Euphoria has already secured its place in the Gen Z camp pantheon, but the new trailer for The Idol takes the genre up a notch to a Showgirls-level masterclass of failed seriousness.
The limited HBO series stars Lily-Rose Depp, The Weeknd, Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Kim, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennott, Hari Nef, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Mike Dean, and tellingly, Elizabeth Berkley.
BLACKPINK’s Jennie flew in between tour dates for the Cannes premiere, where she looked lovely in various Chanel confections.
She told WWD of her first big acting role,
It’s overwhelming, but I’m grateful and thankful. All of those things at the same time. Especially as it’s the first step in my acting career, I was honored to be able to come…
It definitely was a challenge, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was like, breaking a wall for me.“
The troubled production has been buzzed about for months, and now the reviews are coming in. I wasn’t the only one who caught the Showgirls vibe.
Peter Debruge of Variety says,
One could argue there’s something revolutionary in the way Levinson depicts female sexuality — although the cast of “Showgirls” would probably beg to differ. Whereas that project all but ended Elizabeth Berkley’s career, “The Idol” positions Depp as a fearless performer. Her barely-there wardrobe and hyper-erotic choreography push back on the kind of celebrity sex shaming blasted by docs such as “Framing Britney Spears” and “Janet Jackson.” But Levinson takes things too far in the other direction, getting kinky anytime Jocelyn and Tedros are together.
The script (overhauled by Levinson, Reza Fahim and The Weeknd after an earlier, Amy Seimetz-helmed version was scrapped) seems calculated to fool audiences into thinking they’re observing how Hollywood operates, when so much of it amounts to tawdry clichés lifted from Sidney Sheldon novels and softcore porn. “Showgirls” at least was a thinly veiled “All About Eve” remake, whereas “The Idol” plays like a sordid male fantasy.
Watch.
Image: YouTube / The Weeknd
