Latest news with #Masha
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Nicole Kidman's wig and Mark Strong sizzle in quasi cosy crime saga
Nicole Kidman's statuesque wellness guru, Masha Dmitrichenko, is back with a striking angular bob for another psychedelically-enhanced retreat. After the horrors of Tranquillum House last season, Masha has resettled at the gracious Zauberwald, a family-run wellness retreat in the Austrian Alps. As in Season 1, Masha gathers disparate individuals from different walks of life with the promise of rejuvenation. The guests at Zauberwald include society woman Victoria (Christine Baranski), her much younger lover, Matteo (Aras Aydın), and sulky daughter, Imogen (Annie Murphy). Agnes (Dolly de Leon) was a nun in an earlier life, while Brian (Murray Bartlett) is a disgraced former puppeteer, who ran a wildly successful children's show. Tina (King Princess) was a musical prodigy who has lost her will to play the piano, a cause of much distress to her partner, Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), a gifted violinist. David (Mark Strong), a billionaire, and his son, Peter (Henry Golding) complete the guest list. Martin (Lucas Englander), a pharmacologist, helps Masha run the retreat at Zauberwald. Martin's mother Helena (Lena Olin) owned Zauberwald and mentored Masha in the wellness business besides helping her get through a difficult time. Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 (English) Creator: David E. Kelley Cast: Nicole Kidman, Aras Aydın, Christine Baranski, Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon, Lucas Englander, Henry Golding, Annie Murphy, Lena Olin, King Princess, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Mark Strong Episodes: 8 Run-time: 37 – 52 minutes Storyline: Wellness guru Masha presides over an Alpine wellness retreat and nine people in search of rest and rejuvenation with a splash of revenge Unlike Season 1, which was an adaptation of Liane Moriarty's eponymous book, Season 2 has created new (not original) storylines. We learn more about Masha's past as a journalist — she has gone through quite a few reinventions herself, from journalist to corporate head honcho to wellness guru murmuring Namaste in flowing robes. The guests all have secrets and are battling issues, from Tina losing the joy of playing the piano to Brian's PTSD after an on-set meltdown. Agnes has lost her faith, Imogen and Peter suffer from parental neglect and David is the standard-issue slimy rich bloke. There is an Agatha Christie vibe with the isolated setting, past sins casting long shadows, strangers who might be connected, an unfair will, curdled love and the final denouement where each person is called upon to explain their choices in what a character describes as a 'psychedelic witch trial.' The clothes, especially Kidman's paradoxically fitted-flowy trouser suits and sweeping coats in jewel tones, are eye-wateringly lovely. The dialogue is a blast from Victoria describing the Golden Globes and the Canonisation as 'money laundering schemes with fabulous wardrobes' to David threatening Masha that she will crawl 'from courtroom to courtroom like a slug.' Kidman, paired with a posh and powerful Strong, is the slinky centre of this show. The flashbacks show the two looking stunning without the use of de-aging tech. Bartlett, after his star turn as the harried manager in The White Lotus, is now on the other side as a guest, and watchable as ever. David E. Kelley, who adapted Moriarty's Big Little Lies, also featuring Kidman, has created a shiny show, which, while not making too much sense, is a blast nevertheless. Nine Perfect Strangers is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video
National Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Adam Zivo: With Iran defeated, Israelis look for peace in Gaza
Article content 14-year-old Tania also supported the strikes on Iran, but worried that they had made people 'kind of forget about the war in Gaza.' She was concerned about the hostages still being held by Hamas, and was distressed about the well-being of Palestinian civilians who 'are getting hurt and killed every day.' Her friend, Masha, concurred: 'It's not gonna be normal until the hostages will come back from Gaza.' Article content They directed me to a table crowded with older students, where I met 18-year-old Itamar, who will soon be commencing his mandatory military service. 'We did what we have to did, and we did it fast. We did it quickly. We didn't hurt that much people, and we stick to the mission,' he said proudly. Yet, he believed that the Islamic Republic would inevitably attack again — perhaps in 20 or 30 years. Article content 'If Iran stops all the war all over the world, the civilians in Iran can live a wonderful life, and they can do whatever they want. They have a lot of money. They have a big space. They have good people — very smart people. If they want, they can live a wonderful life,' he said. Article content Two days later, tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square to rally in support of Hamas' captives. These weekly demonstrations had begun shortly after October 7th, but were paused during the conflict with Iran, when public gatherings were banned. The crowds this evening were noticeably larger than they had been a month earlier — an ocean of discontent that stretched as far as one could see. Article content 'We were patient for two weeks, and now that the threat is gone, we know that this is the time to fight back as hard as we can and demand that all the hostages be back and to end the war,' said Lee Hoffmann Agiv, a social activist. Article content According to her, many volunteers who normally advocate for the hostages temporarily pivoted towards helping families impacted by the Iran war instead — for example: by gathering essentials for those who'd lost their homes. However, Agiv and her colleagues tried to keep the hostages on the national agenda during this period, often by using social media. 'We did our best in making the families feel like they're not forgotten, and to be with them and to send the message that we think about them all the time,' she said. Article content Or Keshet, another demonstrator, found it 'depressing' that no Gazan ceasefire had been signed, and believed that 'political, cynical motivations' were causing the Israeli government to unnecessarily prolong the war. 'You know, the Iran war took 12 days, and after 12 days, the war was finished. The war in Gaza is lasting already, you know, 631 days. It doesn't make sense,' he said. Article content Shai and Gil Dickmann — a brother and sister duo whose cousin remains in captivity — were similarly disapproving of the government's prosecution of the war. They believed that if Israel could sign a ceasefire with Iran, wherein the Ayatollah remained in power, then the same could be done in Gaza, too. Perhaps fully eradicating Hamas was not strictly necessary. Article content 'For 12 days, the square was empty, and people were focused on the war with Iran, and right now to see it full of people, that means that we hadn't forgotten about the hostages, and they should know that we will not give up until they're all home,' said Gil.
Express Tribune
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Nicole Kidman and Mark Strong hint at season 3 after dramatic 'Nine Perfect Strangers' finale
As Nine Perfect Strangers wrapped its second season, stars Nicole Kidman and Mark Strong opened up about their characters' emotional arcs and the possibility of a third season. The finale brought closure to several storylines, particularly the tension between Masha (Kidman) and billionaire David Sharpe (Strong), set against the stunning backdrop of the Austrian Alps. In the finale, Masha reveals that her deceased daughter was also David's child forcing David to confront his past. Strong explained, 'Masha has arranged this group of people knowing all of them were affected by David,' hinting at the interwoven trauma that ties the group together. A standout moment was the final scene, filmed in an actual McDonald's outside Berlin, where Masha releases an AI-generated video of David publicly confessing to stepping down from the weapons industry - a promise he never intended to keep. 'We were actually there,' Kidman confirmed, adding to the surreal quality of the scene. The actors also described the physical demands of the shoot. Both filmed barefoot in snow and attempted an ice plunge, though the water portion was staged. 'I think we would have died,' Kidman joked, noting how the extreme conditions added authenticity to the emotional performances. Kidman reflected on Masha's journey as one of healing, not punishment. 'Her heart is in the right place,' she said. Strong added that David's transformation from arrogance to self-awareness was central to his arc. Both actors hinted at interest in season 3, with Strong suggesting new settings like Costa Rica, while Kidman remained focused on the present. Their chemistry, honed from a past collaboration, brought a grounded energy to the show's complex themes.
Mint
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Nicole Kidman, Mark Strong open up about Nine Perfect Strangers closure, hint at season 3
Washington [US], July 3 (ANI): As the curtains fell on the season 2 finale of Hulu's 'Nine Perfect Strangers', the complex arcs of its eclectic ensemble cast found a semblance of closure, particularly for Nicole Kidman's character, Masha Dmitrichenko, and Mark Strong's portrayal of billionaire David Sharpe. Set against the backdrop of Masha's healing retreat in the Austrian Alps, the season finale delves deep into unresolved traumas and bittersweet reconciliations, all with the help of Masha's unconventional and psychedelic therapeutic methods. Following the intense emotional journey, several key characters experienced pivotal transformations. Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Tina (King Princess) parted ways, but Tina rediscovered her passion for playing the piano. Former children's TV host Brian (Murray Bartlett) took the crucial step of parting with the puppet that tied him to his past, while forming a heartfelt friendship with Agnes (Dolly de Leon), a compassionate former nun. Meanwhile, Victoria (Christine Baranski) and her daughter Imogen (Annie Murphy) reconciled, and Imogen set her sights on a promising future with wealthy businessman Peter (Henry Golding). But perhaps the most tumultuous relationship was between Masha and David. The tension between them culminated in a dramatic finale, with Masha revealing a shocking truth: her late daughter, Tatiana, was also David's child from a past affair. For Masha, this confession marked a crucial step in her healing process. The finale takes a dramatic turn when Masha reveals that David was brought to the retreat for a very specific reason, that is to confront his past and the people he has wronged. "It's a fascinating premise that Masha has arranged this group of people knowing that all of them, as you find out in the final episode, have been affected by this guy," Strong said in an interview, hinting at the intricate connections that bind the characters, as quoted by Variety. In a final act of penance, David promises to exit the weapons business, a move that Masha later exposes as a lie. Masha's response is both defiant and satisfying as she releases an AI-generated video of David making a public confession about his company's future, ensuring a dramatic close to the season in an unexpected setting, a McDonald's restaurant. In a conversation with Variety, Kidman and Strong shared insights into the making of the season's final scene and their unique on-set experiences. The final McDonald's scene, which has since become a talking point, was filmed in a real McDonald's restaurant just outside Berlin. "We were actually there," Kidman confirmed, as quoted by Variety. Strong added, "Come lunchtime, everybody just tucked into the McDonald's. It's on a kind of estate outside of Berlin, near a motorway. It's a strange location in the middle of nowhere, but apparently, it's a very successful McDonald's." The actors also discussed the challenges and rewards of filming in the Austrian Alps. "I was definitely walking barefoot through the snow, and it was beautiful," Strong recalled, describing the breathtaking landscapes that made the performance even more impactful. For Kidman, the scenery helped elevate her portrayal of Masha. "We were moving around a lot, but we were definitely up in those Austrian Alps," she said, reflecting on the ambitious production schedule. In a particularly challenging moment, both Kidman and Strong filmed an ice plunge scene, where they had to walk barefoot in snow before plunging into icy water. Kidman revealed, "Part of the ice plunge is real, but the actual in the water was on a stage because I think we would have died," as quoted by Variety. Despite the staged water, the actors endured the harsh conditions, with Kidman admitting that walking barefoot in the snow was surprisingly manageable. The relationship between Masha and David is fraught with tension, but Kidman believes that Masha achieves emotional closure by the season's end. "Masha is moving through trauma, moving through things. Her heart is in the right place... she wants people to expand their horizons in terms of their emotional landscape." Kidman added that the healing journey for Masha is not about punishment, but change. For David, Strong's portrayal explored a character initially resistant to growth. "He's very arrogant and very confident at the beginning... but his journey is that he learns a lot about himself, his relationship with his son, and his relationship with Masha," Strong noted. The tension culminates in a final confrontation where David must confront his own culpability. Kidman and Strong's on-screen chemistry, which had been honed in their previous collaboration 'Before I Go to Sleep' (2014), added a layer of ease to their performances. Kidman admitted that their past experience together made the scenes flow naturally, as she said, "We already had that history... it was easy," as quoted by Variety. As for a potential third season of 'Nine Perfect Strangers', Kidman and Strong expressed interest but acknowledged the complexities of bringing it to life. "I only have the bandwidth to think of here and now," Kidman said, while Strong is more optimistic. "I love the move from California to the Alps... maybe Costa Rica or the jungle would be an exciting location next." (ANI)
Time Magazine
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
How Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 Ends
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 In Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2, Nicole Kidman returns as Masha Dmitrichenko to lead a group of people as they confront their trauma through a unique form of therapy that involves psychedelic drugs and surprising revelations. This time, nine people are brought together in the Austrian alps for treatment under Masha. By the end of Season 2, airing July 2, they realize they have all crossed paths in some way before. Here's a rundown of the main characters and how they all learn that they are connected in the surprising finale. The characters and their trauma Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) selects the attendees for her retreat, which she now leads in an old mansion called Zauberwald that belonged to her former mentor, Dr. Helena Von Falkenberg. It's through Falkenberg that Masha learned about using psychedelic drugs in a therapeutic way. Masha did it herself while processing the grief of the death of her daughter, who was hit by a car, and found it helped her feel like she was with her daughter again. Falkenberg's son, Martin (Lucas Englander), helps Masha run the retreat, guiding the nine participants on their respective trips. There's one couple on the trip, Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Tina (King Princess). They are both musicians, and Tina is a piano prodigy who has lost the ability to play the piano due to some kind of mental block. Tina quickly realizes that she knows one of the group members, Brian (Murray Bartlett) because Brian performed with puppets on a children's TV show, and she was a guest on it once. Brian showed up to the retreat with one of his puppets in tow, which speaks for him when he doesn't have the courage to speak for himself. He lost his job on the TV show when he had a nervous breakdown on camera. Agnes (Dolly De Leon) is a former nun, who is here to work through some guilt that she felt while working as a nurse in a hospital in a war zone. She keeps having flashbacks to the moment when a pregnant patient died under her watch. Imogen (Annie Murphy) is attending the retreat with her mother Victoria (Christine Baranski), in an effort to spend more quality time with her. But she is aghast when her mother shows up with a date, Matteo (Aras Aydin). While her mother is occupied with Matteo, Imogen connects with another group member, Peter (Henry Golding), and they hook up throughout the retreat. Like Imogen, Peter is also attending the retreat because he's traumatized by one of his parents. His mother and father are divorced, he wants to feel closer to his father, a billionaire media mogul named David Sharpe (Mark Strong). How the drug trips go Participants ingest the psychedelics by drinking a specially concocted tea out of a water bottle. In some scenes, they are lying in bed or on a yoga mat with a silver disc on their chest that injects the drugs into their system. Everyone has a different reaction. Participants are even encouraged to dance at one point. In a memorable scene, Agnes, Wolfie, Tina, and Brian go soak in a tub filled with wine at a nearby spa. Agnes is so racked with guilt about the patient she lost in a war hospital that she runs away from the group and breaks into a church, looking to do confession. Sometimes Victoria can't get out of bed, and Imogen is shocked to learn that she has ALS. Matteo, the man she thought was her mother's date, is also her caregiver. In one dramatic scene, Victoria has a seizure in reaction to the medication, and Imogen becomes hysterical. Matteo spends a lot of time during his trip thinking about his parents, who died in a war zone. But he says he doesn't mind the grief, that he sees it as a sign that he loved them a lot. 'My grief is not all that I am. I was a boy who was loved.' The drug trips strain Wolfie's and Tina's relationship. Tina feels like she was brought to the retreat against her will; she thought she was being taken to a normal spa. Wolfie relives the moment when she met Tina and fell in love with her when she was watching her onstage. Tina thinks back to the moment when she was on Brian's TV show and talked about wanting to become an astronaut. She has felt like she played piano to fulfill her own mother's dream for her, even though what she really wanted to be was an astronaut. And Wolfie's pushiness about playing the piano reminds her of her mother's pushiness about playing the piano, leading her to burst out, 'I'm f***ing my mother!' During Sharpe's trip, he relives a magical one-night stand he had with Masha during a business trip. That one-night stand led to the birth of Masha's daughter, who was hit by a car later in life. Masha brought him here to give him a large dose of the drugs so that he could 'meet' his daughter. She also hopes that he will enjoy the experience so much that he will invest in the therapy, which is in dire need of funds. How Nine Perfect Strangers ends The group finds out that Masha selected them for the retreat because, like her, they all have a connection to Sharpe. Sharpe's news division revealed footage of Brian's outburst on children's television, ruining his career. Sharpe's company pulled funding for the music program that Wolfie adored. As a nurse, Agnes tended to victims in war zones bombarded by bombs that Sharpe's company made—bombs that also killed Matteo's family members. Imogen's father developed the satellite technology that guided bombs funded by Sharpe's company, and he ended up killing himself because he was so horrified that the technology he developed was used for such violent means. But Victoria begs Masha not to tell Imogen because she's worried that the news would destroy her. Sharpe says he doesn't deserve all of this blame, arguing, 'Aren't we all flawed people just trying to do our best?' To appease the group, Sharpe promises to cut his company's military contracts and donate the money that they have made to charity. In the most dramatic scene of the finale, Masha's assistant Martin confronts Masha outside in the snow, afraid that Masha is gunning to take over his family's property and cut him out. He shoots Masha, but she survives. While convalescing, she tells Martin he can have the property and run the psychedelic retreats. Overall, the characters seem to find closure in the finale. Tina finds the ability to play the piano again, but she and Wolfie have decided to part ways. Masha cheers up Tina by telling her that the episode of Brian's TV show where Tina was a guest was her daughter's favorite. Her daughter would watch it over and over again, and Masha wanted to see who Tina grew up to be. Imogen and Peter share a passionate goodbye kiss as they part ways and vow to never be apart again. Imogen also vows to visit her mother more, now that she knows that she has a terminal illness. Agnes and Brian have become fast friends, playing with little marionette puppets they got in a gift shop nearby, and she convinces him to take his puppeteer skills to hospitals to cheer up children in need. As everyone is leaving the retreat, Sharpe takes back what he says about cutting all military contracts. Masha shames him by leaking a recording of the moment when he made that promise to the group on YouTube. The participants find out about the leak when they leave the retreat and their cell phone service is restored. A month later, Masha meets Sharpe in a McDonald's. Sharpe wants to invest in Masha's psychedelic drug retreats and incorporate it into an arm of his company. When she hesitates, he shows her the blackmail that he could use against her, footage he bought from her assistant Martin of the chaotic moment when Victoria was seizing, and it looked like her team had lost control of the whole project. She signs the document in the end, and the series ends with the two locked into a passionate kiss. 'You may not love your family but you can't get rid of them,' she says.
