Nine Perfect Strangers Review: Nicole Kidman Shines Again In A Delusional Series

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Asher Kiddie, Samara Weaving, Grace Van Patten, Regina Hall, Bobby Cannavale
Director: Jonathan Levine

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video 
Rating: 3 stars [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

There’s no two without three. Our review of Nine Perfect Strangers starts from here, highlighting how this new eight-episode series marks the third collaboration between David E. Kelley and Nicole Kidman, together again, after Big Little Lies and the recent The Undoing said. A couple, between screenwriter and leading actress (also producer) who seem to know exactly what the public requires and how to satisfy them, managing to touch the right chords through stories that know how to address their target audience, with a recognizable protagonist capable of immediately creating the necessary bond. It must be said right away that Nine Perfect Strangers, available on Prime Video, at least from what we have been able to see during the six episodes released in preview, a descending parable continues on the part of the artistic couple. Far from the fragility and depth of Big Little Lies , which the author of the novel adapted here shares, even more dry and linear than The Undoing, this new miniseries seems to rest a little too much on simplicity and ostentation feelings, at the expense of true sincerity.

Nine Perfect Strangers Review: What’s The Story About

The series tells us how nine strangers arrive at a secluded resort with the promise of disconnecting from the hectic urban life to be part of an experience that will transform and heal their lives. They initially see it as nothing short of a luxury vacation, but the choice of participants has not been precisely left to chance.

It is curious that ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ and ‘The White Lotus’ are at the same time so similar and so different from each other. In both cases the mystery is used as an additional hook to catch the viewer’s attention, but the HBO series opts for the doubt about who will die to arouse our curiosity about the interactions of the characters, while in the Hulu series I would not be surprised at all that the doubts behind the motivations of the resort hostess end up leading to death.

However, that does not stop being assumptions on my part, since so far I have only seen the first three episodes of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ and I can not say that I have been wanting to move on. It is true that the closeness in time of ‘The White Lotus’ plays against it , but even without taking that into account, there is nothing in the series that we are dealing with that will get you hooked. On the one hand, the mystery seems raised more by sparks than from a well-defined idea . Good proof of this we have with the constant jumps between characters and the lack of a common tone that gives a true unity to their stories beyond the fact that they coincide in the same place.

The nine perfect strangers of the title are nine characters, played by a varied cast, who, for one reason or another, have chosen to spend ten days in a mysterious luxury resort. There is the Italian-American Marconi family, made up of an apparently always cheerful father ( Michael Shannon ), a mother (Asher Keddie) still unable to mourn her son’s suicide and a daughter (Grace Van Patten) who seems to have no interest in her parents. ; there is a couple in crisis (Melvin Gregg and Samara Weaving ), a failed writer ( Melissa McCarthy) and other people who, between low self-esteem and temper, hope to regain some confidence in themselves and in life (let’s talk about the characters played by Luke Evans, Regina Hall and Bobby Cannavale). These nine people will live together in this dream resort, apparently perfect, but which, right from the start, seems to be hiding something strange. Starting from the request to leave every electronic device (mobile phones, smartwatches, everything that can connect to the outside world) to the staff, always smiling, to continue with strange personalized drinks not to be shared with anyone else. Finally, the daily activities do not correspond to what one would normally expect from such an environment, resulting at first sight alienating and disturbing. At the center of this resort is you, Masha (Nicole Kidman), a woman of Russian origin who seems to understand every guest and who seems to take a mystical desire for rebirth too seriously. What perhaps the nine strangers in the title do not know is that in order to be reborn, one must first die.

Devils And Angels

Collective story, in which each character has their own story that must be told, highlighted and resolved, Nine perfect strangers tackles hard and sad issues, in search of redemption. In one way or another, the guests of the Tranquillum Resort symbolize a hellish panorama, devils full of defects where torment, unhappiness and suffering are the masters. For this we need a real angel who can save them and atone for their pains. And that’s how Nicole Kidman is portrayed, since the first apparition an angelic face, dressed in white, ethereal and almost divine. Despite being the focus of the series, his Masha appears only in the middle of the first episode, after all the other characters, letting himself wait and trying to delay his entry and his vision as much as possible. Like the great stars of classic cinema (the main reference is in Rita Hayworth’s Guild), Nicole Kidman still manages to catalyze attention on herself, to make herself desired and highlight that status quo of a saving character. Perhaps in a way that is all too explicit, so much so that a feeling of general banality remains starting from the way in which Kidman acts, with an ostentatious Russian accent and taking herself too seriously, up to the way in which she is represented: daughter of the counterculture, with long blonde hair and virginal clothes.

A Great Cast Full Of Secrets

One cannot help but underline the excellent cast which is the best element of the project. Without exception, the nine characters know how to give life to a group that works above all in the sequences in which they are all forced to share the space. The diversity of the characters, of their character, of vision of the world, of personal past, are clearly perceived, so much so that the viewer can easily become attached to each of them. The skill of the cast pushes the writing to a precise choice, that is the slavish and cumbersome presence of the monologues to express all the conflicts of the story. The word, the dialogues and the oral story are the elements on which the narration is based, to reach the audience more clearly and directly. This is where Nine Perfect Strangers lends the biggest flank. Each character, Masha and her helpers included, carries secrets with them. In this way, an atmosphere is built that recalls the mystery and the thriller, which poorly blends with the more emotional and dramatic caliber of the story.

L’ more mysterious system on the past of the character played by Nicole Kidman and the mysteries of this resort seem to be an addition that undermines the tone, in turn severely tested by some sequences bordering on kitsch, thanks to a soundtrack that often expires in exaggeration and in the banal. Although the goal is precisely to tell a return to life by the characters, the feeling is that a bigamy of brisk philosophy regarding good feelings is enough to change the lives of these people so marked by their lives. To the public this simplicity (which as far as we are concerned sometimes ends in banality) may be pleasant and satisfying, but it risks crippling a story about the elaboration of mourning that seemed to have much more potential. accomplice a soundtrack that often expires in exaggeration and banality. Although the goal is precisely to tell a return to life by the characters, the feeling is that a bignami of brisk philosophy regarding good feelings is enough to change the lives of these people so marked by their lives. To the public this simplicity (which as far as we are concerned sometimes ends in banality) may be pleasant and satisfying, but it risks crippling a story about the elaboration of mourning that seemed to have much more potential. accomplice a soundtrack that often expires in exaggeration and banality.

Although the goal is precisely to tell a return to life by the characters, the feeling is that a bignami of brisk philosophy regarding good feelings is enough to change the lives of these people so marked by their lives. To the public this simplicity (which as far as we are concerned sometimes ends in banality) may be pleasant and satisfying, but it risks crippling a story about the elaboration of mourning that seemed to have much more potential. the feeling is that a bignami of brisk philosophy regarding good feelings is enough to change the life of these people so marked by their lives. To the public this simplicity (which as far as we are concerned sometimes ends in banality) may be pleasant and satisfying, but it risks crippling a story about the elaboration of mourning that seemed to have much more potential. the feeling is that a bignami of brisk philosophy regarding good feelings is enough to change the life of these people so marked by their lives. To the public this simplicity (which as far as we are concerned sometimes ends in banality) may be pleasant and satisfying, but it risks crippling a story about the elaboration of mourning that seemed to have much more potential.

Nine Perfect Strangers Review: The Last Words

At the conclusion of our review of Nine Perfect Strangers we can summarize this new eight-episode miniseries as a new artistic piece of the couple David E. Kelley and Nicole Kidman. The themes are important (mourning, self-esteem, inner rebirth …), but they are treated with a simplicity that often ends in kitsch. Excellent cast, put to the test by continuous monologues, varied and particularly in part, the real engine that keeps the viewer involved in the events. In addition to the drama, there is also room for a note of thriller and mysteries, an addition that, although it does not manage to blend perfectly, can keep the viewer’s attention high. Far from the quality of previous works, Nine Perfect Strangers is satisfied with the bare minimum for pleasure. But perhaps that’s just what it takes.

What Worked

• The series deals with important issues on rebirth and taking back one’s life.
• Excellent cast, capable of giving life to credible interpretations and a varied park of characters, with which to empathize easily.

What Didn’t Worked

• The thriller system fails to blend in the best way with the drama.
• Simplicity often ends in banality, with some sequences bordering on kitsch.