Alicia Vikander shines in meta HBO series ‘Irma Vep’
03.06.2022 - 01:51
/ nypost.com
Alicia Vikander, is a clever satire of the entertainment industry … with a psychological bent. Premiering Monday, June 6 at 9 p.m., the series is mostly in English with some French subtitles.
It’s based on the 1996 film of the same name, which followed a film crew led by a volatile director remaking a 1915 French noir called “Les Vampires,” about a group of criminals including Irma Vep, who wore a black catsuit. The “Irma Vep” series has a similar premise, updated for modern times. Vikander stars as Mira, an American actress who’s on a press tour promoting “Doomsday,” a superhero movie in which she stars.
Her agent Zelda (Carrie Brownstein) wants her to continue doing more superhero fare, but Mira is disillusioned with her career. So, she opts to live in Paris to star in an artsy, Gothic remake of the French noir film “Les Vampires,” in which she’ll play Irma Vep, who she describes as “the evil muse of a criminal gang.” Mira is coming off of a breakup with her ex-assistant, Lori (Adria Arjona); meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend, an actor (Tom Sturridge), is also in Paris turning her personal life into a labyrinth.
Her director Rene Vidal (Vincent Macaigne) struggles with depression, and he wants to hew so closely to the original “Les Vampires” that many of his actors are having trouble parsing out their character’s motivations. Like all TV shows about making other shows or movies, “Irma Vep” is meta, and pokes fun at the absurdities of the entertainment industry. Aside from the surreal nature of seeing a famous actress, Vikander, play famous actress, Mira — deftly navigating interviews with the press onscreen (not unlike how Vikander herself does in real life) — “Irma Vep” also features scenes of actors discussing their
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