by Chantal Ashford, Contributing Writer
Nine Perfect Strangers was originally meant to be a one-and-done series. A tight, trippy look at trauma, healing, and self-destruction at a high-end wellness retreat. But four years later, it’s back — with a new cast, new setting, and a second season that… well, kind of loses its grip.
This time around, we’re taken to Zauberwald, an isolated, snow-covered Alpine retreat that promises guests peace, clarity, and renewal. Of course, things don’t go quite that smoothly. We meet a fresh set of nine strangers: Brian (Murray Bartlett), a washed-up puppeteer still having full-on conversations with his puppet; Agnes (Dolly De Leon), a former nun; Tina (King Princess), a once-famous pianist, and her girlfriend Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers); Victoria (Christine Baranski), her daughter Imogen (Annie Murphy), and Victoria’s much younger boyfriend/caregiver Matteo (Aras Aydin); plus billionaire David (Mark Strong), who just so happens to be Masha’s ex, and his son Peter (Henry Golding).
Nicole Kidman returns as Masha — otherworldly accent and all — still pushing people to their psychological limits under the guise of healing. This time, she’s paired with Martin (Lucas Englander), a pharmacologist who helps oversee the retreat’s heavy use of psilocybin. And by heavy, I mean everyone is tripping. There’s microdosing, macrodosing, hallucinations, repressed memories, and more emotional unraveling than any eight-episode series can reasonably contain.
The season wants to be deep — it pokes at grief, trauma, loss, revenge — but it never quite sticks the landing. You can feel the weight of what it’s trying to do, but the storylines are too thin, the characters too underdeveloped. There are a few compelling moments, sure, but they’re buried under a lot of chaos. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear everything is orbiting around David, but the show takes way too long to get there.
By the finale, things go fully off the rails — with Martin toting around a gun — and the resolution feels more like a setup for Season Three than a true conclusion. And honestly? I don’t think this story needs another chapter.
Season Two isn’t terrible, but it’s definitely not essential. It has flashes of intrigue, and Kidman remains as committed as ever, but it lacks the focus and emotional impact of the first season. By the end, I was more exhausted than enlightened. This retreat should’ve stayed closed.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
Nine Perfect Strangers is currently streaming on Hulu
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