A new show to fill the Succession-shaped hole in your heart
Kate Winslet turns her talents to political satire, new local drama Dark City is full of surprises and Alice Snedden is back with more bad news.
It’s been a bumper week for TV and movie releases, and after seeing an intriguing early trailer for Neon’s new HBO series The Regime, I’ve been looking forward to finding out what the heck the show was about. Kate Winslet playing a dictator who runs her cabinet meetings via Zoom while she’s having an ice bath? Mare of Easttown could never. There’s also the welcome return of Alice Snedden’s Bad News, and Calum Henderson has some excellent stand-up comedy recommendations for your weekend. Happy watching! / Tara Ward
Kate Winslet steals the show in HBO’s darkly comic The Regime
What’s this about?
The Regime is Neon’s dark new HBO political satire that stars Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Hugh Grant and Martha Shrimpton. It’s the latest in a series of memorable TV roles for Winslet, who plays Chancellor Elena Vernham, the authoritarian leader of a fictitious country somewhere in “Middle Europe”. Vernham rules with an intimidating iron fist, but she’s also a paranoid hypochondriac who hasn’t left the palace in years, and keeps the rotting corpse of her dead father in a glass coffin in the basement. So far, so normal.
Vernham lives in authoritarian Europe’s version of Premier House, and she’s convinced the run-down palace is making her sick. She hires a soldier known as “The Butcher” whose sole purpose is to walk in front of her holding a machine that reads moisture levels, and Corporal Zubak soon becomes Vernham’s unlikely confidant. As Zubak’s anti-authoritarian influence over the chancellor grows, Vernham’s grasp on power becomes more precarious.
This bleakly comedic six-part series takes place over one year as both the regime and Vernham begin to unravel. As well as Winslet, there’s plenty of other impressive talent involved in the show: it was created and written by Will Tracy (The Menu, Succession) and directed by New Zealander Jessica Hobbs (The Crown) and Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena).
What’s good?
First of all, The Regime is gorgeous. It’s like The Crown meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Grand Budapest Hotel, with rich colourful sets, a quirky vibe and a whole lot of well-dressed people desperate to cling on to whatever power they have. There’s also an uneasy air to every scene, which fits a show about a woman whose dead dad is slowly decaying several floors below where she sleeps.
Winslet, as you would expect, is fantastic. This is a very different role compared to her other HBO shows Mare of Easttown and Mildred Pierce, but she’s hugely charismatic as the messy and unpredictable autocrat. One minute Vernham is slapping Zabek for embarrassing her in public, the next she’s busting out a terrible rendition of Chicago’s ‘If You Leave me Now’ to a room full of international dignitaries. She’s an intriguing character, to say the least, and Winslet’s comedic performance elevates the show completely.
Like Succession, The Regime pokes fun at the ways power and ambition can corrupt people. I’m guessing that as the series unfolds and Vernham’s life starts to spin out of control, The Regime will lean in harder to being more of a dark, twisted drama, allowing Winslet to really shine.
What’s not so good?
The Regime is billed as a satire, but it’s not laugh out loud comedy. The humour here is dark but uneven, and I wasn’t always sure who the show was taking the piss out of. Sometimes there’s a welcome whiff of The Thick of It in scenes featuring Vernham’s staff and colleagues, who are equally repulsed and terrified by her. Maybe if there was more of a focus on the people at the whim of her ridiculous demands, the show’s satirical insights might have landed a little sharper and harder.
Verdict
If you’re a fan of quirky political satire or you thought Succession needed more scenes in damp European palaces, you’ll enjoy this. Despite the bumpy humour, it’s a beautifully made show and Winslet steals every scene she’s in.
The Regime streams on Neon.
Help us understand you better. Take The Spinoff survey and dive into a chance to win big – we're giving away three $400 Prezzy Cards.
Your insights matter, and as an independent media company, we value your feedback to enhance your experience. It's quick, anonymous, and your email is only for the prize draw.
Click here to take the survey.
Why you should watch: Alice Snedden’s Bad News Saves The World
Alice Snedden is back with more bad news, proving that not all heroes wear capes. The New Zealand comedian and star of Alice Snedden’s Bad News has a new two-part special titled Alice Snedden’s Bad News Saves the World, where she asks the big, scary questions: why does nobody seem to care that the world is ending? How will we all survive when everything falls apart? Is societal collapse inevitable, and can someone fix climate change in 20 minutes?
It’s a bleak topic, and Snedden knows it. “I had genuinely thought: it’s bad, but it’ll be fine. So then to hear that it’s bad and it won’t be fine was truly shocking to me,” she told The Spinoff. Thankfully, among the bad news are moments of levity and hope (including Snedden preparing for the apocalypse by training with the SAS), and a reminder that we can make a difference. “I’ve had all these emotions of complete and utter despair, but have now come right back around to: what can I control within my own little sphere of action? What can I be conscious of? How can I make an impact? Because it’s just not really an option to ignore it.”
Watch part one and part two of Alice Snedden’s Bad News Saves the World now. Made with the support of NZ on Air.
You might also like:
Looking for some laughs? The New Zealand International Comedy Festival has released its full line-up for May, while the Dunedin Fringe Festival kicks off on March 14 and includes performances from Eli Matthewson, James Mustapic, David Correos and Donna Brookbanks. Check out the full Dunedin Fringe programme here.
Why you should watch: Dark City (Neon)
Duncan Greive watched the first two episodes of new local drama Dark City and found it full of surprises. Based on the best-selling book by New Zealand writer Paul Cleave and starring Cohen Holloway and Chelsie Florence, Dark City follows a serial killer (Holloway) who hides in plain sight by working as a cleaner at the local police station. It’s a dark, stylish and unsettling piece of television, and Greive reckons Holloway gives an impressive performance as both the murderer and narrator of the series.
“He’s superb in (almost) every way,” Greive writes. “His skin is damp and mottled, his hair lank – physically he perfectly embodies the socially awkward, hyper-repressed Middleton, who works as a janitor at a police station and is thus privy to every beat of the futile investigation into the murders he’s been committing for two years. Holloway’s performance is brilliantly contained, he’s deferential to the point of servility, struggles to meet the cops’ eyes and is disgusted by the affection of his colleague Sally Galletly (a quietly compelling Dea Doglione).” Dark City is available to stream on Neon, and premieres on Sky Open in May.
More pop culture links from The Spinoff:
Check out all the new shows and movies to watch in this week’s new to streaming.
Former Breakfast presenter Matty McLean reveals how he nearly got arrested live on television in this week’s My Life in TV.
In music news, Alex Casey delves into why Blink-182 have pissed off the wrong city, and Gabi Lardies reviews Camp A Low Hum, the beloved indie music festival that recently returned after a 10-year hiatus.
I enjoyed this interview with New Zealand writer and director Roseanne Liang as she moves from one big Hollywood project to the next.
Ahead of the Oscars screening live on Disney+ on Monday from 11.30am NZT, we have the details on where to watch the nominated films (including Poor Things, which dropped on Disney+ yesterday).
Why you should watch: Guy Montgomery’s My Mind is Blowing Me Crazy (YouTube)
“The best things in life are free” is exactly the kind of dusty old aphorism I can imagine Guy Montgomery picking up, turning inside out and examining from every angle to reveal something funny about it that I’d never thought of before. It is also true when it comes to stand-up comedy specials these days – two of the last three great hours of comedy I’ve watched were free on YouTube*, and if this is the new stand-up comedy business model I absolutely love it. ‘My Mind is Blowing Me Crazy’ might be Guy Montgomery’s best and best-named show yet… watch it to find out who he stole the name from! (*Sam Campbell’s ‘Companion’ is the other YouTube one; Chris Fleming’s ‘Hell’ (not available to stream in New Zealand so I have to make do with recommending his Instagram) is the other.) / Calum Henderson
Before we pop off…
The white shirt Colin Firth wore in the scene when Mr Darcy dived into the pond in Pride and Prejudice just sold for an astonishing £25,000. The shirt was not dripping at the time of sale.
New drama Shōgun (Disney+) reached a whopping nine million views in six days, making it Disney’s number one scripted show premiere globally.
This is a fascinating long read about British casting director Nina Gold, whose every decision can make or break a TV show or film.
Ever wanted to live in a rotating house? Now’s your chance.
That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.
I’ve watched the first episode of The Regime and this review is spot on. But I’m left wondering why is the corporal so old? Is that normal for soldiers?