‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is one of the great television bets of this 2021. You just have to take a look at its striking cast and remember the fact that it starts from a novel by Liane moriarty, the same author behind the very successful ‘Big Little Lies’. A mix more than enough for many to expect it to become the new bombshell of the year
Of course, ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ also comes with an unexpected handicap, since its starting point has certain points in common with ‘The White Lotus’, the very enjoyable HBO series whose first season came to an end this past April 15 August. Not even a week of separation between the two and I am very afraid that the series that in Spain We can see on Amazon from August 20 It loses out in the comparison, and by far.
Eclipsed by ‘The White Lotus’
The series tells us how nine strangers arrive at a secluded resort with the promise of disconnecting from the hectic urban life to be part of an experience that will transform and heal their lives. They initially see it as nothing short of a luxury vacation, but the choice of participants has not been precisely left to chance.
It is curious that ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ and ‘The White Lotus’ are at the same time so similar and so different from each other. In both cases turn to mystery as an additional hook to grab the viewer’s attention, but the HBO series opts for the question of who will die to arouse our curiosity about the interactions of the characters, while in the Hulu series I would not be surprised at anything that the doubts behind the motivations of the host the resort end up resulting in some death.
However, that does not stop being assumptions on my part, since so far I have only seen the first three episodes of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ and I can not say that I have been wanting to move on. It is true that the closeness in time of ‘The White Lotus’ plays against him, but even without taking that into account, there is nothing in the series at hand that will get you hooked.
Neither chicha nor lemon
On the one hand, the mystery seems raised more by sparks than from a well-patterned idea. Good proof of this we have with the constant jumps between characters and the lack of a common tone that gives a true unity to their stories beyond the fact that they coincide in the same place.
It is not that it ends up being washed out, but I do notice a certain indecision that makes things more difficult to let go. In this regard, it is also striking that it does not establish an attractive climate or atmosphere. I already feel like coming back to ‘The White Lotus’, but in the HBO series music played an essential factor to place the viewer, as was the location itself, while here there is little to scratch beyond the contrast, underlined on more than one occasion through the dialogues, between the hustle and bustle of everyday life and the apparent calm of that isolated place.
It also doesn’t help that it is not possible to find the necessary balance for the characters to shine. And it is one thing to play with the day that they are unpleasant to put them in situations in which the viewer enjoys seeing them having a bad time, but here the usual thing is that they are simply repellent to a greater or lesser extent. The talents of their cast make up for it to some extent, but they needed better material to be able to shine.
It could almost seem that I hated the series for what was said in the last paragraphs, but the main sin of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ is not doing things wrong, but the fact that does not finish taking off in any of the ingredients it handles. It gives you not to get bored by the multitude of familiar faces that it has in its cast, which allows it not to dwell too much on any of them so that you end up getting tired, but more than getting hooked or entertaining you, what it does is not get bored. I know it may sound the same, but it isn’t.
In short
‘Nince Perfect Strangers’ has been a bit of a disappointment. On the one hand, it is eclipsed by ‘The White Lotus’ when playing something similar and being below the HBO series in all sections, but it is that individually it does not offer anything beyond how striking is its cast that You think you need to keep watching episodes to see how everything works out. It’s not that it’s bad either, but there are too many series to just keep one.