TV Review: Nine Perfect Strangers Meet For A Hulu Binge
The world feels pretty empty, no? For however much is going on, even in our personal lives, it can feel like a whole lot of nothing. Fulfillment is a strange beast to have as a purpose because like words such as, peace and happiness, it is something we intuitively “know” but can’t describe or even, literally, meet. In 9 Perfect Strangers, we meet nine “not so perfect” strangers who vary in backgrounds, dreams, and needs, but share one common ground: they feel lost in purpose.
Admittedly, watching 9 Perfect Strangers, I kept on thinking of White Lotus as both share a “be careful of wellness gurus” warning sign throughout their shows. They both acknowledge that opening the can of “past trauma and toxic, emotional pattern” worms is never a good idea if you can’t put them back in because the whole point of healing is either to get “rid” of that can or learn how to carry it better. Thus, it is pretty obvious that throughout the series as you meet the strangers uniting under Tranquillum’s super exclusive, luxurious wellness retreat that things are going to go wrong and dark secrets will be revealed. Yet, also like White Lotus, it is an exceptional cast that makes us care for the hot messes beautifully stretching across our screen like a long yoga pose.
First, Nicole Kidman is one of the best actors of our time, and I welcome the way she expanding her roles to include women on the verge of a mental breakdown or eager to put you in one. In this Hulu Original, premiering August 18, she play Tranquillum’s transfixing guru, Masha: an enigma of a woman who, low-kay, is as ready to unravel as the people she has “chosen” to unravel, which includes the “thrio” dynamic between her, Manny Jacinto’s Yao, and Tiffany Boone’s Delilah. Melissa McCarthy plays Francis a self-loathing author whose success, in love and work, has faded. Bobby Cannavale plays Tony a sweet, depressive addict whose embittered, embattled demeanor hides a desperation to be loved as much as loving. Speaking of love, there are also a pair of influencers, Jessica (Samara Weaving) and Ben (Melvin Gregg) who can’t decipher how to drop the marketing masks they put on for the world in exchange for the marital one they should have for each other. Meanwhile, The Marconis, Napoleon (Michael Shannon), his wife, Heather (Asher Keddie), and their daughter, Zoe (Grace Van Patten) have no idea how to live with the grief of losing their child/ brother: each battling between numbness and absolute, internal chaos. Finally, there is Luke Evans as the mysterious Lars, who has his own secret plot against this “healing compound” they have all lodged in.
Okay, I know I have been comparing the show to White Lotus a lot, but it is hard not to because they both came out pretty much at the same time. Thus, the real difference between these two series is that the latter aimed for more spiritual introspection via witty breakdowns and tragic breakthroughs. Yet, Nine Perfect Strangers is as much a psychological thriller as it is a psychological reflection on how far people will go just to feel better without analyzing, or at least wanting to, if they are actually being or doing so. At its core, there is something relatable to that truth, but, at times, the show’s desire to maintain its fatalistic, unknown edge kills the audience’s own growing desire to see these people HEAL. In essence, 9 Perfect Strangers best trait, its cast, is what keeps you endeared and hopeful that its own plot, a weird, potentially deadly wellness retreat, got out of the way so you can see these strangers become happy, healed friends. Either way, it is a good, binge watch for Hulu that starts August 18.
