The show's productuin is great - amazing acting, costumes and settings are beautiful and detailed, lighting and sound brilliant. It could have been absolutely fantastic, if it wasn't for the writing. I'm willing to give it a 7/10 despite of all of the loose threads, but only because those loose threads could be considered part of the illustration of how confusing and contradictory life in a personality cult can be.
A lot of dictators are satirised and I don't think we're meant to see it as simply about Nicolae Ceausescu (although strongly inspired by him and his wife, obviously). I see some references to Kim Il Sung, Enver Hoxha, Vladimir Putin, amongst others. It has obviously been written in a way that means that no real person fits perfectly into the picture of Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet).
It's unfortunate that the only characters that could be seen as any kind of protagonists - Agnes (Andrea Riseborough) and Oskar (Louie Mynett) are not given enough screentime. Leaving the fate of Oskar unknown is a weakness of the show, and so is the sudden death of Agnes.
The relationship between Elena and Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) would have been more plausible if it turned into something sexual earlier on, since there was definitely sexual tension right in the beginning. Instead, it doesn't develop in that direction until all tension has been lost.
The show moves quickly in a way that could be exciting, but instead just leaves you with a feeling of everything being rushed, and making very little sense, at least emotionally.
The scenes of Elena and Herbert fleeing is an exception, where it's easy to get caught up in the frustration of trying to make an obviously insane woman stop sabotaging everything. Her inability to grasp that she's not loved by everybody is her downfall. The writing of Elena's character is good and it's frustrating and annoying to watch how easily she is manipulated by anything that strokes her ego. Winslet plays the role very well. But in the end, this one character is the only part of the show that gets the attention it deserves, and without proper character development for the rest of the show, the result is lacking.
A lot of dictators are satirised and I don't think we're meant to see it as simply about Nicolae Ceausescu (although strongly inspired by him and his wife, obviously). I see some references to Kim Il Sung, Enver Hoxha, Vladimir Putin, amongst others. It has obviously been written in a way that means that no real person fits perfectly into the picture of Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet).
It's unfortunate that the only characters that could be seen as any kind of protagonists - Agnes (Andrea Riseborough) and Oskar (Louie Mynett) are not given enough screentime. Leaving the fate of Oskar unknown is a weakness of the show, and so is the sudden death of Agnes.
The relationship between Elena and Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) would have been more plausible if it turned into something sexual earlier on, since there was definitely sexual tension right in the beginning. Instead, it doesn't develop in that direction until all tension has been lost.
The show moves quickly in a way that could be exciting, but instead just leaves you with a feeling of everything being rushed, and making very little sense, at least emotionally.
The scenes of Elena and Herbert fleeing is an exception, where it's easy to get caught up in the frustration of trying to make an obviously insane woman stop sabotaging everything. Her inability to grasp that she's not loved by everybody is her downfall. The writing of Elena's character is good and it's frustrating and annoying to watch how easily she is manipulated by anything that strokes her ego. Winslet plays the role very well. But in the end, this one character is the only part of the show that gets the attention it deserves, and without proper character development for the rest of the show, the result is lacking.