Warning: This article mentions subjects related to drug use, violence, and suicide. Contains spoilers for Nine Perfect Strangers.
The Nine Perfect Strangers ending stays true to the rest of the show's mysterious tone. Following the stories of nine troubled individuals, each struggling with a form of personal trauma, the show charts their treatment at a shady health-and-wellness resort called Tranquillum. However, by the series' dramatic climax, it's clear that each of the guests has got more than they bargained for at the hands of the resort’s eccentric director, Masha Dmitrichenko.
Masha guarantees each of the nine guests that her treatments will help them to heal by the time that their stay has ended. However, Masha's treatments are revealed to be more unorthodox than the guests anticipated when she confesses that she has secretly added trace amounts of psychedelic drugs in their meals. The Nine Perfect Strangers ending sees Tranquillum thrown into disarray as many of the guests experience side effects due to a drug called psilocybin (magic mushrooms), which Masha (played by star Nicole Kidman) has been giving them in increasingly larger doses. To prevent them from endangering themselves, Masha places all of the guests under lockdown with the exception of the Marconi family, Napoleon, Heather and their twenty-something daughter Zoe. The three of them are persuaded by Masha that using psychedelics in conjunction with meditation will allow them to speak to their deceased son Zach one final time so that they can make peace with his ing. The meditation proves successful when the Marconis get an opportunity to communicate with Zach one last time.
Nine Perfect Strangers' last episode focuses on showing how each guest has been changed by their experiences at Tranquillum, but the presentation of the final few scenes possesses a tone of ambiguity. The future of each character after their visit to Masha’s resort is left up to the interpretation of the viewer. While there is no definitive conclusion about what the ending means, here are explanations for some of the major details from the finale.
Carmel’s Secret Connection To Masha In Nine Perfect Strangers
When the guests first arrive, Masha explains to them that the event which spurred her inspiration to create Tranquillum happened when she had a near-death experience after being shot by a stranger. The past returns to haunt her when the stranger is revealed to be one of her newly-arrived guests, a woman named Carmel. Most of the protagonists in Nine Perfect Strangers come to Tranquillum with some level of trepidation, but Carmel stands out among the group due to how openly she ires Masha. Her genuine respect for Masha raises confusion as to why she would hold any kind of resentment toward her, but Carmel’s reason becomes clear when it is revealed that her own insecurity is what generates her anger.
While Carmel wholeheartedly wishes to become the best possible version of herself, she is constantly inundated with self-doubt. To her, Masha represents an unattainable ideal of spirituality, beauty, and self-control. Carmel’s awareness of her own envy drives her to a low point as she realizes the harm that her anger can cause to herself and those around her, but she is still unable to suppress her negative emotions. It is only when Carmel’s false veil of positivity falls away that she is able to fully acknowledge why she is suffering.
Masha’s Interest In The Marconi Family Explained
Among all of the guests, Masha is most intrigued by the Marconi family. The Marconis go to Tranquillum because they are grieving their teenage son Zach's suicide, the loss of which has driven the family apart. The father, Napoleon, attempts to stay positive about the future despite not understanding why Zach killed himself, but this optimism alienates his wife Heather and daughter Zoe (played by Grace Van Patten). Masha shows particular interest in the Marconis, not merely because she believes that they desperately need help, but because she has also experienced the loss of a child.
Flashbacks demonstrate that Masha once had a daughter named Tatiana who was killed in a car accident. In Nine Perfect Strangers' finale, Masha personally s the Marconis in meditation because she too feels the need to heal from the loss of a child. Masha has a revelation when she realizes that she is better able to Tatiana while meditating with the Marconis. This sequence shows Masha to be facing painful inner turmoil despite earlier episodes showing her as self-possessed and generally positive.
Tranquillum After Masha’s Arrest In Nine Perfect Strangers
Masha's meditation is proven successful when she emotionally reunites with Tatiana. Despite the breakthrough, police soon arrive at Tranquillum after being informed by one of the facility's attendants about Masha's use of psychedelic drugs. Masha calmly allows the officers to take her into custody without resisting. She appears unshaken at the imminent closure of Tranquillum, still at peace after her moving experience with the memory of Tatiana.
What Happens To The Guests In Nine Perfect Strangers?
After Masha’s arrest, the guests are promptly questioned by the police about the events of their stay. Each of the guests confirms that drugs were used in Tranquillum's treatments, but none of them expressly accuse Masha of doing anything wrong. One of the guests, an investigative journalist named Lars, came to Tranquillum to collect evidence of alleged unethical operations, yet he chose not to divulge incriminating footage that he documented with his smartphone. Nine Perfect Strangers' final episode gives the impression that all of the guests felt they had experienced a life-changing event, even though it differed from what they originally envisioned.
Are Nine Perfect Strangers' Endings Fake?
The most divisive aspect of Nine Perfect Strangers relates to the multiple different endings in the finale. Shortly after all of the guests have left Tranquillum, the audience sees glimpses of each character returning to their lives with a more positive outlook than before their treatment. However, the presentation of these scenes raises suspicion about whether the endings are actually real because they are shown after one of the guests, a novelist named s, begins jotting down notes on a sheet of paper. Given how prominently characters in Nine Perfect Strangers question the reality of their experience, it is fitting for the show to end with an ambiguous finale.
Since s made it a point to become acquainted with each of her fellow guests, it makes sense that she would be able to infer how they would adjust their lives when they returned home. Some of the endings appear like the logical next step in the lives of the protagonists, such as the Marconi family learning to heal after Zach's ing or Carmel creating a small therapy group so that she and other like-minded people can improve themselves. At the same time, other endings seem more unexpected, particularly since two of the younger guests, Jessica and Ben, seem to take ownership of Tranquillum after Masha’s arrest. The most surprising ending is saved for last, when Masha is revealed to be driving along a highway, far from Tranquillum and seemingly without any particular destination. Whether or not the endings are real is essentially left up to the viewer.
The Relevance Of Nine Perfect Strangers' Endings Being Real
The ambiguity of the final scenes contributes to Nine Perfect Strangers' psychedelic tone, but it also has thematic relevance in regard to the protagonists. The endings are suggested to be possibilities that s conceives from spending time with her fellow guests. When introduced, s exhibited a cynical worldview, derived from a general distrustfulness of other people. Her perspective on life was that the world had no happy endings. To further draw ambiguity into the reality of the endings, s considered novelists like herself to be liars who created impossibly positive views of the world.
s realizes that even though her life may not be perfect, she can nonetheless strive toward being happy. Nine Perfect Strangers' ending conveys the idea that happiness is a possibility rather than a guarantee, worth working toward even if it appears out of reach. The show acknowledges that the protagonists are free to choose their own paths in life and seek for themselves a future that will ultimately grant them peace of mind.