U.S.-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks begin in Abu Dhabi as Netflix’s Vladimir releases

U.S.-mediated talks on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine began in Abu Dhabi, while Netflix released Vladimir, the psychological drama starring Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, in the same weekend stretch of news.

The screen story is Vladimir, an American limited series adapted by Julia May Jonas from her own 2022 novel. Digit announced the new psychological drama for release this March and said it is not a usual campus story; Mint placed the much-awaited OTT drop in the weekend release window and again described Weisz as an Oscar-winning actress.

The diplomatic thread around the talks

The Hindu identified the meeting as U.S.-mediated and aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. ThePrint reported Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s assessment that he was pleased with messages from U.S. envoys on diplomatic efforts to end the war. The Wall Street Journal’s emphasis was on friction inside the diplomatic approach, saying the U.S. overture to Russia on European security has sparked alarm. In that set of reports, The Hindu supplies the venue and mediation, ThePrint supplies the Ukrainian reading, and the WSJ supplies the anxiety attached to the European security opening.

What Netflix’s Vladimir is

Indiatimes said the show zeroes in on a middle-aged English professor who is never named and is referred to only as M, played by Rachel Weisz. Yahoo described M as an author and professor who has been combating writer’s block for the last two decades. Decider noted that on paper the premise sounds straightforward. The Hindu’s review framed the setting as the rarefied world of academia, and further still the highbrow, navel-gazing fishbowl of an English department. Those details matter because the series is built around one unnamed woman’s frustration rather than a conventional campus plot.

Obsession, fire and the changed finale

Deadline’s trailer coverage calls Weisz a woman obsessed and quotes her opening lines: “It’s come to my attention that I’ve just lost the ability to captivate. It’s like my husband, my students even my daughter, my entire personhood… useless.” TheWrap review asks what being horny does to us and calls that question core to stories from the tragedy of Oedipus Rex to A Court of Thorns and Roses. TheWrap also said Vladimir reaches a fever pitch in its final episodes even before the fire breaks out, and reported creator Julia May Jonas saying she wanted the ambiguous ending to sizzle. Yahoo reported that the finale almost ended differently before it changed. Digital Spy grouped Vladimir with Succession, The White Lotus and Industry as part of a sub-genre about terrible people being terrible. Decider frames the open question bluntly: do Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall ever actually have sex?

The critical split

TheWrap’s review credits Rachel Weisz with saving Netflix’s flawed exploration of horniness. The Hindu called Vladimir stupendous, sexy and smart. Digital Spy predicted that viewers will still be drawn in. The concrete detail left for the audience is whether M and Woodall’s character ever cross the line the show keeps circling.