a newspaper article about a few members of a football club’s board arguing in a restaurant. While it’s curious as it is for something like this to make it to the news, Noort recalled being inspired to write a story about a dinner club of friends that leads to similar tensions. However, it is possible that the sports aesthetic is reimagined in the form of Gym at Sea for the show, given how naturally it fits into the thematic mesh of the show, especially with all the twists involved.
To make the Netflix show feel as immersive as possible, the creators decided to film most of the scenes practically in North Holland, including Bergen, where the story is set. It is very likely that a real gym was transformed into Gym at Sea for the screen, possibly with intricate set work doing the rest of the work. Some of the lensing reportedly took place in Surfschool Hoek van Holland, a local surfing school located at Rechtestraat 40, and given that Gym at Sea is depicted as also hosting outdoor activities, it is possible that the filming crew made use of the existing infrastructure to make the sequences look even more realistic. Ultimately, though, Simon and Evert’s company is invented in nature and serves the larger narrative devices of the story.
Read More: The Perfect Lie Ending Explained: Will Hanneke Die? Who Killed Evert?
