Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers looks even more disappointing arriving on the heels of The White Lotus

The Ringer

"Pity the poorly timed TV show," says Alison Herman. "Overstuffed and undercooked, Nine Perfect Strangers likely wouldn’t impress at any point in the calendar. But the Hulu miniseries, adapted from a novel of the same name by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, suffers from an especially serious case of bad timing. Moriarty specializes in beach reads with a bite, so it seems the show’s late-summer release was meant to replicate the experience of turning pages on the sand. Instead, Nine Perfect Strangers has the bad fortune of following The White Lotus, a story with a near-identical premise—and far superior execution. Both The White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers isolate an affluent ensemble at a luxury getaway where they’re catered to by a staff who aren’t quite as eager as they’re paid to appear. On The White Lotus, the backdrop is a five-star resort in Hawaii, while on Nine Perfect Strangers, it’s a wellness retreat in Northern California. Still, the distinctions between the two amount to little more than splitting hairs on expertly applied wigs. The White Lotus is a hotel first and foremost, but it comes with the promise of transformation and change; the awkwardly named Tranquillum may treat its patrons like patients in need of care, but they’re still paying handsomely for the privilege. The overlap is uncanny, though it’s not a surprise. Both shows live at the intersection of two related trends: shows that satirize conspicuous consumption while reveling in its excesses, à la Succession or Gossip Girl, and miniseries that use A-list talent to attract an audience overwhelmed with options. The White Lotus may have had a few weeks’ head start, but it still followed in others’ footsteps. It’s Nine Perfect Strangers that has a credible claim to being first, or at least its creative team does: Moriarty’s Big Little Lies became a smash hit HBO series, and that show shares both a star (Nicole Kidman) and a screenwriter (David E. Kelley) with this Hulu series. (Kelley cowrote the scripts with John-Henry Butterworth, while all eight episodes were directed by Long Shot’s Jonathan Levine.) Both shows follow the same playbook. The Nine Perfect Strangers team just happened to create the show that kick-started the limited-series arms race."

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• There is something algorithmic, machine-made about Nine Perfect Strangers: It's "as if all involved were assembled by a computer trying to simulate buzz-worthy television," says Richard Lawson. "Come to think of it, that might make a more interesting series: a group of actors who slowly, with horror, begin to realize that they’re all gathered together at the mechanical whim of the sentient content factory. You could even give the whirring artificial intelligence a Russian accent. I’m sure Kidman could play it brilliantly." He adds: "Certainly the timing doesn’t help. The White Lotus, from writer-director Mike White, was a mordant and urgent series, capturing certain zeitgeist concerns with bracing clarity and lyricism. Coming so soon after that, Nine Perfect Strangers seems flimsy, superficial in execution—a bad contrast to the carefully wrought superficiality of White Lotus’s characters. Had Nine Perfect Strangers come at another time, maybe it could shine as its own thing. On the other hand, it might have always seemed programmatic and stale, a sellable idea to be flaunted rather than an actually rich and layered text. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with flimsiness. In the case of Nine Perfect Strangers, though, a depth seems intended; the show’s emotional epiphanies and dark twists are meant to really mean something. But it all tumbles out of the actors’ mouths in predetermined paragraphs, ones that speak to pain and regret and loss in broad generalizations."
• Nine Perfect Strangers is the most disappointing show this year: "Being behind the cultural curve doesn’t necessarily make for a subpar series," says Inkoo Kang. "But Nine Perfect Strangers certainly suffers from its proximity to The White Lotus, which boasts not just auteurial vision and narrative urgency but also, uh, character revelations that make sense, actors who seem to inhabit the same universe and romantic pairings with more sexual chemistry than you’d find between a pair of flip flops. Nine Perfect Strangers isn’t the worst show I’ve seen this year, even if it often felt like it....But it’s probably the series with the biggest gap between what its creators, John Henry Butterworth and the legendary but highly uneven David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies), probably intended and what it ended up being." Kang adds: "No performance is as disappointing as Kidman’s, which fails to conjure the elusiveness and evasiveness that define Masha. In a waist-long, ice-blonde wig that looks to belong to a particularly miserly Lord of the Rings LARPer, Kidman, as the perceptive, authoritative, compassionate-to-a-point Masha, fails to replicate the electrifying inscrutability that Holly Hunter brought to her wrathful sage in Top of the Lake, an obvious analogue. Kidman’s no less an actress, but her unlined face is even more immobile than usual here; in a crying scene, alarmingly little of it stirs. And though the series was shot in Australia, Kidman attempts a Russian accent that changes shape as often as fire."
• Nine Perfect Strangers tastes bland and feels tonally indistinct: "This one ventures into thriller and supernatural territory, though it takes its sweet, obvious time nudging things in that direction," says Michael Phillips, adding: "The tones of Nine Perfect Strangers run in nine different directions, often in the same episode: Wrenching personal confessionals ram straight into comic relief dream sequences. While co-creator David E. Kelley, who cooked this up with John Henry Butterworth, has gotten away with tonal zigzags plenty in his career, from Ally McBeal on down, here they do not help the overall mission. And the problems of these people carry an air of pre-pandemic tra-la-la."
• Nine Perfect Strangers is a fun follow-up to The White Lotus: "The two shows aren’t twins, that’s for sure," says Kimberly Ricci. "There are many differences to be had (The White Lotus weaves in social commentary like second nature, and Nine Perfect Strangers leans into soap operatics), but they do compliment each other. Instead of following a group of tourists at a Hawaiian resort where a master of ceremonies caters to their every needs while a murder mystery lurks in the background, Nine Perfect Strangers follows a group to a health-and-wellness resort (that’s actually called 'Tranquilum') where the stakes aren’t outwardly huge in a narrative sense, although something feels ominous. Kidman portrays a mysterious Russian guru, Masha, whose methods of healing her patients during retreats qualify as, well, unorthodox."
• Nine Perfect Strangers doesn’t know what kind of series it is: It is "bordering on A24-esque horror one minute, then a whodunnit, then romantic comedy, especially in following the budding romance between Francis and Tony, which feels like the most genuine aspect of the show," says Audra Schroeder. "Kidman is fully engaged as Masha, especially as she slips in and out of a Russian accent and lets the mask drop a bit. This does feel like a role she was made to play, so it’s disappointing that it feels so out of step with the rest of the series. While there are scenes that hint at the real-world weirdness of retreats like Tranquillum—a nerve-wracking sack race, attendees digging and laying in their own graves—Nine Perfect Strangers skirts around the more insidious aspects of wellness culture in favor of unraveling the mystery of Masha."
• Nine Perfect Strangers is mediocre compared to David E. Kelley's other work: "It's a huge disappointment considering its star-studded cast – Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall and Luke Evans, to name a few – and bestselling source material. More than anything else, the Hulu series feels hollow," says Kelly Lawler, adding: "It's easy to see how the complicated and layered story could unfold with ease on the page, with the unlimited words a novelist has to lay out her players and plots. Unfortunately, even in an eight-episode miniseries (six of which were made available to critics ahead of time), Kelley and the Nine writers struggle to fit everything they want to say and do into the episodes. Clunky exposition, hazy flashbacks, excessive nudity and drug-induced drama do not make up for a lack of confidence and clarity in storytelling."
• The near-flawless cast overcomes shoddy writing to make for an enjoyable series: "Sure, there are secrets, revelations, and even death threats, but Nine Perfect Strangers is about damaged people trying to heal in a place run by a mysterious woman who may need the most healing of all," says Brian Tallerico. "Ultimately, it’s a mixed bag in terms of quality, best viewed as a performance piece from a ridiculously talented ensemble, even if the writing doesn’t always rise to their skill level." He adds: "Even within the tight confines of this story, a cast this talented can find ways to impress. They’re all good to great, with the possible exception of, believe it or not, Kidman, who too often leans on the enigma of the character. (However, it should be noted that Hulu didn’t send the final two episodes to press and an actress as brilliant as Kidman could easily stick the landing.)"
• Nine Perfect Strangers' scripts don't seem to recognize that its characters are snobby, entitled and unsympathetic: "For one, Nine Perfect Strangers isn’t satire; there are moments where its unearned developments and forced dialogue verge into a kind of campy, meta self-commentary, but the series’ lack of style, excitement, and self-awareness keep it from being a purposeful foray into inanity," says Ben Travers. "(Kidman, though, is in true IDGAF-land.) Even the excessive smoothie coverage doesn’t click as commentary on the wellness industry; Masha’s retreat is isolated to itself, not an example of more resorts. It’s also just very, very uneventful. Little imagination is put into the activities each guest goes through at this exotic, life-changing retreat — there’s a potato sack race for Pete’s sake — so there’s no reason to believe Masha’s brainchild could’ve earned its in-demand reputation among the snobbiest clientele imaginable. And these folks are snobby, and entitled, and almost entirely unsympathetic. Yet the scripts don’t seem to recognize any of that; they aren’t looking to comment on their characters’ privilege, nor are they all that interested in honoring any lingering emotional intelligence."
• Nicole Kidman is even more captivating on Nine Perfect Strangers: "In Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, the actress is even more captivating in a way, managing to be icily distant and lodged inside the present moment at the same time," says Matthew Gilbert. "She’s part tough-loving therapist, part alien being, and, with her accent, part Natasha Fatale of Pottsylvania, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her throughout the six episodes sent for review. She lights up the story, and brings fascination to even the weakest plot strands. Really, she and the rest of the cast are the reason to watch the Hulu series...Watching this set of actors submit to Masha’s smoothies is a lot of fun, as is their obligation to go 'forest bathing,' forgo cellphones, and explore their most tender emotional depths."
• Nine Perfect Strangers manages to feel too contrived and too thinly conceived at the same time: "The problem is that the show is so determined to maintain some amount of mystery around Masha that she lacks specificity," says Jen Chaney. "As written, she seems less like a human and more like a construct created to push the buttons of her guests and the plot points dictated by the narrative. This is the third time Kidman has collaborated with Kelley — they worked together on Big Little Lies and The Undoing — and this is her least convincing performance of those three. But it’s also the least convincing series Kelley has executive-produced alongside Kidman. On the list of things viewers seem to relish in their premium-cable and streaming series, this show ticks a lot of boxes. Cultlike intrigue: check. Sexual entanglements: check. (Masha has an unusual relationship with each of her two closest assistants, Yao (Manny Jacinto) and Delilah (Tiffany Boone), who happen to be romantically involved.) The possibility that someone could be murdered: check, thanks to a story line in which an anonymous stalker keeps threatening Masha’s life. Like a semi-satisfying beach read, Nine Perfect Strangers keeps you curious enough to want to know what happens next. Its actors are clearly doing their damnedest to plumb some depths in a mostly shallow pool."
• Is Nine Perfect Strangers worth the hype – and the big budget? Absolutely: "Each character starts off as a bit of a cliche, but over the six episodes I watched, becomes deeper, more complex and ultimately more sympathetic (especially the Asher Keddie character, who is almost painfully and unwatchably angry at the start of the show)," says Brigid Delaney. "Nine Perfect Strangers also looks really, really good."
• These are characters we’ve seen before, given no additional depth by workmanlike scripts: "The White Lotus broke out because it’s such a slow burn, as tensions roiling beneath the resort’s idyllic exterior filter up to the service in clever, telling, socially astute ways. Nine Perfect Strangers has a similarly attractive surface," says Judy Berman. "Unfortunately, in this case, what you see is all you get."
• Nine Perfect Strangers feels more interested in being an actors' showcase: "Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers is a true actor’s showcase, in that it shows off an incredible amount of actors, and their skills, but doesn’t leave much room for story," says Nick Allen. "It’s not a great binge idea if one is looking for a juicy narrative, given the murder mystery-ready title, or for a plot that boasts an unpredictable, juicy course of events. Instead it reduces its power to simply appreciating the spectacle of simulated emotion, that of watching many talented and recognizable faces conjure sadness and catharsis and pain in awards reel-ready monologues that zip up and down the scales. Great monologues can exist in counterproductive prestige TV, and for all of the power that the A-list ensemble brought to this wellness retreat in a particularly picturesque part of California, the pacing itself from director Jonathan Levine has far too little emotional momentum. Nicole Kidman gives one of her kookiest performances in years, as the gaslighting Russian wellness guru behind it all, and even that gets lost in the crowd. The show does inspire uniformly strong performances from people that you haven't exactly seen in this light, a type of pull that does helps this David E. Kelley and John-Henry Butterworth adaptation of the Liane Moriarty book get through its more redundant or drier passages."
• Bobby Cannavale says Spy co-star Melissa McCarthy recruited him for Nine Perfect Strangers: “She texted me and said ‘Oh you should read this," he says. "This is really good and I think you and I together would be good in this.’ So her advocating for it and bringing it up to me, she’s got such great taste. That’s what initially made me read it, and then I read the book."
• Regina Hall says Nicole Kidman kept her character's Russian-inspired accent throughout the duration of filming: "Oh, it was great," says Hall. "It was so funny because I didn't hear Nicole without an accent until she wrapped, when she finished her last scene, which was a little bit before us. She gave a thank-you speech when she was leaving, and I was like, 'That's her!'"
• Director Jonathan Levine on Kidman's performance: "As a director, you want people to take big swings," he says. "You want them to be brave and you want them to dive in. I love Nicole most when she's immersed in a character. I love to die for Nicole. You know, I just think that it's so fun when she's able to disappear into a big choice. It's a little scary, of course. I'm sure it's scary for her too, but I love what she did. To me, that character is the distillation of the tone of the show. It's pushed, it's grounded, it's fun, it's weird. It's all these inherent contradictions, and yet we try to deliver it to you in this very elegant, entertaining package. She understood that right away, and I think we were completely on the same page about that."