“The regime” is chaotic – but never boring
Published 2024-03-04 13.45
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full screen Kate Winslet in “The regime”. Photo: HBO.
TV REVIEW HBO’s “The regime” walks a shaky and messy balance between political satire and pure farce.
But taking your eyes off Kate Winslet’s bizarre autocrat is not an option.
The regime
HBO Max
Miniseries in six parts
Av Will Tracy, med bl a Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant, Louie Mynett, David Bamber, Danny Webb, Stanley Townsend.
POLITICAL SATIRE Kate Winslet in his third HBO series, flanked by, among others Andrea Riseborough, Hugh Grant and Martha Plimpton. Screenwriters and producers who have, among other things, “Succession”, “Veep” and “Last week tonight with John Oliver” on their CVs.
And in the director’s chairs: two-time Oscar nominee Stephen Frears and Jessica Hobbswho won an Emmy for his work on “The crown”.
Considering the pool of talent involved, “The Regime” isn’t quite all it could have been.
Still, this strange and entertaining series, which balances the line between sharply written political satire and absurd farce, is a fascinating experience. And much thanks to Winslet, who is priceless in the lead role.
She plays Elena Vernham. A narcissistic, hypochondriac dictator of a fictional Central European country, who is surrounded by yes-sayers in a palace best described as “dictator chic”, completely out of touch with the ground, and has such a serious father complex that she still talks to her father – even though he died a year ago and now lies rotting in a glass coffin.
She has thrown the leader of the opposition (Grant) in jail, married a French slipper hero (Guillaume Gallienne) and seized his hunched right hand Agnes (Riseborough)’s epileptic son (Louie Mynett), for lack of own children.
But discontent has begun to rumble in the kingdom. And when she meets the spoiled, unkempt soldier Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) – nicknamed “The Butcher” due to his excess of violence and soon to be Elena’s closest advisor and then some – the downward spiral spins faster and faster.
Which country or countries “The regime” could conceivably take place in, and which leader or leaders it is run with, is deliberately kept vague. Inspiration is said to have been drawn from several different sources both in the past and now, and thoughts go in different directions in different scenes. Many get a kick out of it, and the overall message – about power corrupting, the rise of autocracy in the world, geopolitical shenanigans and politicians who are ridiculous and dangerous at the same time – gets through.
But the satire is weaker than the acting. The series is chaotic and inconsistent in both tone and themes, and compared to the works of above all Armando Iannucci which are said to have served as role models, “The regime” stands quite easily.
But it is clearly temperamental. Even if you don’t always know exactly what you’re looking at.
“The regime” premieres on HBO Max on March 4.
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