"Nine Complete Strangers" - a boring series with Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman became the star of the new show. Prior to that, the actress has already worked with David E. Kelly on the TV series "Play Back" based on the detective thriller Jean Hanff Korelitz, where she also played the main role. She also shone in "Big Little Lies". Moreover, it is easy to find a semantic parallel between the three projects: they all tell about the world of the American elite and unsightly family secrets hidden from prying eyes.

Interesting plot, but complete lack of action

Nine Complete Strangers starts off promising. Famous writer Frances (Melissa McCarthy), facing a midlife crisis amid serious work and personal problems, arrives at a swanky holiday home. Together with her, there are eight more wealthy Americans.

Among them are Jessica and Ben (Samara Weaving and Melvin Gregg) - a beautiful young couple with marital problems, cynical single Lars (Luke Evans), insecure Carmel (Regina Hall), former sports star Tony (Bobby Cannavale). The heroine also meets the depressed Marconi family, consisting of Napoleon's father (Michael Shannon), his wife Heather (Asher Keddy) and daughter Zoey (Grace van Patten). Perhaps, among all the guests, the last is the hardest. After all, they can not recover from the suicide of their twin brother Zoe.

Shot from the series "Nine Complete Strangers"

The sanatorium is run by a mysterious hostess named Masha (Nicole Kidman), a beauty of Russian origin. It offers clients a seemingly common program: digital detox, therapeutic fasting, outdoor walks. But at the same time, she receives messages with threats. Later it turns out that Masha's methods are not so innocent, and everything that happens is clearly orchestrated. And the heroes with such problems were here for a reason.

If you thought that this was a tie-in, for which at most half of the episode is allocated, then you were mistaken. This is a retelling of the first three episodes that have already been released on Hulu. There are simply no other events in the series.

While in the same “Big Little Lies” the plot was built non-linearly, and the audience managed to intrigue even in the first episode, “Nine Completely Strangers” was in no hurry. The script behaves as if it has all the time in the world, naturally causing the viewer to yawn. Occasionally, the narration switches to flashbacks from Masha's life, but, again, nothing happened in three episodes that at least slightly clarified the woman's motivation.

Some scenes, which may have looked organically in the book, look superfluous on the screen. For example, the heroes try to run a distance in bags, and the Weaving heroine wins by effectively walking the wheel. And this rather boring episode is only needed to tell about her past as a cheerleader. That is, to give only one characteristic of a single character out of nine.

A brilliant cast with nothing to play

Besides Nicole Kidman, there are other stars on the show. For example, the Australian actress Samara Weaving became famous for ironic horror movies ("Nanny", "I'm going to look for"). And here she is very good in the funny role of the queen of social networks. Moreover, the make-up artists tried to improve her image: it will not be possible to recognize Samara right away.

Luke Evans ("Beauty and the Beast") usually adds a charming devilry to each of his roles, but in this case he is least remembered. The hero was simply not given a coherent backstory. Bobby Cannavale has a slightly more interesting arc ("Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle"), but the character still rests almost exclusively on the actor's charisma.

It was doubly interesting to find out how Melissa McCarthy, known for her comedy roles, will reveal herself (especially since the actress showed her dramatic potential with the film "Can You Forgive Me?" But the miracle did not happen: the character of the central heroine was sketched lazily, in the largest strokes.

And in general, it is not entirely clear why such an excellent caste, if there is really no interaction between the characters. One would think that the heroes simply do not have enough time to reveal themselves. But suffice it to recall, say, Ryan Johnson's detective film Knives Out. There, each of the huge number of characters managed to give a capacious description. And at the same time, they did not forget about the intrigue and addictive plot.

Everything is immediately spoiled by excessive detail, and the performers are unable to correct the situation. Although I want to pay tribute to their game. So, Michael Shannon surprised most of all. In The Shape of Water, he created the image of a textured villain, but here he reincarnated as a hostage of depression and a very insecure, traumatized person.

Sheer boredom instead of the promised suspense

There is simply no suspense characteristic of such detective stories in the series. Most likely, the fact is that the director Jonathan Levin previously shot mostly dramedies ("Life is Beautiful", "The Warmth of Our Bodies"). And he clearly lacks the skill to transfer to the screen the feeling of anxiety that was present in the original source.

Most of the scenes were filmed without camera frills, as simple as possible. The action usually takes place in bright sunlight. But for talented authors, this usually does not bother at all to scare the audience. Just remember Ari Aster's eerie Solstice, which takes place in a peaceful village with friendly residents.

Moreover, the authors have opportunities to create the necessary atmosphere, but they do not use them. Take, for example, the scene in which hungry heroes slaughter a live goat on a walk, and then eat it at a party organized in honor of this. And this moment does not frighten at all. Now imagine what a similar episode would look like in a film by the same Ari Astaire or his genre colleague Robert Eggers.

Should I watch Nine Strangers? Probably not, even if you like stories like Big Little Lies. It is still difficult to say how the series will unfold further and whether it will be able to correct the mistakes of the first episodes. But getting through the initial episodes is very difficult: they are boring. Whether to spend time on this is up to the viewer.