Netflix’s three-part documentary The One About Matthew Perry arrived on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, one day before the third anniversary of the actor’s death at age 54. Directed by Emmy winner Mary Robertson, the series looks at the life of the man who played Chandler Bing across all 236 episodes of Friends, and the decades-long addiction that led to his death in October 2023. Reviews are split: some call it sincere and moving, others say three hours is far too long for a story Perry already told himself.
What the Netflix Doc Covers
The series runs in three episodes of roughly 50 minutes each, titled The One About Love, The One About Laughter and The One About a Friend. Across the three hours, it traces Perry’s childhood split between Canada and Los Angeles, his early acting jobs, his 1994 casting on Friends, his film work in Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards, and his repeated cycles of rehab and relapse.
New interviews sit alongside archival clips and previously unseen family photos and home videos. The documentary also covers his 2018 health crisis, a sepsis-related coma caused by opiate use, and his work as an advocate for people dealing with addiction.
A title card describes the project as the story of Perry’s life, as told by his family and friends, and by Matthew himself. That framing matters, because Perry had already written about much of this in his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
Mia Perry Bowick Leads the Story
The most talked-about voice in the series belongs to Perry’s younger half-sister, Mia Perry Bowick, a therapist who was born when Matthew was 16. She speaks on camera about her brother at length for the first time.
“My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill. He spent $7 million trying to get sober. That’s how seriously he took his disease.”
The $7 million figure has become one of the most repeated details from the documentary. Mia also recalls the moment she learned from a supermarket tabloid that her brother was going back to rehab, and a 2001 visit where she hid in a cupboard in tears.
“It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life, to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler and not just as someone who struggled with addiction.”
Longtime friends Roger Castillo and David Pressman, former girlfriends, former NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield, and Friends writer-producer Jeff Strauss also appear. Littlefield recalls the moment Perry walked into his Friends audition and effectively became Chandler Bing.
Why the Friends Cast Is Missing
None of Perry’s five surviving Friends co-stars, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, sit for new interviews. Neither do the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. Their absence has become one of the biggest talking points around the series.
Robertson told The New York Times and USA TODAY that the cast was approached and chose not to take part.
“We know the Friends cast loves Matthew and is grieving Matthew. We did approach them about participation. They decided not to participate.”
Mia Perry Bowick has suggested the loss is still too painful for them to revisit publicly. The documentary does use archival footage of the cast, including a recollection from Mia about being held on the Friends set as a young girl by Aniston and Cox.
What Critics Are Saying
Reviews are genuinely mixed, and the split comes down to two things: the honesty of the interviewees and the length of the series.
The Hollywood Reporter called it intimate and sincere but overly padded, arguing it would have worked better as a roughly 100-minute feature instead of a three-hour docuseries. The review also noted that the film is not a salacious look at Perry’s death or the criminal cases that followed.
The Guardian was warmer, describing it as an exhaustive but never quite exhausting film that avoids tedium because of the quality of its interviewees. Critic Lucy Mangan wrote that the documentary becomes a tribute not just to Perry but to the many addicts and the people who love them.
Variety called it a straightforwardly told, crushingly sad story of a man whose talent, humour and success were not enough to overcome a chronic disease. The review also noted that the series contains few bombshell revelations, since Perry had already shared so much in his memoir.
The Sydney Morning Herald was far harsher, giving it two stars and calling it a surface skim that plays it too safe. The review argued the authorised access made the series lean toward a flattering portrait rather than a full one.
The Mirror gave it five stars, praising Mia Perry Bowick as a captivating and unflinching interviewee and calling the series challenging and heartbreaking.
The i Paper went the other way, calling the documentary undignified and intrusive and arguing that Perry had already told his own story better than anyone else could.
Early reports said the series debuted with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, even as individual critics remained divided. Ready Steady Cut gave it four out of five, while This Is Money gave it three stars and said the absence of the Friends cast left a void.
The Hard Facts Behind Perry’s Death
Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident caused by the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine listed as contributing factors.
Five people were charged in connection with his death, including his live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, doctors Salvador Plasencia and Mark Chavez, and Jasveen Sangha, widely known as the “Ketamine Queen.” All five pleaded guilty and received sentences or punishments.
You May Also Like:
View all articles about
Where to Watch and Episode Details
All three episodes of The One About Matthew Perry were released together on Netflix on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, and the series is streaming worldwide, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India. Each episode runs about 50 minutes, for a total runtime of roughly three hours. The documentary is produced by Maxine Productions, part of Sony Pictures Television, with Robertson, Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman as executive producers.
Also Read: Kenneth Iwamasa Sentenced to Prison for Matthew Perry’s Death: What the Assistant Did
For more entertainment news, reviews and streaming updates, keep reading VvipTimes.
Leave a Reply