Nine Perfect Strangers: Amazon Prime Video Review

The skewering of the privileged continues with this latest series that seems to arrive a little too quickly and with thematic similarities after the end of The White Lotus and a few weeks after the launch of M Night Shyamalan's Old.

Based on The New York Times best-selling book by author Liane Moriarty, Nine Perfect Strangers is set at Tranquillum, a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation. 

Heading into the resort is nine stressed people, some as a family, some as individuals, some as a couple and all with a hidden trauma or issue to address.

Their spiritual cure and guide is the mysterious Russian Masha (Kidman, resembling Galadriel from Lord of the Rings) who wafts into their lives at the end of the first episode, telling them they'll all die at Tranquillum. We assume it's spiritually, but given the group is consistently referred to as a "volatile" bunch, it's anyone's guess whether that's literal or figurative warning...

Nine Perfect Strangers looks polished and greatly benefits from a brilliant role call of cast members.

From Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Canavale to Michael Shannon and Samara Weaving, the line up is impeccable.

But unfortunately, the characters they inhabit feel a little one-note, their "troubled" story arcs a little too predictable from the off. From McCarthy's potentially washed up writer ("I've become a punchline" she laments at one point) to Weaving's "They see me but they don't see me" influencer, the depth feels a bit lacking initially, and the story beat reveals a little too deliberately paced.

Kidman's Masha ("an amazing mystical eastern bloc unicorn" as one guest describes her) presents an early set of mysteries too, with questions about her motives and her own past haunting her. 

However, the threats piled up against those involved don't amount to as much as the drama would like.

Paper thin writing in a rushed pilot keen to intro the myriad of cast doesn't necessarily equate to an instant sense of caring about peril. 

Shannon impresses in a role he seldom plays - one of a "chronically loquacious" man whose family appears to be teetering on the edge is a welcome relief from the more serious characters portrayed in the likes of 99 Homes. And McCarthy's welcome touch of cynicism into Frances the writer helps level out some of the bumpier exposition early on.

While the mystery pervades the start of the series, it remains to be seen if the culmination of it all proves satisfying - but Nine Perfect Strangers feels more like a concept than a fully formed experience, one that doesn't quite hit the emotional beats you'd need to binge another episode after each deliberately pitched cliffhanger-oriented ending.

Nine Perfect Strangers is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video, with the first three episodes being released at launch, and new episodes to follow weekly on Fridays.