Vladimir: this new Netflix thriller is All Fours meets Babygirl, and we can’t wait

It’s taken a while, but the world has finally cottoned on that women in midlife are horny. They are complex, desiring and passionate, and they want to see that reflected on screen and in what they read and listen to. 

Pop culture phenomena like All Fours (by Miranda July), Dying For Sex (starring Michelle Williams) and Babygirl (starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson) have all captured the power of desire viscerally, and now it’s time to get excited about Netflix’s new thriller Vladimir. 

This provocative series stars Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) in a series described, deliciously, as full of “sexy secrets, dark humour and complex characters… Vladimir is about what happens when a woman is hell-bent on turning her fantasies into reality”. 

Want more details? Of course you do…

What can we expect from Vladimir? 

Everything! Not least, all-encompassing desire, shifting sexual politics and dark secrets. Based on Julia May Jonas’s bestselling debut novel, it’s the story of an unnamed, middle-aged professor (played by Weisz), whose once illustrious career is stalling and she no longer feels desired. “She’s relatable because of her insecurities about ageing,” says Jonas, “and her fear is that as you grow into an older woman, you’re asked to want less, take up less space, be more of service.” And after years of an open marriage with her husband, her relationship isn’t thriving – and her husband is facing charges of non-consensual relationships.

But when a new colleague, Vlad (Woodall), joins the college, it awakens something in our protagonist (and the series is told entirely from her (potentially unreliable) point of view), and she falls into an all-consuming infatuation, determined to make her fantasies a reality. 

In case you’re wondering about the title? It’s a smart flip on novels like Lolita, where the male protagonist is obsessed with a young woman. 

Who stars in Vladimir?

Alongside Weisz and Woodall are John Slattery (Mad Men) as the protagonist’s husband and a fellow writer and professor, and Jessica Henwick (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) as Vladimir’s wife. Weisz is also an exec-producer of the series alongside Sharon Horgan.  

When can I watch Vladimir? 

There’s not long to wait: the eight-part series will be available on Netflix from 5 March. 

Images: Netflix