Netflix’s new campus drama, Vladimir, has much potential but ultimately gets a failing grade. An eight-episode limited series, Vladimir‘s starry cast, which includes Rachel Weisz, Leo Woodall, and John Slattery, is enough to attract anyone’s attention, but it’s the show’s steamy premise that will really seduce an audience.
Based on Julia May Jonas’s novel of the same name (Jonas also serves as the series creator), Vladimir centers on Weisz’s unnamed protagonist, a middle-aged English professor at a small liberal arts college, who develops a crush on her new colleague, the titular Vladimir (Woodall). This infatuation gives way to obsession, which couldn’t come at a worse time, as her husband and fellow professor, John (Slattery), is about to face academic trial for sexual misconduct.
From its first scene, Vladimir sets itself apart from other midlife coming-of-age stories by introducing Weisz’s character as a fourth wall-breaking unreliable narrator who’s potentially as dangerous as she is horny. The erotic thriller bent gives the series a titillating edge that does little to relieve its own sexual frustration.
Vladimir’s Lack Of Steaminess Doesn’t Live Up To Its Provocative Poster
When I first saw the poster for Vladimir, which depicts a woman suggestively running her manicured fingers through a book, I said — out loud — “Sold.” The trend of film and TV featuring sexual awakenings of women of a certain age by way of a younger lover has been a refreshing change of pace from the glut of age-gap romances featuring mediocre older men and the female ingénues who love them.
The Idea of You, Babygirl, and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy — which stars Vladimir‘s Leo Woodall — are just some of the recent Hollywood stories showing that a woman’s libido and sexual relevance don’t die after she turns 30. Oh, how I wanted to include Vladimir in this list of much more satisfying titles.
Like a new school year, Vladimir begins with so much promise. Sparks immediately fly when Weisz’s protagonist and Vlad first meet at a staff get-together. He’s the only one of her colleagues to show her respect, offering her his chair, and their banter is crackling with just a hint of flirtation.
However, just as a once-eager student’s ambition can fade over a grueling semester, the chemistry between Weisz and Woodall’s characters fizzles out. As talented and attractive as both actors are, there’s no magic between them to buoy the series.
It doesn’t help that Vladimir is so underdeveloped. Most erotic thrillers worth their salt see the desired one as a sexy blend of dark and charismatic. As far as darkness goes, Vladimir is little more than a run-of-the-mill narcissist, not asking for the protagonist’s book when she requests to read his. However, most narcissists are significantly more charming, whereas Vlad’s cool guy personality is more “meh“. It’s a waste of Woodall’s strengths, as we’ve seen him play the flawed young charmer to great success in both Bridget Jones 4 and The White Lotus.
Vladimir’s lack of appeal isn’t the real problem, though. This isn’t his story. He can be oatmeal-dull as long as the protagonist’s fantasies of him are doing their job. Unfortunately, they’re all vanilla and tepid. Whether it’s passionate kisses or Vlad shoving her against a bookshelf, none of the fantasies are much steamier than what is shown in the trailer.
In the age of Bridgerton, Heated Rivalry, and The Hunting Wives, this isn’t going to cut it, especially when Vladimir‘s poster promised a much higher spice level. While it can be argued that Weisz’s character is sexually repressed and would thus fantasize as such, what’s the point of showing all those fantasies if they’re just as bland as reality?
The Academic Sex Scandal Is Vladimir’s Most Interesting Storyline, But It’s A Missed Opportunity
Though it’s called Vladimir, the show spends more time on John’s upcoming academic trial than the object of the protagonist’s desire. It’s revealed early on that Weisz and Slattery’s characters have an open marriage, and though John hasn’t slept with a student in years, he regularly engaged in this behavior back when “it was a different time.” Now, several women have come forward with complaints against him.
Vladimir‘s focus on this storyline turns out to be its biggest strength. Being told from the perspective of the accused’s wife and colleague is a fresh take, especially because of how much blame and pressure are placed on the protagonist, who is not the transgressor here. She is the one expected to sweet-talk the college president into delaying the trial date; she is the one expected to give a public statement on her husband’s behavior.
It speaks to society’s eagerness to point the finger at women over the offending men, and, at times, it’s enough to make me sympathize with the protagonist’s increasingly erratic behavior — even if it gave me whiplash from a plot standpoint. However, despite the interesting ideas Vladimir is exploring with this storyline, I never felt like the trial had real stakes.
Slattery plays John as a naughty professor version of Roger Sterling, and while it’s enough to perk up any scene he’s in, if the character doesn’t care about the accusations, why should the audience — or his wife, for that matter? While she expresses anger at the situation, Weisz’s character never stops to question why she’s continuing to rescue a man who doesn’t care to rescue himself.
Presumably, wanting to avoid more scandal is the reason why the protagonist doesn’t pursue Vladimir. Other than that, there’s nothing really standing in her way — it’s within the rules of her arrangement with John, and Vlad’s wife, Cynthia (the underused Jessica Henwick), essentially gave her the green light.
John breaks all the rules while the protagonist is holding herself back, proving that she‘s the one living in a different time. For a woman who’s been in a long-term, non-monogamous marriage, she’s remarkably out of touch, having to be told what NRE and compersion are. A woman finding her sexual agency by rebelling against the confines of her marriage and academia, now that’s a story worth telling. Sadly, it’s not the one we got.
Rachel Weisz’s Unreliable Narrator Is Too Much Tell, Not Enough Show
Netflix has heavily marketed Vladimir as an unreliable narrator story, and at first, the show seemed like it would deliver on that promise. In the pilot episode’s faculty gathering, the protagonist proudly tells the audience that her co-workers gobbled up her Instagram-worthy salad, only for the camera to pan to the untouched dish.
It’s a clever moment, but one that Vladimir never expands on. I was told I would distrust the protagonist, but instead I completely trusted her to make reckless decisions, and she never once proved me wrong. Vladimir mistakes being unpredictable and unhinged with being an unreliable narrator, to its ultimate detriment.
Much is made about Vladimir‘s blurring of fantasy and reality. While the protagonist indeed has frequent vivid fantasies, it’s always clear that that’s what they are — fantasies. I never once mistook one for reality.
This doesn’t bode well for Vladimir‘s bonkers ending, which hinges entirely on the success of Weisz’s character as an unreliable narrator. The whole thing falls flat, but really, Vladimir was never able to get it up.
- Release Date
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March 5, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Writers
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Julia May Jonas
