Against all odds, Masha is back in business. Or rather, against all odds, Nicole Kidman has managed to make at least a dozen TV seasons and/or movies in the past few years. How does she do it? That might not be as valuable of a question as how her Nine Perfect Strangers character has gathered a new group of wellness clientele for a second season retreat.
The series first freaked people out in 2021 and, as with other Kidman-starring “limited series” (see also Netflix’s A Perfect Couple and HBO’s Big Little Lies), a renewal arrived by streaming popular demand. Let’s follow the psychedelic trail on what to expect from Hulu‘s second season of wellness.
Plot
The first season arrived shortly after HBO’s The White Lotus debuted, so comparisons were inevitable since both shows riff on satire involving luxury journeys for miserable-privileged types. This David E. Kelley series, however, delivered more of an edge on the pursuit of enlightenment while adapting the Liane Moriarty book. And after Masha did her drugged-up, “therapeutic” thing at the Tranquilum resort with an ensemble portrayed by Bobby Cannavale, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, and Samara Weaving, the second season will go off-book, which should be a trip, considering that the series didn’t clarify whether each character’s finale fates actually happened or were dreamed up by McCarthy’s Frances in the book-inside-the-book.
For her part, Masha has somehow prevailed after her arrest and then surfaced in a car while apparently still dosing herself. And now, she will preside over another unsuspecting (?) group at her next wellness escape in Zauberwald, located within the Austrian Alps. Hulu has provided a synopsis:
Nine new strangers connected in ways they could never imagine are invited by mysterious guru Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) to join a transformational wellness retreat in the Austrian Alps. Over the course of a week, she takes them to the brink. Will they make it? Will she? Masha is willing to try anything in the interest of healing everyone involved, including herself.
Previously, Kidman teased to Deadline that this season adds up to being “Swiss Alps and crazy!” She added that “more” than hot chocolate will be involved, and in a new still, here’s Mark Strong getting “more” boozy.
It’s time to talk about who else might be coping with Psilocybin-laced beverages under the guise of therapy.
Cast
Kidman’s Masha will have her way with a new ensemble cast including Christine Baranski, Murray Bartlett, Mark Strong, Annie Murphy, Henry Golding, Lucas Englander, Dolly De Leon, Lena Olin, Aras Aydin, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers. Good luck to them.
Release Date
On May 21, 2025, Hulu will stream two new episodes with weekly additions to follow.
Trailer
Until a trailer surfaces (and it shouldn’t be long), this unsettling clip of Masha introducing herself will have to do.
Content shared from uproxx.com.