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The Idol (TV Miniseries)

The Idol

2023

Sam Levinson (Creator), Reza Fahim (Creator) ...

Lily-Rose Depp, The Weeknd, Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan ...

4.6

1,297

TV Series. Drama TV Series (2023). 1 Season. 5 Episodes. After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn's last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros, a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?

	Media	Author	Review
		Therese Lacson Collider	"Levinson's version of 'The Idol' is sex-obsessed, shallow, and oftentimes painfully predictable, at least as of the first two episodes."
		Robbie Collin Telegraph	"[It] makes Showgirls look like a masterpiece (...) Rating: ★ (out of 5)"
		Kelly Lawler USA Today	"It is a hopeless try-hard, and worse, it's painfully dull (...) Rating: ★ (out of 4)"
		Lovia Gyarkye The Hollywood Reporter	"More regressive than transgressive (...) 'The Idol' shows glimmers of potential when it stops trying so hard to be shocking"
		Rebecca Nicholson The Guardian	"[It] is desperate to be edgy – but ends up feeling boring and, well, unsexy (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Robert Daniels The Playlist	"It’s crude, gross, and sexist (...) The message stands as a failed attempt at being transgressive, as is the series’ ropey dialogue."
		Damon Wise Deadline	"'The Idol' is one part giallo, one part erotic thriller and thus two parts Brian De Palma (...) However it turns out, Depp is quite rivetingly game with, to put it mildly, a highly sexualized performance"
		Radheyan Simonpillai The Globe and Mail	"It's downright queasy how Levinson continues to make content, which purports to be about how women are preyed upon, about himself (...) Rating: ★ (out of 4)"
		Peter Debruge Variety	"Plays like a sordid male fantasy (...) Slick and expensive looking, but smarmy as anything HBO has ever produced, the five-part series could be a softcore, female-focused inversion of the network's long-running 'Entourage.'"
		Lopa K The Review Geek	"A soft porn music video parading around with a 'Euphoria' aesthetic (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 10)"
		David Fear Rolling Stone	"[It] is more toxic and way worse than you’ve heard"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"So much cringe in 'The Idol', from the dumb dialogue to The Weeknd’s bad acting"
		Rory Doherty Paste Magazine	"Too much glitter, not enough gold"
		Jo-Ann Titmarsh London Evening Standard	"The Weeknd’s troubled series is even more troubling in its depiction of women. This sleazy attempt at satire frequently veers into soft porn (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"Levinson's whole deal is not for everyone -and often not for me- but 'The Idol' offers up enough regular old entertainment to balance out his aggressive flourish and the bluster of his thematic ambitions"
		Ben Travers IndieWire	"We've seen countless movies and shows about how exploitative the music industry can be, and despite having an actual pop star driving the show, the series is in desperate need of specifics"
		Alex Maidy JoBlo	"There is enough talent involved in The Idol that it would be virtually impossible for this series to fail completely"
		Lex Briscuso Mashable	"The way it captures the sickness of the fame machine will stay with you long after the credits roll"
		Jason Gorber rogerebert.com	"Unfortunately, Tesfaye is pretty terrible on screen, flat and aimless"
		Joel Keller Decider	"The chemistry [Depp and Tesfaye are] supposed to have with each other feels more like smoking kindling than a brush fire"
		Ed Potton The Times	"Lily-Rose Depp is superb (...) There's an authentic and chilling lack of worthiness in the way #MeToo and mental health are tackled (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Brian Lowry CNN	"Despite endeavoring to feel provocative, 'The Idol' mostly traffics in limp clichés and very, very stilted performances"
		Graeme Guttmann Screen Rant	"'The Idol' is boring —there's an intriguing story underneath, but it's buried by vanity and superficiality"

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