Last Updated on August 2, 2024 by
The Decameron is a 2024 TV series created by Kathleen Jordan. The film stars Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Zosia Mamet, and Tony Hale. Theater release on July 25, 2024.
For those of us who were lucky enough to earn liberal arts degrees, especially literature degrees, the title will probably be familiar as a reference to a collection of short stories penned in the 14th century by Giovanni Boccaccio that depicts a group of men and women who have fled Florence to avoid the Black Plague. During their drama, each of the participants details his or her experience, thus contributing ten stories (the word “Megaera” comes from the Greek words for “ten” and “day”. There have been countless stage and screen adaptations of the Decameron. However, most of them, including the modern black comedy, The Little Hours (2017), take only a single chapter or page from the book rather than the whole of Boccaccio’s work. Despite being slightly less faithful to the source material in terms of structure, Netflix’s take on The Decameron is equally as preoccupied with the pervading themes of repression, hedonism, wantonness, and despair that comes with loneliness and delivers one of the best black comedies of the year so far.
What is the theme of ‘The Decameron’?
This is the case in 1348, when the ‘Black Death’ was spreading in the streets of Florence and only affected the lower class. While the aristocrats are confined in their homes, they do all they can to avoid the sickness. First, all the characters appear doomed to meet dreadful fates until the enigmatic lord Leonardo invites eight nobles and their servants to attend a party at his country estate, Villa Santa. For the rich Pampinea (Zosia Mamet) it is a chance to meet her fiancé for the first time after the engagement, and for the faithful servant Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) it is a challenge to think about own life outside of serving her mistress.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is the servant Licisca, played by Tanya Reynolds, who sees this journey to Villa Santa as an opportunity to come out and change her life and be a completely different person from what she is; there is Filomena, played by Jessica Plummer, who doesn’t know who she is apart from the fact that she belongs to the wealthy class.
As soon as Leonardo’s guests arrive, they all get to look at each other. Single though Rich noble Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) is, he turns out to be quite creepy by just being a hypochondriac and an incel – that’s, an involuntarily celibate man – who blames women for not letting him marry. As to whether Tindaro’s health obsession is genuine or caused by doctor Dioneo’s (Amar Chadha-Patel) seductive treatments, which appear to worsen his condition rather than improve it, remains ambiguous. Completing the invited are a married couple, Neifile (Lou Gala) and Panfilo (Karan Gill), who are no longer erotically involved with each other but are also in a much more wholesome state; Neifile battles between her purity and her sinful thoughts as well as Panfilo who continues to cheat on his wife.
While the guests do not get a warm welcome since Leonardo is not there to greet them personally, they are welcomed into Villa Santa by Sirisco (Tony Hale), the funniest butler one could ever have, and the serious-headed maidservant, Stratilia (Leila Farzad) who has no tolerance for aristocratic airs. At first, Villa Santa looks like a great place where all the main characters can isolate themselves from everyone and wait for the plague to retreat. Still, the author uses isolation as a tool to show that after a certain time, the guests start to shed their socially assigned roles and implications. On the other hand, the villa provides the group with only limited shelter from the rest of the world. As inside resources are depleted, the question about whether letting the people outside in or, in this case, Leonardo’s particularly handsome scoundrel of a cousin, Ruggiero Fares, portrayed by Fares Fares from The Wheel of Time, can be dangerous is raised.
Given the premise of the show, it would not be unreasonable to expect that a series about the bubonic plague would occasionally get heavier at times. As The Decameron is claimed to be a dark comedy series, it does not lack or try to hide either aspect of its genre; it equally releases humor and tragedy with force when necessary. Of course, as the season unfolds and the tension goes on, there is much more disaster, which means more losses. However, The Decameron also does not glamorize the dangerous and secluded environment that this party of nobles is in; instead, the series accommodates humor in darkness, which prevents the series from becoming too hopeless. The show also has a terrific energy that is brilliantly backed up by the tracks from Sparks and Depeche Mode.
Most significantly, The Decameron seems very relevant as a pandemic show for our now; it mirrors the feelings of being locked up, and through physical isolation, the characters are compelled to contemplate themselves and their relations with others. Just a few months ago, most of us were in lockdown, unable to see each other, and that period must have given people a lot of time to ponder what kind of people they wanted to become. Netflix’s The Decameron may be telling a story far removed from the 21st century. Still, there is much more simmering below the surface of what appears to be a filthy and outrageous house party comedy, with some Episodes giving into actual trials, pain, and triumph in a world fundamentally altered by a pandemic.
The Decameron 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
The Decameron is Rated TV-MA by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA)
Sex & Nudity: Real love-making scenes, sex and nudity of actors. Sexual activities and sex are featured in the show by characters.
Violence & Gore: A few violent scenes, for example, what the Black Plague does to people. There may be possibilities of showing wounds on the characters and the chance of showing blood, too. Profanity: Use of vulgar language and obscene words.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Some of the scene depicted are alcohol, and people are depicted as indulging themselves in sinful pleasures. Some scenes portray smoking and the probable use of drugs.
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