Lust, obsession, narrative control — the stuff people swear they have handled right up until they don’t. Netflix has released the official trailer for “Vladimir,” an eight-episode limited series anchored by Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite,” “The Constant Gardener”) and based on the acclaimed novel by Julia May Jonas, who serves as creator, writer, and executive producer.
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The setup is a clean match for Jonas’ knife-edge interests: a passionate but reckless professor (played by Weisz) starts to unravel and becomes dangerously fixated on a magnetic new colleague (Leo Woodall), turning desire into a destabilizing force that blurs boundaries and pushes her toward ever-riskier choices—while the show’s key wrinkle is that she’s also shaping the story as she goes, an unreliable narrator whose version of events keeps shifting (“The narrative she tells isn’t always accurate…”), even as Julia May Jonas frames that obsession as a combustible, strangely generative rush: “It’s that feeling of being so full of creative energy because you have this lust or obsession for someone… how fun it is to want something,” she told Tudum, adding, “Her mind is going wild.”
The series co-stars Leo Woodall (“One Day”) and John Slattery (“Mad Men”), and the larger ensemble leans into a recognizably adult, character-forward register. Series regulars include Ellen Robertson and Jessica Henwick, with additional cast including Matt Walsh, Kayli Carter, Miriam Silverman, Mallori Johnson, Tattiawna Jones, and Louise Lambert.
Behind the camera, “Vladimir” is produced by 20th Television. Directing duties are split between Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (episodes 101 and 102), Francesca Gregorini (103, 106, 107), and Josephine Bornebusch (104, 105). The first two episodes are also directed by Harry Bradbeer (“Fleabag,” “Killing Eve”), who executive produces. Co-showrunners and executive producers Oren Uziel (“The Lost City,” “22 Jump Street”) and Steve Lightfoot (“Marvel’s The Punisher,” “Shantaram”) developed the series with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal.
If the logline sells provocation, the underlying promise is sharper: a smart, messy character study about the stories we tell to justify the damage we’re doing — to others, to ourselves, and to the life we’re actively setting on fire. “Vladimir” premieres on Netflix March 5. Watch the trailer below.
