by Adam Ritchie, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Tranquillum, a wellness retreat catering to only the very rich, or the very needy. A select group of people, hand-picked by it’s mysterious guru Masha (Nicole Kidman), arrive in the hope of being cured of their troubles and real world issues that weigh upon their mental and physical health.
With an attention-grabbing cast, Nine Perfect Strangers is certainly set to intrigue you from its surface. Leading the starring list is the aforementioned Kidman, taking care of her carefully curated patients Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Shannon, and rising stars Samara Weaving and Grace Van Patten. Other names you may recognize are Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Luke Evans (F&F 6), Tiffany Boone (Little Fires Everywhere), Melvin Gregg (The Way Back). Regina Hall (Scary Movie) and Australian TV stalwart Asher Keddie round out the cast.
Behind the scenes, the series was created by TV legend David E. Kelley and John-Henry Butterworth (Ford v Ferrari, Edge of Tomorrow) from Australian Author Liane Moriarty’s (Big Little Lies) novel of the same name. With a pedigree like this, I was in for the ride before the first frame was dropped.
Spanning eight episodes, the series gets off to a brilliant start. It’s superbly written, which allows the talents of the cast to shine. It’s filmed in a stunning location, not three hours by car from where I’m writing this now. on a beautiful sunny spring day in the Gold Coast.
McCarthy plays romance novelist Frances Welty, who was catfished by a person she thought she loved, which has caused her art to suffer. Cannavale is Tony Hogburn, addicted to painkillers, but also has a past I don’t want to spoil here. The Marconis are Shannon, Keddie, and their daughter Van Patten, who suffer the scars of suicide. Weaving is Jessica Chandler, an Instagram influencer that is dealing with the pressures that lifestyle brings, as well as trying to save her marriage to Ben (Gregg). Evans is Lars Lee, an investigative reporter trying to mend the scars of an imploded relationship. Hall is Carmel Schneider, an anxiety ridden introvert scarred by the insecurity of an abusive marriage. Jacinto and Boone (Yao and Delilah) are Masha’s assistants and also a couple.
Needless to say, there is a lot more intricacies to the characters than what I have noted. However, I am trying to maintain the intrigue as much as possible. Although we find out early enough, I will spoil that the “strangers” are being micro-dosed with hallucinogens as part of their therapy. It is oddly aggravating at how casually they accepted this, and happily continued the treatments.
Admittedly, I was absolutely entranced for two thirds of this, as it is superbly written and performed. We are gradually inserted into the lives of our “strangers” and are drip fed the reasons that got them to sign up for the retreat with perfect timing. Exposition is handled rather greatly, without the need for (hardly any) flashbacks. In fact, the series begins to fall away for me when the focus moves from our “strangers” into a series of mini flashback about host Masha. Kidman’s performance is mostly fine, but it does seep into caricature with her fluctuating accent. For me, the series would have been much greater if the focus was on the “strangers” rather than her.
Which leads me on to the performances. I am an unapologetically big fan of McCarthy, and she doesn’t let me down here. She has fantastic dramatic chops, and for me, is probably the best comedic actress working today. Her chemistry with Cannavale is great to watch, and I’m convinced there are outtakes that were left in the final cut, simply for how adorable they are. Shannon is Shannon, reliably superb and compelling, as is Keddie. I really hope this role leads to bigger things for her, as she deserves it. The next excellent performances worth pointing out are those of Jacinto and Weaving. Jacinto is marvelously subdued as the hipster reinforcer of Masha’s methods, and Weaving plays stressed and tortured so brilliantly. If they ever remade The Shining, (don’t do, that by the way) she would be a perfect Wendy Torrance. Maybe the biggest surprise for me though was Regina Hall. Playing someone with borderline schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, she nails every inch of her character with aplomb. I was in awe of her in almost every scene she is in.
Ultimately, Nine Perfect Strangers is a series worth seeing, despite it wandering away just a little bit in its last couple of episodes. I found myself drifting off when as it came closer to its climactic reveals which was a shame, mainly because those reveals revolved around Masha, and not the strangers, who I thought were far more interesting.
Grade: B
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