Nine Perfect Strangers Review: An All Star Retreat Of Mind Opening And Altering Activities

Release date: August 18, 2021
Running time: 8 x 45 minute episodes

Director: David E. Kelley

Writers: David E. Kelley, John Henry Butterworth, and Samantha Strauss

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Asher Keddie, Grace Van Patten, Tiffany Boone and Manny Jacinto.

Based on The New York Times bestselling book by author Liane Moriarty, “Nine Perfect Strangers” takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this 10-day retreat is the resort’s director, Masha, a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine “perfect” strangers have no idea what is about to hit them. 

Nine Perfect Stranger's main draw is this phenomenal cast, and they definitely do not disappoint.  I loved seeing each character and the strange circumstances that brought them all together for this retreat.  The series does a good job of slowly revealing aspects of their past to both showcase why they decided to go to the retreat, and also show what they are hoping to fix.  The series does a great job of pulling together this very different set of people and then putting them in situations that both force them to interact but then also open them up to sharing.  And it is not just the strangers that are draws in this film.  Kidman as the guru is an interesting character, with a seemingly psychic knowledge of everyone and an otherworldly glow to her.  And her assistants / disciples are also a lot of fun to see; I liked seeing their devotion to her teachings.  

And overall the retreat itself is breathtaking, with an amazing setting for this drama to occur.  There is a beautiful house and wonderful nature surrounding these characters as they confront some very difficult parts of themselves.  But you don't come to this show for an idyllic retreat, and Nine Perfect Strangers has plenty of drama.  As you would expect, as these characters confront certain parts of themselves and try to improve, they run into physical and mental roadblocks.  And they also have to contend with each other's potentially ulterior motives.  And the film has an overall thriller part to it as well that wasn't realized in the six episodes I saw.  And it is this combination of unsettling and wonderful that makes Nine Perfect Strangers fun to watch.  You will have some difficult discussions and confrontations occur in a picture perfect resort setting.

And the film also has some great imagery as well; there is some biblical imagery and other iconography that help to give the series an otherworldly tone.  However, at least from the six episodes I saw, the film could have gone more extreme with some of the guru aspects.  It touches on several well publicized guru retreats and mishaps, but overall it feels tame and safe.  Now this might change in the last two episodes, but at least what I saw makes this an interesting series but one that I expected to be more extreme.  And the film tends to slow down a lot; which is not to say that I did not enjoy it, just that it really does feel like a retreat at times.  I was expecting something more exciting, but again maybe that is left for the last two episodes. 

Nine Perfect Strangers has a fantastic cast, who play a variety of broken characters, and an idyllic setting for this guru-inspired mind opening and altering experience.  

Watch it.

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Nine Perfect Strangers premieres on August 18, 2021 exclusively on Hulu. 

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