Satire is a delicate art. It requires intelligence, tact, irreverence and erudition, a sharp critical mind capable of self-deprecation, and a ruthless sense of punch. Often the attempts fall flat.
This is unfortunately the case with The Regime — a new miniseries from HBO in six episodes —, created by a specialist in the genre, Will Tracy, a screenwriter who nevertheless studied series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver And Successionin addition to writing the screenplay for the film The Menu (The menu2022), which starred Ralph Fiennes as a chef obsessed with culinary art performance.
Carried by a dazzling Kate Winslet, the series turns out to be overloaded, incapable of defining its tone or its subject, dipping into the absurd and the drama alternately, with the result that the humor falls flat, and that most characters struggle to reveal a humanity behind the caricature.
Winslet plays Elena Vernham, chancellor of the authoritarian regime of a fictional state located in the mountainous regions of central Europe. The maternalist reign of this trained physicist seduces the inhabitants of a country whose prosperous economy is based on the extraction of cobalt and sugar beets.
From the first episode, it is obvious that Elena is tormented by some sort of paranoid delusion. His demands and decision-making are unpredictable, based on his unexplained terror of fungal incursions and mold. To measure the humidity level in each room she sets foot in, the Chancellor retains the services of Corporal Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), dismissed from his post for having massacred demonstrators in a mine – which Elena seems to judge rather attractive.
Over the months – and episodes, which progress at a dizzying pace – these frumpy sociopaths will manipulate each other, make a series of dismaying decisions only to immediately change their minds, which will undermine the smooth running of the State and weaken the politician’s support, first among her advisors, then among her allies and voters.
The Regime therefore tends, through exaggeration, to denounce — nothing new under the sun — the ravages of autocracy on the people. However, the point is never substantiated beyond this observation. Elena — who aims to be a caricature of the authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin and the erratic and impulsive behavior of Donald Trump — shapes policies that are haphazard at best, without even being strategic for her personal fortune or her maintenance in power. The issues addressed – the strengthening of relations with China, agrarian reform – are mentioned without the scenario really succeeding in exposing the consequences.
Fortunately, there remains Kate Winslet, who offers a performance of such flamboyance that it alone justifies the existence of the series. Although none of her actions are supported by a motive, she manages to find the anchor that makes her character plausible and embodied. She is also supported by a high caliber supporting cast, led by the excellent Andrea Riseborough and the always charming Hugh Grant.