Netflix's Vladimir Is a Streaming Hit

A couple of days after its March 5 release, Netflix's R-rated dark comedy Vladimir climbed to the service's second most popular spot, despite mixed critical response. The eight-episode series stars Rachel Weisz as M, an English professor obsessed with a handsome new colleague played by Leo Woodall.

The show flips a familiar age-gap story by centering an older woman while also following M through a scandalous marriage and a winding career. Vladimir blends taboo romance, workplace politics, fantasy sequences and direct-address asides. The series holds a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ben Dowell wrote, "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." Ben Travers argued, "Much like M, it gets so caught up in proving its own relevancy, it overlooks the core principles of a good story," adding, "Obscurity awaits the show.

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