'Vladimir' Review: Desire, Delusion and Delicious Chaos
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - March 9, 2026
Netflix is loving a bit of raunchy, racy content, from Bridgerton to Sex Education, the fun is in the viewing. And if prestige television has taught us anything, it’s that universities are less about learning and more about longing. Vladimir, Netflix’s glossy eight-part adaptation of Julia May Jonas’ acclaimed novel, leans into that truth with a wicked smile. Starring and executive produced by Rachel Weisz, this limited series is sharp, seductive and frequently toe-curlingly awkward, often all at once.
The premise is deceptively simple. A passionate but increasingly unmoored professor (Weisz) finds her personal and professional life imploding just as a magnetic new colleague, Vladimir (Leo Woodall), arrives on campus. What follows is less a conventional romance and more a spiralling study in projection, obsession and the perilous elasticity of academic boundaries.
Weisz is, unsurprisingly, superb. Her unnamed professor is brilliant, defensive, and intermittently delusional. As allegations and reputational crises swirl around her department, Weisz clings to the idea of Vladimir as both distraction and salvation. Weisz plays her as a woman who has convinced herself she’s the most self-aware person in the room, even as she makes increasingly questionable decisions. This is one of her most impressive performances.
Leo Woodall’s Vladimir is carefully calibrated. He’s charming without being warm, attentive without revealing too much. The show wisely resists turning him into a simple object of fantasy. The tension between the two characters derives less from what he does than from what she thinks he might do.
Created and written by Julia May Jonas herself, the series retains the novel’s razor-edged humour. Dialogue snaps with academic one-upmanship and barbed self-justification. There’s lots of talk about sex, sexuality, many lingering looks and some honest hot takes, such as smelling a sweaty man's armpit (as gross as it sounds, some ladies love it).
The half-hour format proves a smart choice. At eight episodes, the series moves briskly, allowing obsession to build incrementally rather than through melodramatic leaps. This quick pace means the tone never drifts too far into thriller territory. This is a psychological drama with a comedic aftertaste, not a potboiler.
The direct-to-camera is an interesting choice, as not many people/performances can pull this off, but Weisz does it with ease. Talking to the audience as if we’re her friend or therapist helps build character allegiance and gain insight into what she's actually feeling and thinking. It also helps differentiate between what's her fantasy and reality.
The supporting cast, John Slattery, Jessica Henwick, and Kayli Carter flesh out a campus ecosystem buzzing with rivalry and suppressed emotions. No one is purely innocent; everyone is nursing a grievance or a secret.
If Vladimir has a flaw, it’s that its central conceit risks repetition. Obsession, by nature, circles the same thoughts. There are stretches where viewers may long for a sharper narrative pivot or a deeper excavation of Vladimir himself. The series remains largely locked inside the professor’s perspective, which is dramatically coherent but occasionally limiting. With all the sexual tension building, audiences may wonder where the series is going and how it’s going to end. This can be both positive and negative. Positive, as it’ll keep you watching, negative, as you might become disengaged.
Above all, Vladimir is entertaining. It’s clever without being smug, provocative without resorting to cheap tricks. Rachel Weisz anchors the series with a performance that invites us to laugh, wince and worry in equal measure. By the final episode, you may not approve of her choices, but you’ll understand the seductive logic that led her there. And that, in a story about blurred boundaries, feels exactly right. A must-watch for fans of drama, with a side order of seduction.
All eight episodes of 'Vladimir' are available to watch on Netflix
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