LESSONS IN LUST

Wrestling with MeToo themes, college-set drama 'Vladimir' is brutally muted by the Netflix aesthetic

- Nick Hilton

MeToo, one of the most famous political slogans of the 21st century, was a show of solidarity. For victims of abuse it was evidence that there were others out there who had endured the same experiences and survived. But what was less described, during the long process of recriminations, was the solidarity in the communities of the accused. Friends standing by their friends, parents standing by their children, wives standing by their husbands. That’s the jumping-off point for Vladimir, a new Netflix limited series based on Julia May Jonas’s provocative 2022 bestselling novel.

Rachel Weisz is an unnamed creative writing professor at some semi-rural liberal arts college. She lives with her feckless husband, and fellow academic, John (John Slattery), ceaselessly narrating her mundane domestic and professional life. But two things happen to shake up their existence. Firstly, John is accused of a string of affairs with young students and placed on leave pending a hearing. And secondly, a new visiting tutor, Vladimir (Leo Woodall), arrives, bringing with him a rippling torso and new temptations - as well as his frosty wife Cynthia (Jessica Henwick) and a toddler. “Marriage is hard, divorce is hard,” Vladimir tells his gawping colleague. “Choose your hard.”