Nine Perfect Strangers Review: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy's Drama Series Is Missing The Oomph

Nine Perfect Strangers is not bad TV, but the makers need to realise the audience have a better understanding and bigger expectations.

Rating:
2.5/5
Star Cast: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Asher Keddie,
Director: Jonathan Levine

Available On: Amazon Prime Video
Language: English
Duration: 8 episodes/ 45 minutes

Story: The show follows a group of people who have come to a wellness retreat for transformation. The wellness centre is run by a mysterious health guru who promises a life-changing experience using unconventional methods that go way beyond massages and yoga.

Nine Perfect Strangers

Review: Nine Perfect Strangers is based on a book of the same name by Liane Moriarty. This is not the first time, Nicole has starred in a show based on her book. Their collaboration began with the hit series Big Little Lies that came out in 2017. However, as much as Big Little Lies was full of thrill, mystery and lies, Nine Perfect Strangers cuts down on everything that could have made it more fun.

The show starts with the introduction of the nine perfect strangers that have decided to come to wellness centre Tranquillum House. We mainly see the wellness centre through the eyes of Melissa McCarthy's character Frances, a heartbroken woman who is on the verge of losing her credibility as a bestselling author. There are eight more visitors including talented actors like Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall and Luke Evans.

Ben and Jessica are a young married couple who are looking for romantic reconciliation; Lars Lee is most suspicious but is hurting after getting dumped; Carmel Schneider is the creepiest of them all, a relentlessly optimistic divorcée with rage issues; then there is the Marconi family who did not pay in whole for the rich vacation. The family made up of Heather, Zoe, Napoleon is come looking for some healing. Tony Hogburn is a proud ex-celebrity with drug addiction. Apart from them we also have the Russian owner Masha (Nicole Kidman) and her staff, Delilah and Yao.

In the first three episodes which were made available to the critics, the story doesn't move much forward. Hour-long episodes are spent uncovering the complex past of the characters. In an effort to make everyone's story known, the makers have spent an awful lot of time on each character instead of letting their stories be known organically throughout the show. Even when more details are made known, unfortunately, it feels like it's the benefit of the audience and not the fellow retreat members or the guru.

However, few cast members do get their moment to shine, unfortunately, it does not last longer than few minutes. Even with great actors and complex stories to explore, many characters fade in the background with dialogues that do not land. Few are brought down to just an aesthetic and one character trait like the seven dwarfs, one is grump, another one has anger issues, one is judgmental.

Other than occasional smoothie mystery, and their blurry past very little goes on to keep the audience hooked. Through the three episodes, the rich folks continue to complain about everything and move on to enjoying their luxury vacation which is hardly relatable. Neither are these characters sympathetic towards each other nor are they willing to change, which brings the question - what is this show even about?

Overall, I still have hope for the next five episodes. Nine Perfect Strangers is not bad TV, but the makers need to realise the audience have a better understanding and bigger expectations.

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