''Irma Vep'' is a

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

television

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

created, written and directed by

Olivier Assayas Olivier Assayas (born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs and French comedies. His work has become synonymous with the ...

for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. Based on Assayas's 1996 film of the same name, the series premiered at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

on May 22. It debuted on June 6, 2022 and concluded on July 25, consisting of eight episodes. It stars

Alicia Vikander Alicia Amanda Vikander (, ; born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, as well as receiving nominations for ...

as Mira, an American movie star who comes to France to star as Irma Vep in a television series adaptation of the French silent film serial ''

Les Vampires ''Les Vampires'' is a 1915–16 French silent crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora and Marcel Lévesque. The main characters are a journalist and his friend who become involv ...

'', and

Vincent Macaigne Vincent Macaigne (born 19 October 1978) is a French actor, theatre director and film director. He is also a screenwriter and playwright. Life and career Macaigne was raised in Paris, the son of a French businessman and an Iranian-born painter. H ...

as René, the director of the adaptation. It also features an ensemble supporting cast, including

Adria Arjona Adria Arjona Torres (born April 25, 1992) is an actress based in the United States. She played Dorothy Gale in the Oz book adaptation ''Emerald City'' (2017), Anathema Device in the TV adaptation of ''Good Omens'' (2019), and Bix Caleen in '' ...

Byron Bowers Byron Bowers is an American comedian,Rao, Mallik''Huffington Post''. June 18, 2015 writer and actor. Byron has appeared on ''The Eric Andre Show'' on Adult Swim, Comedy Central's '' Adam DeVine's House Party'', and on the reboot of BET's ''Comi ...

Jeanne Balibar Jeanne Balibar (born 13 April 1968) is a French actress and singer. Life and career Balibar was born in Paris, the daughter of Marxist philosopher Étienne Balibar and physicist Françoise Balibar. She started her career as a student in th ...

Vincent Lacoste Vincent Lacoste (born 3 July 1993) is a French actor. He began his acting career at the age of fifteen, playing the lead role of Hervé in the film ''The French Kissers''. The role won him the Lumières Award for Most Promising Actor and a nomin ...

Nora Hamzawi Nora Hamzawi (born 29 April 1983) is a French humorist, comedian, and columnist. Biography Nora Hamzawi is of Syrian origin by her mother. She was born in Cannes and grew up in Paris. After obtaining a baccalauréat, she enrolled in law school ...

Hippolyte Girardot Hippolyte Girardot (born Frédéric Girardot; 10 October 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He is the father of actress Ana Girardot. Selected filmography * 1973: '' La Femme de Jean'', directed by Yannick Bellon, Rémi ...

, Devon Ross,

Alex Descas Alex Descas (born 1958) is a French actor known for his roles in films by Claire Denis and Jim Jarmusch. In France he is also known for his role as Schneider in the French TV series ''Un Flic''. He is a frequent collaborator of Claire Denis, app ...

Antoine Reinartz Antoine Reinartz (; born 1985) is a French actor. Theater Selected filmography References External links * 1985 births Living people French male film actors {{France-actor-stub ...

, and

Lars Eidinger Lars Eidinger (; born 21 January 1976) is a German actor. Eidinger started his career at Deutsches Theater in 1997. Before his breakthrough, he played minor roles in German television shows like ''Schloss Einstein'' (2002) and '' Berlin, Berlin ...

. ''Irma Vep'' received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised Vikander's performance and Assayas's direction.

Premise

''Irma Vep'' revolves around Mira, an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup, who comes to France to star as Irma Vep in a television series adaptation of the French silent film serial ''

''. Set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge.

Cast

Starring

as Mira Harberg, a Swedish-born American actress keen to change the direction of her career and shake off a recent tabloid scandal. Vikander also portrays

Musidora Jeanne Roques (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1957), known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, and writer. She is best known for her acting in silent films, and rose to public attention for roles in the Louis ...

during flashback scenes. *

as René Vidal, the director of the television series whose history of

anxiety disorders Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal function are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physi ...

, incoherent artistic vision, and constant clashes with the cast, crew and producers all threaten to derail the project. Macaigne also portrays

Louis Feuillade Louis Feuillade (; 19 February 1873 – 25 February 1925) was a French filmmaker of the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924, he directed over 630 films. He is primarily known for the crime serials ''Fantômas'', ''Les Vampires'' and ''Judex'' ...

during flashback scenes.

Recurring co-stars

as Laurie, Mira's ex-assistant and ex-girlfriend. After things did not end well with Mira, she married Herman. *

as Herman Ray, a Hollywood filmmaker who is in Paris to promote his latest film *

as Zoe, a costume designer. She supplies drugs to Gottfried and is attracted to Mira. *

as Edmond Lagrange, a French actor hired to play Philippe Guérande *

as Carla, assistant director. Hamzawi also portrays Feuillade's assistant during flashback scenes. *

as Robert Danjou, a French actor hired to play the Grand Vampire. Girardot also portrays Jean Ayme during a flashback scene in the fifth episode. * Devon Ross as Regina, a cinephile and Mira's assistant *

as Grégory Desormeaux, a producer. Descas is reprising his role from the 1996 movie. *

Antoine Reinartz Antoine Reinartz (; born 1985) is a French actor. Theater Selected filmography References External links * 1985 births Living people French male film actors {{France-actor-stub ...

as Jérémie, a camera operator *

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus ...

as Zelda, Mira's agent. She is not interested in the ''Vampires'' project and does not accept that Mira is uninterested in playing the girlfriend in the upcoming "

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

" movie, despite Mira's repeated refusal of the role. *

as Gottfried, a drug-addicted German actor hired to play Juan-José Moréno. Eidinger also portrays

Fernand Herrmann Fernand Herrmann (21 February 1886 – April 1925) was a French silent film actor. He starred in some 26 films between 1914 and 1925. He appeared in films such as the Louis Feuillade-directed ''Les Vampires'' serial that ran in installments f ...

during a flashback scene in the sixth episode. *

Tom Sturridge Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge is an English actor. His early films include ''Being Julia'' (2004), ''Like Minds'' (2006), and ''The Boat That Rocked'' (2009). He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ...

as Eamonn, Mira's ex-boyfriend. He's in Paris for a movie, and they have not seen each other since they broke up. *

Fala Chen Fala Chen (; born 24 February 1982) is a Chinese American actress. She is known for her roles in Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' and HBO miniseries ''Irma Vep'' and ''The Undoing''. Che ...

as Cynthia Keng, a rising star from Hong Kong hired by René Vidal to play Irma Vep's provocative accomplice and part of the Vampires' plans. *

Pascal Greggory Pascal Greggory (born 8 September 1954) is a French people, French actor. Personal life Greggory is openly gay. He had long-term relationships with Patrice Chéreau and François-Marie Banier. Filmography * ''Les Sœurs Brontë'' (1979) by Andr ...

as Gautier Parcheminerie, a man who is financing the series so that Mira agrees to work on a campaign for his cosmetics brand *

Dominique Reymond Dominique Reymond (born 12 February 1957) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than seventy films since 1984. She has been to the Geneva Conservatory. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reymond, D ...

as René's therapist

Other co-stars

* Sigrid Bouaziz as Séverine, A French actress hired to play Marfa Koutiloff, and Edmond's ex-girlfriend *

Vivian Wu Vivian Wu ( Wu Junmei; ; born February 5, 1967) is a Chinese-American actress.Chen Nan ''China Daily'', 27 April 2007. Her big break came in 1987, appearing in the biographical film '' The Last Emperor''. She later went to starring in films '' ...

as Jade Lee, René's ex-wife who played Irma Vep in its previous remake. Archival footage of

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and in ...

from the 1996 movie is used when Jade appears as Irma. * Lou Lampros as Galatée, an aspiring actress hired to play Jeanne Brémontier. Lampros also portrays

Louise Lagrange Louise Lagrange (19 August 1898 – 28 February 1979) was a French film actress. Lagrange was born in Oran, French Algeria, and had a film career spanning from 1907 through 1951. Beginning her career as a child actor before the First World War, ...

during a flashback scene in the eighth episode. Additionally,

Valérie Bonneton Valérie Bonneton (born 5 April 1970) is a French stage, film and television actress. Life and career Valérie Bonneton was born in Somain, Nord department. Her father was an insurance salesman and her mother a housewife. She grew up in nei ...

portrays Mira's French PR, Élizabeth Mazev appears as

in an interview from 1947, while Jean-Luc Vincent portrays the host.

Denis Podalydès Denis Podalydès (born 22 April 1963) is a French actor and scriptwriter of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was entered into the 2001 Can ...

appears as the Police Prefect during a flashback scene, Maya Persaud plays Sandra, a member of the production, and

Jérôme Commandeur Jérôme Commandeur (born 12 April 1976) is a French actor and director. Filmography Radio * 2014-2016 : ''Les pieds dans le plat'' on Europe 1 Television * 2017 : Host of the 42nd César Awards The 42nd César Awards ceremony, presented b ...

portrays Angus, a production executive. Alexandre Steiger plays Jules, an actor portraying Mazamette, while Stefan Bohne appears as Thor, a bondage consultant on the series, Mélodie Richard as Aurélia, an actress portraying Augustine, and

Maud Wyler Maud Wyler (born 14 December 1982) is a French actress. She appeared in more than thirty films since 2009. Selected filmography References External links * 1982 births Living people French film actresses 21st-century French actres ...

as Rebekah, an actress portraying Mme D'Alba. Also appearing are

Nathalie Richard Nathalie Richard (born 6 January 1963) is a French actress. Richard was born in Paris, France. She received the Prix Michel Simon film prize for most promising actress/actor for her role in the 1988 Jacques Rivette film '' Gang of Four''. Fi ...

as Ondine, Calypso Valois as Edmond's Girlfriend,

Maya Sansa Maya Sansa (born 25 September 1975) is an Italian actress. Early life and career Maya Sansa was born in Rome the daughter of an Iranian father and an Italian mother. When she was 14, she started to study acting at her high school in Rome the " ...

as Grégory's wife,

Jess Liaudin Jess Liaudin (born 21 December 1973) is a retired French professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and film actor. A professional MMA competitor from 1990 until 2014, he competed for UFC, Pancrase, Cage Rage, and King of the Cage. Backgrou ...

as the actor portraying Satanas, Bertrand Pazos as

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follow ...

, and Laurent Papot as

Albert Willemetz Albert Willemetz (14 February 1887 – 7 October 1964) was a French libretto, librettist. Career Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style. He was the author of more than 3000 ...

. French comic Panayotis Pascot cameo as a young executive, and Aude Pépin as the voice of René's wife.

Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Acad ...

appears in the eighth episode as Lianna, a famous pop star and Eamonn's girlfriend who recently suffered a miscarriage.

Episodes

Production

Assayas started developing the miniseries in May 2020 as a loose adaptation of the film, with it being officially ordered by HBO in December 2020 and to be written and directed by Assayas.

Casting

In December 2020,

was announced to have been cast in the leading role.

, Jerrod Carmichael,

and Devon Ross were cast in July. In August,

and

were cast, with Sturridge replacing Carmichael who had to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts. In November, several new roles were announced, including

and

Antoine Reinartz Antoine Reinartz (; born 1985) is a French actor. Theater Selected filmography References External links * 1985 births Living people French male film actors {{France-actor-stub ...

, with Macaigne cast as the director of the film and the rest of the announced as cast and crew. In an Interview with ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

revealed that she was cast in a small part.

Filming

Principal photography began on June 14, 2021 in

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

, mostly in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and its suburbs, and took place over one hundred days. Some of the locations used by the production include the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

, the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

, the

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

, and the

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

Music

The song playing during the opening credits is

Mdou Moctar Mahamadou Souleymane (born c. 16 August 1984 or 1986), known professionally as Mdou Moctar (also M.dou Mouktar), is a Tuareg songwriter and musician based in Agadez, Niger, who performs modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music. His musi ...

's "Ya Habibti". Additional music throughout the first episode is from Jonny Easton's "Follow The Light" album.

Costumes

Jürgen Doering created the costumes for the series while

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

's creative director

Nicolas Ghesquière Nicolas Ghesquière (; born 9 May 1971) is a French-Belgian fashion designer who has been the women's creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton (owned by LVMH) since 2013. Early life Ghesquière was born in Comines, Nord, the younger of ...

is the designer behind Irma Vep's costume.

Release

The series premiered on June 6, 2022, on

in the United States. It also streams on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

. In France, episodes premiere on OCS's streaming service the morning after the American broadcast then aired on OCS City on the evening. Unlike many series that alternate dialogue in French and in another language, the production decided to not dub the English-language scenes in French for the French broadcast.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 95%, based on 57 reviews with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Catnip for cinephiles and a welcome spotlight for the spellbinding Alicia Vikander, ''Irma Vep'' is a worthwhile expansion of writer-director Olivier Assayas' cinematic opus". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a score of 84 out of 100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Following its premiere at the

75th Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

, Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' described the series as "loose and intellectually loopy, broad and jokey one moment and wallowing in sad self-absorption the next" and found Vikander's performance "wonderfully light and open". In his review for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', Daniel D'Addario commended Vikander's performance, concluding: "If big-budget moviemaking is a prison, then Vikander-as-Mira, sylphlike and darting, is going to wiggle out between the bars." David Cote of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' graded it with an "A" and praised Assayas's direction, writing "It's a masterful handling of visual vocabularies, arguably the most sophisticated serial moviemaking HBO has ever produced". 's Brian Tallerico called it a "smart, twisting look behind-the-scenes, and a reminder that Olivier Assayas is one of the best alive today in the filmmaking business, and apparently TV too". In his review for ''The Ringer'', Adam Nayman wrote, "The pleasures of a show like ''Irma Vep'' lie in its relentless cleverness and post-modern sophistication—the way it flaunts its own intelligence and frame of reference", praising the characters and direction.

References

External links

* * {{HBONetwork Shows 2022 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings 2020s American drama television miniseries 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s American LGBT-related television series 2022 French television series debuts 2022 French television series endings 2020s French television miniseries 2020s French comedy television series 2020s French drama television series French comedy-drama television series French LGBT-related television shows Bisexuality-related television series English-language television shows French-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television series about filmmaking Television shows filmed in Paris Television shows filmed in France Television shows set in Paris Television series created by Olivier Assayas Television series by A24 Television series by Home Box Office HBO original programming Metafictional television series