The Decameron (TV series) explained

The Decameron is an American medieval black comedy television series created by Kathleen Jordan. It was inspired by the 14th century Italian short-story collection The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. It was released on Netflix on July 25, 2024 to generally favorable reviews.

Premise

In 1348, as the Black Death ravages Florence, a group of nobles and their servants retreat to the countryside Villa Santa. As they attempt to wait out the plague in the hills of Tuscany with wine, merriment, and sex, the protagonists eventually must fight for their survival.

Cast

Main

• Amar Chadha-Patel as Dioneo, Tindaro's doctor. A handsome and cynical opportunist, Dioneo has convinced the gullible Tindaro of his prowess as a doctor, and is using his patient to access wealthy donors who may help him climb the social ladder.
• Leila Farzad as Stratilia, the villa's cook. Untrusting of nobles in general and largely sarcastic to her fellow servants, she is a practical and pragmatic voice in the chaos.
• Lou Gala as Neifile, Panfilo's intensely religious wife. A devout Catholic who believes God can personally hear her prayers, she has naively taken a vow of chastity despite her loving relationship with her husband, and struggles to contain her strong sexual desire for men.
• Karan Gill as Panfilo, Neifile's social-climbing husband. Cunning, manipulative and always looking for the chance to advance, he prefers the company of men but is nonetheless devoted to his wife.
• Tony Hale as Sirisco, steward of the villa. Loyal and hard-working, he struggles to keep up appearances in the midst of an intense crisis, but his neuroses begin to crack under the pressure.
• Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Misia, Pampinea's charming, optimistic and eternally loyal hand-maiden. A lesbian mourning the loss of her companion Parmena to the plague, her devotion to Pampinea is all she has, and seems to have no bounds.
• Zosia Mamet as Pampinea, a wealthy noblewoman arranged to be married to Leonardo, the owner of the villa. Endlessly vain, spoiled, and self-centered, she is convinced that Leonardo, whom she has never met, is her last chance at true love before she becomes an old maid at 28.
• Douggie McMeekin as Tindaro, the wealthiest guest at the villa, an oafish hypochondriac. Egotistical, naive, and obsessed with the history of warfare, he is distrustful of women but desperate for love.
• Jessica Plummer as Filomena, Leonardo's wealthy cousin, who has lost her entire family to the plague. Self-centered but pragmatic, she will do anything to secure her future.
• Tanya Reynolds as Licisca, Filomena's handmaid. Beaten down by life and cynical about the future, a surprising opportunity allows her to experience freedom for the first time in her life.

Recurring

• Alfredo Pea as Calandrino, a servant at the villa
• Giampiero de Concilio as Andreoli, a messenger
• Aston Wray as Jacopo, Stratilia's son
• Dustin Demri-Burns as Arriguccio, a friend of Sirisco
• Fares Fares as Ruggiero, a cousin of the viscount
• Tazmyn-May Gebbett as Parmena, Misia's love
• Reis Daniel as Stecchi, Ruggiero's friend
• Logan Wong as Bruno, Ruggiero's friend
• Davy Eduard King as Leonardo, Pampinea's betrothed
• Oleksandr Rudynsky as Eyeless Bandit

Production

In August 2022, Netflix announced that it had ordered a television series loosely inspired by the 14th-century short stories of The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. The series was created by showrunner Kathleen Jordan, and Jenji Kohan would executive produce with Jordan.  Michael Uppendahl was set to direct four of the eight episodes.  The cast was announced in December 2022, including Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Tony Hale, Douggie McMeekin, and Jessica Plummer.

Pre-production for the series began at the end of 2022. Filming began on January 10, 2023, with plans to continue through June.  Filming in Rome took place at the Cinecittà Studios, where the interiors of Villa Santa took up Stage 5, with additional portions of the villa utilizing Stage 4 and 11. Additional on-location filming also took place in locations throughout the province of Viterbo, such as the gardens of Castello Ruspoli and having the San Pellegrino quarter serve as 14th-century Florence by covering and hiding modern features such as gutters, cables, windows, and flues. 

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 69% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A broad spoof of the Black Death teeming with amusing performances, The Decamerons dark streak of humor can border on the flippant but makes for a pretty fun pestilential party."^[1] Metacritic gave the first season a weighted average score of 65 out of 100 based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[2]

Notes and References

1. tv . 1 . the_decameron_2024 . The Decameron . September 14, 2024.
2. tv. the-decameron. 1. The Decameron. September 14, 2024.