Netflix’s erotic new drama isn’t what you expect – but Rachel Weisz saves it

Netflix’s new series Vladimir, starring Leo Woodall and Rachel Weisz, is sold as a steamy erotic fantasy – but that only scrapes the surface.

For those who need a crash course on the premise, allow me to catch you up.

We’re plunged into a nondescript all-American town with a college chock-full of moralising Gen Z students, a fact the show delights in reminding us.

There, we meet our anonymous, fourth-wall-breaking English professor (the Academy Award-winning Weisz), who undergoes the rite of passage for middle-aged women across generations: becoming invisible in the face of societal misogyny.

It’s a topic that feels more current than ever, with acclaimed movies like The Substance and less acclaimed shows like The Beauty all adding their two pence to this topic to varying success.

Made to feel redundant in her marriage, her motherhood and her professorship, our resilient protagonist soon becomes enmeshed in a life-unravelling obsession with her ‘magnetic’ new colleague, the titular Vladimir, played by the dashing One Day actor Woodall.

(Certainly, it seems the 29-year-old star has found his USP, with the sexy swimming scene of Bridget Jones’ fame making a strong return).

Vladimir seems to complete the hat trick of Netflix content about English department professors whose lives self-destruct, joining Sandra Oh’s The Chair and Martin Freeman’s controversial Miller’s Girl.

Once you suspend your disbelief that someone of Weisz’s beauty and grace could possibly be overlooked, the show takes you on several unexpected twists and turns.

In many ways, the erotic sell of the trailer becomes secondary to the various other crises that The Favourite star is juggling throughout the course of the show, both to its benefit and detriment.

For those hoping to enjoy a kinky, envelope-pushing exploration of female desire, I think you’ll be disappointed.

The Protagonist has her fair share of fantasies, the show seems afraid to push them to their extreme, and, ultimately, this obsession plays out more vanilla than spicy.

However, the two build a playful chemistry on screen, with Woodall admirably matching Weisz’s skittish energy while still maintaining his boyish charm.

The 55-year-old actor brings enough endearing wit that the eight-episode season becomes effortlessly bingeable, with one running into another without you even realising.

As for the fourth-wall-breaking plot device – for which Fleabag has become the gold standard – it is mostly well stylised, although at times it can feel heavy-handed.

The Mummy star helms Vladimir with an assured hand that holds the many threads of this show together, even when it could very easily fall apart.

Eroticism aside, the show delivers a compelling enough subplot that touches on toxic power dynamics, consent, misogyny within sex and relationships and generational divides.

And how often what’s right or fair pales in comparison to human desire and self-interest.

Still, in a TV landscape saturated with attempts to keep their finger on the pulse, I’m not sure it quite goes deep enough to offer a new perspective.

At times, the show falls victim to the college student caricature as walking, talking PC police, but a nuanced take on this generation is one that screenwriters across the industry are still getting to grips with.

Ultimately, Vladimir takes you on a tumultuous ride that doesn’t exactly do what it says on the tin and with just enough steaminess to keep your heart racing, the show might take you by pleasant surprise.

Vladimir is now streaming on Netflix.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.