Nine Perfect Strangers is a new Hulu original series based on the best-selling novel by Liane Moriarty. It has a pretty good cast including Nicole Kidman, Luke Evans, and Melissa McCarthy. Here's a quick review.
What's It About?
Nine Perfect Strangers is a tale about a seemingly ordinary (although quirky) group of, you guessed it, nine people that come to a wellness resort and treatment center called Tranquilum. The center is run by a mysterious woman named Masha, who's reputation precedes her for having treated some of the biggest celebrities (and charged them for it too).
Amongst the group, we have a best-selling author, a retired football player, a wealthy Hollywood couple, an undercover investigative journalist, a middle aged mother, and a family of three (father, mother, and daughter). Each is dealing with their own issues, ranging from tragic loss, to drug addiction, to marriage counseling.
Tranquilum seems like the ultimate reclusive spa and resort, guising as a treatment center. But is everything as it seems? The guests are fed mysterious "personalized" smoothies every morning. They undergo some pretty odd exercises as a group. And most of all, Masha, the so-called leader, is unnerving.
A week into their stay, the guests notice they start to feel more different than usual. In fact, some of them claim they are hallucinating. It doesn't take look for them to deduce that Masha has been micro-dosing them via hallucinogenics in their morning smoothies. At first they're outraged, but then they give it a chance, giving in to the magic of healing.
But things grow darker still. Does Masha really have her guests' best interests at heart? Or does she have a secret agenda?
Watch It Or Not?
Personally, I'm a fan of these kinds of shows. And Nicole Kidman tends to be in a lot of them, and she does great. Think "Pretty Little Liars" and "The Undoing". They are dark, mysterious thrillers posing in the light of something less sinister: like normal family life, or say, a wellness center.
Overall, this one isn't as dark as the other shows I mentioned but it does have a gripping feel to it. The stories behind each of the "strangers" is compelling, and the way they interact with each other is intriguing. Imagine being thrust in a remote location somewhere and forcing to reveal your deepest, darkest secrets. Right, intriguing.
