New on Netflix: A quirky and hilarious medieval comedy…not recommended for under 16’s!

What is it about?

As the Black Death hits Florence in 1348, the series follows several noblemen who are invited to retreat with their servants to a grand villa in the Italian countryside and wait out the plague with a luxurious vacation.

But as social rules fade, what begins as a wine-soaked sexual adventure in the Tuscan hills turns into a battle for survival.

A new no-holds-barred irreverent comedy

Like My Lady Jane on Prime Video, which explores the tragic fate of a historical figure in a modern, comic and magical way, the new Netflix series, released online today, takes on similar terrain.

We are indebted to showrunner Kathleen Jordan, who has already signed on for the excellent Teenage Bounty Hunters. Entitled The Decameron, this zany and strange historical-drama fiction is loosely inspired by Boccaccio’s 14th-century collection of stories of the same name, which had already been adapted for the big screen by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1971.

The Decameron is part of an increasingly studied genre: historical costume series with modernized anachronism, humor and a touch of cheekiness, such as Dickinson on Apple TV+, The Great late on Starzplay, Bridgerton on Netflix and recently My Lady Jane on Prime Video.

With a colorful and wacky cast of dignitaries and servants who take refuge in a kind of orgy of sex and drunkenness in a pandemic shelter, the series is like a rock-n-soap role and a satire that goes from party to gore. A class struggle, with a soothing pop soundtrack and a refreshingly theatrical tone.

Fans of the series will find familiar faces in the cast, such as Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls), Zosia Mamet (Girls), Tanya Reynolds (Lily in Sex Education), Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep), Leila Farzad (Black Mirror) or Amar Chada-Patel (Wheel of Time, Willow).

With its irreverent humor worthy of the best British comedies, its burlesque intrigue, crass dialogue and trashy twists, The Decameron is a sort of Game of Thrones version of a reality TV show with a touch of awkwardness. The office that will make you laugh for 8 hours.

The series “The Decameron” is available on Netflix.