Tmuch ado about nothing (unless you belong to Generation Y or Generation Z…) The first two episodes of are all a déjà-vu The Idolthe highly anticipated Hbo series (for the curious on Sky – e streaming on Now – from 5 June) presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. The premises were good: a protagonist like Lily-Rose Depp – heir to the fame of (ex) cursed by her father Johnny – and, among the creators, the Sam Levinson of Euphoria. Extreme care also in the choice of actors for minor roles, the assistant is the Rachel Sennott of Shiva Babythe journalist Hari Nef of Transparent. Sin.
Nervous breakdown
But let’s get to the point. Lily-Rose is Jocelyne, a pop star recovering from a nervous breakdown – which lasted several months – after the death of her mother from cancer.
In the first scene we see her alternate – during a photo shoot – the sad-happy-sexy-inspired expression in front of a photographer’s lens (yes, if you can think of the beginning of Triangle of Sadness is correct), under the supervision of that new Hollywood figure who is theprivacy coordinator (Verify that the nudity rate offered to the target is consensual), while his team (Jane Adams, Hank Azaria and Eli Roth, very good) plans her comeback in a big way, including a video where she sings and dances “like Britney,” they explain (Spears, of course: it’s her story that inspired the screenplay). Is a star (re)born?
Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd in “The Idol”.
Revenge porn
After the shooting, to also recover from an embarrassing photo ended up on the net (and so, homage to the times, there is also a hint of revenge porn), the pop star goes to celebrate with her assistant and a dancer friend in a club (and here the models are really too many to mention, maybe Levinson has even seen Mektoub, my love of Kechiche): the dark owner is Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfayewith a more “chubby” than sulphurous face (but give us back Lenny Kravitz, or at least John David Washington!).
One look is enough and it’s hormone unleashed (the boomers would call it “at first sight”). The following evening they meet again in her villa, and erotic games start between 50 shades of Grey and Here is the empire of the senses (that yes shocked Cannes, it was the year 1976: look for it, it can be found in streaming).
A case of manipulation
Lily-Rose Depp in “The Idol”.
“The Weeknd” convinces her that she can perform with more soul than she does, causing a new psycho-physical breakdown (we see her with bleeding feet – why on earth? – like a dancer from The black Swan) and the break with the record companies, which he is about to take over by moving permanently to his mansion in the hills of Los Angeles with his pianist and his singer of reference. And here comes a scene alla Bling Ringsdirected by Sofia Coppola (but in 2013…).
basic instinct
Lily-Rose Depp, The Weeknd and Sam Levinson on the red carpet.
How will this story of seduction-manipulation-attempted redemption-cursing end? A TV series with a tumultuous gestation (according to rumors, at first judged macho in the hypersensitive Hollywwod post #MeToo, then with an overly feminist turn that would have led The Weeknd to complain…).
We will have to wait for the other episodes of The Idol on Sky. But in the second there is already a clue: Lily-Rose looks on the giant screen of the house basic instinct... Mhmmm, there is unlikely to be a happy ending…
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