Limited Series
8 episodes Jul 25, 2024 4.4
Overview
As the bubonic plague spreads through Italy, a group of nobles and servants retreats to a villa, where their lavish getaway quickly spirals into chaos.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 8 episodes
- First aired
- Jul 25, 2024
- Last aired
- Jul 25, 2024
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S1 E8 We’ve Had a Good Cry (Jul 25, 2024)
Cast
10 people
Reviews
5 min readPlague, Privilege, and the Bad Decisions We Keep Making
I kept thinking, while watching The Decameron, that the funniest thing about the plague is not the plague. It’s what people do when they imagine they’ve been spared. The series begins with death outside the walls and vanity inside them, and that’s a pretty old joke—Boccaccio was making it in the 14th century, and now Netflix has dressed it in ripe fruit, latestnetflix.com argues, linen, lust, and panic.
What’s surprising isn’t that the show updates the material. It’s how stubbornly it stays interested in the same old human reflex: give people a crisis and they’ll still find a way to make it about status, sex, and who gets the last decent seat at dinner.
What I like most about this series is that it doesn’t treat Boccaccio like a museum object. It knows the source text is already rude, slippery, and suspicious of authority. That makes the adaptation feel less like a prestige costume exercise and more like a modern group of comedians stumbling into a medieval satire they mostly understand, but not quite.
There’s a valuable difference there. A lot of period comedy polishes the mud off history until everyone looks like they’re in a perfume ad. The Decameron keeps the mess. People sweat.
They lie badly. They get horny at inconvenient times. The show’s version of civilization is only a few silver platters away from collapse, which feels about right.
Netflix’s eight-episode season arrives at a moment when “elite self-preservation under catastrophe” is no longer just a historical premise. That gives the series a little extra bite, though I’m not sure it always knows what to do with the comparison. Sometimes it lands on the right note—a joke about wealth as insulation, or a servant’s practical intelligence cutting through aristocratic nonsense—and sometimes it settles for broad farce when the situation would support something sharper.
Still, the core idea is strong enough to carry the show through its wobblier stretches: if the world is ending, some people will still try to manage appearances.
The direction, credited here to a rotating creative team rather than a single auteur signature, has the practical burden of maintaining tone across eight episodes. That’s not easy with material like this. Too much polish and the vulgarity goes dead.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNetflix’s The Decameron Serves Up a Wine-Soaked, 14th-Century Romp—But Not Everyone’s Drinking the Kool-Aid
Netflix’s latest period dramedy, The Decameron, has arrived with a star-studded cast, a medieval setting, and a promise of "summer naughtiness" 
. latestnetflix.com's read is that but while some viewers are raising their goblets in celebration, others are already airing grievances about the eight-episode series—proving that even a plague-era escape can’t please everyone.
A Star-Studded Escape from the Black Death
Set in 1348 Italy, The Decameron follows a group of nobles and servants who flee Florence to a countryside villa, hoping to outrun the bubonic plague. The ensemble cast includes Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds, Girls alum Zosia Mamet, Derry Girls’ Saoirse-Monica Jackson, and Veep’s Tony Hale, among others 
. Creator Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters) reimagines Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century short-story collection as a "medieval black comedy," blending farce with the grim backdrop of the Black Death .
The series has been billed as a "wine-soaked romp," with Reynolds and co-star Jessica Kate Plummer hyping its mix of humor and hedonism in interviews. "It’s the slice of summer naughtiness we all need," Plummer told Harper’s Bazaar . The show’s tone leans into absurdity, with characters scheming, seducing, and stumbling through their self-imposed quarantine—think Bridgerton meets The White Lotus, but with more codpieces and fewer yachts.
Viewers Split: Is It Brilliant or Just Baffling?
Early reactions have been divisive. Some Netflix subscribers are praising the show’s "unhinged" energy and "absurd" characters, calling it a refreshing twist on period dramas . Others, however, have lodged the same complaint: The Decameron’s tone whiplash is jarring. One common gripe? The series oscillates between bawdy comedy and darker themes, leaving audiences unsure whether to laugh or cringe .
The cast’s performances have drawn particular attention. Reynolds, fresh off her role as the chaotic Lily in Sex Education, is a standout, while Hale’s comedic chops (a Veep staple) add levity. But not all viewers are sold on the show’s balance of humor and historical dread. "It’s like if Monty Python directed a plague documentary," one critic quipped—though whether that’s a compliment or a dig remains unclear .
Behind the Scenes: A Multinational Production
Filmed in Italy with a multinational cast, The Decameron leans into its international flair. The series was shot on location, adding authenticity to its 14th-century setting . While details about the production process are scarce, the show’s creator, Kathleen Jordan, has previously spoken about her love for blending genres—something she’s clearly doubled down on here.
As for the cast’s chemistry, Reynolds and Plummer have gushed about their on-set dynamic. "We had so much fun, and the wine was definitely flowing," Plummer joked in an interview . Whether that wine was historically accurate (or just a modern perk) remains unconfirmed.
The Verdict: A Bold, If Uneven, Experiment
The Decameron isn’t your typical period drama. It’s messy, irreverent, and unapologetically raunchy—qualities that will either charm or alienate viewers. If you’re in the mood for a high-concept, low-stakes romp with a side of medieval debauchery, it might just hit the spot. But if you prefer your historical dramas with a side of gravitas, this might not be the plague-era escape for you.
One thing’s certain: The Decameron isn’t afraid to take risks. Whether it pays off depends entirely on how much absurdity you can stomach before the Black Death catches up.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.