Nine Perfect Strangers is a 2018 novel by Liane Moriarty. In 2021, it was adapted into a series airing on Hulu.
Tranquillium House is a beautiful isolated resort in rural Australia (America in the series) run by the mysterious Masha (Nicole Kidman) and her loyal second-in-command Yao (Manny Jacinto). A new cohort of people enter their gates to fix themselves:
- A successful romance author, Frances (Melissa McCarthy) with her own troubled romantic past
- An unhappily-married couple, Ben (Melvin Gregg) and the image-obsessed Jessica (Samara Weaving)
- A troubled family, comprised of the geeky but kind teacher Napoleon (Michael Shannon), his brittle wife, Heather (Asher Keddie), and their daughter Zoe (Grace van Patten)
- A pill-popping and bitter ex-sportsman, Tony (Bobby Cannavale)
- A Straight Gay journalist, Lars (Luke Evans)
- A wife and mother, Carmel (Regina Hall) who is obsessed with changing herself.
Even though the series was produced as a limited series, it was announced in June 2023 that it had been renewed for another season, with Kidman returning and a new cast including Liv Ullman, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Dolly De Leon, Murray Bartlett and Aras Aydin.
Tropes
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Masha in the novel was once very overweight, to the point that it, combined with her drug addiction, led to a near fatal heart attack. Here, she is just as slender and attractive in the flashbacks as she is in the present.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- In the book, Masha had an (admittedly traumatic) heart attack due to her weight and drug-taking. In the series, her near-death experience is from being shot.
- Tony is estranged from his family and feels washed-up in the book, but he is not addicted to painkillers and he didn't accidentally kill someone.
- Adaptational Dumbass:
- While Masha and Yao's plan was always extremely reckless (as microdosing can have totally unexpected affects), their behavior becomes a lot more reckless when you consider that they knew Tony had previously killed someone due to his painkiller addiction.
- Although Masha did treat her guests extremely recklessly, she didn't drug herself along with the Marconis so that she could see her dead daughter again.
- She also didn't invite the woman who shot her to a retreat where they tripped on drugs.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Delilah's sexuality was barely mentioned in the book. Here, she is presumably bisexual, given that she sleeps with Yao and kisses Masha.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: It's a lot harder to believe that Masha would take the extreme step of Slipping a Mickey to Tony given that she knows he's an addict with a propensity for violence.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Carmel is a normal wife and mother in the book, though she does struggle to cope with her husband leaving her. In the series, she shot Masha after finding out she was her husband's mistress, though Masha forgives her easily and immediately for it.
- Carmel's ex-husband is mentioned to be kind of a dick and he has left her for a much younger woman. However, the series doubles down on this by making him explicitly a critical and abusive presence who crushed her self-confidence for years.
- Bad Influencer: Subverted by Jessica. She's an Instagram model and people are generally dismissive of her because of this, imagining that she is an unlikeable person. However, she's actually pretty sweet and just very insecure — but she quits social media almost immediately (and continues to quit it after leaving Tranquillium because she and her husband Ben buy Traquilium) which may reinforce its incompatibility.
- Birthday Hater: Zoe hates her birthday because her twin brother, Zach, committed suicide the day before their birthday.
- Career-Ending Injury: Tony's once promising NFL career was stopped by a series of these which have now left him dependent on painkillers.
- Catfishing: Frances was catfished by a man who tricked her into giving him thousands of dollars for his non-existent son's surgery.
- Deadpan Snarker: Frances as one would expect with a character played by Melissa McCarthy. Lars too though his humor tends to be more cutting and Napoleon even tells him his constant snide remarks are annoying. Zoe and Tony also have their moments.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, Masha's child died by accidental strangling on a cord. In the series, she dies by being hit by a car.
- Easily Forgiven: Masha shows nothing but sympathy and understanding for Carmel, bringing her to the retreat solely to help her, after Carmel shot and tried to kill her. She was reacting to the emotional abuse she suffered, but still.
- Fire-Forged Friends: All of the residents of Tranquillium House become extremely close quickly, with Frances and Zoe bonding especially fast.
- For Want Of A Nail: Napoleon laments that had he not overslept that day due to having stayed up watching a film with him the night before, he might have been able to save his son.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Jessica is blonde and a sweet-natured person.
- Hereditary Suicide: Napoleon and Heather's son Zach committed suicide. In an Adaptational Angst Upgrade, Heather contemplates jumping off a cliff in the run-up to Zach and Zoe's birthday, but she doesn't go through with it.
- Hollywood Thin: Masha's backstory has been changed so that she wasn't Formerly Fat and nothing is made of her extremely restrictive diet. Despite Nicole Kidman's thinness, it isn't treated as remotely unusual and is portrayed as healthy, rather than in the novel, where it was the result of an extremely strict regime.
- Hotter and Sexier: Yao and Masha have a quasi-romantic relationship in the book but it specifically doesn't involve sex. In the series, they have a sexual relationship and Yao has a polyamorous relationship with Delilah, too, and Delilah kisses Masha.
- I Am Not Pretty:
- In both mediums, Carmel thinks she's ugly and is obsessed with losing weight. Literally everybody tells her she's fine the way she is, with even the hypercritical Masha bemused by her obsession with weight loss.
- Jessica expresses the same sentiment. Despite being an Instagram model and played by the gorgeous Samara Weaving, she admits that she isn't happy with her appearance and has many things she'd like to change.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Tony was once a star NFL player with Ben saying he seemed destined for a "hall of fame" entry but his numerous injuries put an end to his career before he could truly get started.
- Imagine Spot: The guests are given small doses of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug; as a result, they start to have vivid hallucinations.
- Knight Templar Parent: Whether it's Masha (who scares everybody) or Tony, you don't mess with Zoe while Heather's around. She launches herself at Masha.
- Ms. Fanservice: Jessica who is an Instagram model and played by the stunning Samara Weaving.
- Non-Indicative Name: Napoleon. Not only is he fairly laid-back and friendly, if mostly as a cover for his grief, he is also played by the 6'4 Michael Shannon.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Napoleon and Heather with their son Zack who took his own life prior to the series. Masha had a daughter who was hit by a car.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: When they first get to Tranquillium House, nobody is allowed to speak throughout the first days in the novel. This is removed from the series.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Jessica and Ben split up in the book due to their diverging paths and their marriage is already Dead Sparks. Here, they stay together throughout and never contemplate leaving each other, and their marriage is actually stronger and happier by the end.
- Race Lift: Ben and Carmel are white in the book, but both are black in the series.
- Rags to Riches: Ben was once an ordinary food truck employee until he won millions in the lottery and he laments missing his old life and all the people his new wealth has isolated him from.
- Sensual Slav: Masha is Russian and played by the beautiful Nicole Kidman.
- Stepford Smiler: Most of the cast to varying degrees but especially Napoleon whose cheery attitude covers up his intense grief at his son's suicide.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Napoleon says that he's a Phrase Catcher of "him?!" because nobody can understand what Heather is doing with him. Some Unreliable Narrator qualities may apply.
- White-Dwarf Starlet: Tony was once a famous football player but now lives a normal life and is largely forgotten by many except a few old fans. Though he's something of an aversion in that he actively avoids calling attention to his career and doesn't tell anyone about his past with Napoleon only remembering it after a few days and Tony clearly prefers to live as normal a life as he can now without getting too hung up on the past.
