A dark new 8-episode limited series has made a splash on Netflix, making its way up the Top 10 Most Watched list to easily take the #4 spot—no small feat, considering that it had to beat out both RAW and F1 shows to do so, garnering 4.2 million views in the week that it’s been on the platform. But with Rachel Weisz in the lead role, it should come as little surprise that it’s doing so well.
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Vladimir, based on the novel of the same name by Julia May Jonas, centers around the unraveling of the life of a woman the audience knows only as M. Her husband, a professor at the same university that she also teaches at, has been accused by several of his female students of sexual misconduct. As the academic hearing that will decide the fate of his career looms, a handsome new professor named Vladimir and his young family arrive at the university, kicking off a dark, twisting obsession for M. As she falls deeper into her fantasies, ultimately getting over her writer’s block in the process, her life falls apart even further as more affairs are revealed and potential murder enters the equation.
Vladimir is a Dark Tale of Obsession and Fantasy
When asked about the project, Rachel Weisz told Tudum, “It’s like a heightened fairy tale. Her fantasy is about the power of desire. The invigorating, stimulating, inspiring, and revivifying feeling that she gets from her obsession with Vlad. What it’s about is coming back to life in a certain way that had lain dormant for some time.” It’s a theme that never loses its edge, especially when held up against the series’ academic backdrop, adding an even more forbidden edge to the fantasies that M creates, as well as to the staggering reality that is always threatening to come crashing down throughout the 8-episode run.
So far, Vladimir has performed middlingly with casual viewers, earning a 54% audience rating, who collectively seemed to find the series “unsubtle, a bit pretentious, & less funny than it thinks it is.” It is, however, performing better among critics, earning a 73% score from those who find the series erotic, darkly funny, and ethically murky—a heady blend and perfect backdrop for the cast’s talent. “Rachel Weisz is as reliably magnetic as ever as the unnamed, fourth-wall-breaking protagonist who’s the very picture of a quietly furious wronged woman in this cancel-culture satire,” says critic Joyce Slaton.
Overall, it seems that Vladimir, while potentially a bit pretentious thanks to its academic set dressing, is a lush story about female obsession in the face of perceived mistreatment and scandal—a dark, sexy, and violent escape from the real world that will never compare to that which M has built up in her mind.
Do you have a favorite moment from Vladimir? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
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