A trip to a retreat after the last year probably sounds nice for many people, just maybe not the one at the center of Nine Perfect Strangers, a new miniseries from Hulu in the US (and on Amazon Prime Video in the rest of the world).
Nine Perfect Strangers looks to be one of the big offerings from Hulu in 2021, aside other titles like McCartney 3, 2, 1 and the most recent season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Arriving right in the sweet spot of post Olympics and pre-return of traditional fall TV programming, it could be the end-of-summer show that everybody winds up talking about.
Stay ahead of the curve on Nine Perfect Strangers with this primer on everything you need to know about it.
What is ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ about?
Nine Perfect Strangers is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Liane Moriarty. The story follows nine guests who arrive at the Tranquillum House resort, all with their own idea of what they are looking for and thoughts on what the next 10 days will bring. However, they soon realize this is not your typical resort getaway thanks to the mysterious and eccentric owner.
Melissa McCarthy’s character sums up the general idea for the show pretty well in its latest trailer (watch below): it’s either batshit or the real deal. You’ll have to watch to find out.
Moriarty has already had one of her other books turned into a smash hit TV show, Big Little Lies on HBO (her book served as the basis for the first season). Nine Perfect Strangers is her most recent book; will it be able to have similar success?
Who’s part of the ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ cast?
Much like Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers has wrangled one hell of a cast.
Nicole Kidman will star as the owner of Tranquillum, Masha. Her resort staff is comprised of Tiffany Boone (Delilah) and Manny Jacinto (Yao).
The guests arriving at Tranquillum will include Melissa McCarthy (Francis), Bobby Cannavale (Tony), Luke Evans (Lars), Regina Hall (Carmel), Michael Shannon (Napoleon), Grace Van Patten (Zoe), Asher Keddie (Heather), Samara Weaving (Jessica) and Melvin Gregg (Ben).
When does ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ premiere?
Hulu is set to debut Nine Perfect Strangers on Aug. 18, with the first three of eight episodes appearing on the streaming service at that time. After that Hulu will release a new episode every Wednesday, with the miniseries wrapping up on Sept. 29.
Outside of the US (and China) the rest of the world can see Nine Perfect Strangers on Amazon Prime Video, two days later on Aug. 20. It follows the same schedule pattern however, with a three-episode launch then weekly episode release.
The weekly releases of episodes is coming to replace the previous method by streamers that saw them make every episode of a season available at the same time and see how long it takes for viewers to binge them. Honestly, I prefer it, as it gives the series time to breathe and viewers a chance to catch up and not have the entire show spoiled for them because they’re a day or two behind.
Is there a ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ trailer?
Indeed there is. In fact, there are two. Hulu released the first Nine Perfect Strangers trailer back in June, and a second one on July 22, which you can watch right here.
We get a taste of some of Masha’s unique techniques for treating her guests (making them dig and lay in their own hopefully metaphorical graves is certainly dark), and just a tease that there’s something bigger going on at Tranquillum than everyone was led to believe.
How to watch ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’
Nine Perfect Strangers is an exclusive miniseries for Hulu, so you will obviously need access to a Hulu account to watch it.
Hulu has multiple subscription packages for consumers to choose from. The base package offers Hulu’s library of TV shows and movies, as well as its own original programming and the occasionally injected ad for $5.99. You can then have the ads removed for $11.99 per month. If you want to take it up a notch, Hulu with Live TV adds just what it says, live TV channels, again with ad-supported ($64.99 per month) and ad-free ($70.99 per month) options.
