Netflix’s ‘Vladimir’ Is Proving To Be a Big Hit With Audiences on Streaming

A couple of days after its release, Netflix’s newest R-rated dark comedy series is already proving to be a massive hit for the streaming service, despite mixed reviews from critics. Netflix is home to several dark comedy shows that have all seen varying degrees of success over the years, including Dead to Me, Russian Doll, and Beef. Their newest series is an eight-episode gem that can easily be binge-watched in a night.

Starring Rachel Weisz as an English professor who is obsessed with her handsome new colleague (Leo Woodall), Vladimir flips the script on a familiar story, making Weisz the aging protagonist infatuated with a younger man. It’s a tale as old as time, but usually one that sees the age gap go the other way, with an older male scholar in love with a younger female student. At the same time, Weisz’s character of M is dealing with a scandalous husband, and the fact that her career is winding down.

‘Vladimir’ Is Being Called a Welcome Addition to Netflix

To say that Vladimir is a provocative series would be putting it mildly. As you’ll see in the trailer above, it’s got a taboo romance, workplace politics, academic anarchy, and Weisz fantasizing about her obsession more times than you can count. Yet at the same time, it’s a unique series that features sizzling fantasy sequences, internal monologs, and M breaking the fourth wall to speak directly to the viewer.

It’s for those reasons, and more, that Vladimir is now the second most popular show on the streaming service, and one that is being called a welcome addition to Netflix by critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The series holds a 66% rating thus far, and as Ben Dowell from The Times writes in his review:

“Awash with academic ego and sexual brinkmanship, it leans into the main character’s obsessiveness and makes us almost complicit in ways that feel naughty, grown-up and sophisticated — quite rare for a Netflix show these days but hugely welcome.”

That being said, not everyone is in love with Vladimir. At just 66%, it’s clear that the show does have its detractors, like Ben Travers from IndieWire. “Much like M, it gets so caught up in proving its own relevancy, it overlooks the core principles of a good story,” he writes, adding: “Obscurity awaits the show. Luckily, the book is still there, and infinitely better.”

‘Vladimir’ Makes Several Changes From the Novel

Speaking of the book — Vladimir is based on the 2022 debut novel by Julia May Jonas that garnered a ton of critical acclaim upon its release. It was named one of the best books of the year by the likes of Vogue, People, and The Guardian. However, loyal readers will immediately recognize that the Netflix series makes some significant changes.

Not only is M a more bold and sexually obsessed protagonist in the show, but Vladimir goes from being a somewhat enigmatic character to one that’s a lot more charming so that audiences have a reason to cheer their relationship on, despite it being a taboo subject. The series is also a heck of a lot funnier than the novel, which reads like a psychological drama rather than a dark comedy.

Several other plot points from the book are changed, but if you’ve never read the novel, then you won’t know it. If you’re one of those that have, then you’ll most likely be a bit disappointed in the small screen adaptation, which has yet to receive an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of this writing.