It's 1348, the black plague is hitting hard the city of Florence and a group of nobles retreat with their servants to a majestic villa in the Italian countryside to enjoy a splendid vacation while they wait for the epidemic to end. What starts as a sexual frenzy fueled by wine degrades into a fight for survival. That's the premise of The Decameron, the new Netflix series.

Kathleen Jordan, who was inspired very freely by the famous collection of tales written by Giovanni Boccaccio, explores in this "dark comedy telenovela-style" of eight episodes the very current theme of class struggle in times of pandemic, thus returning the viewer to quarantine times like they had never seen before. 

The idea behind the adaptation

First published in Italy in the mid-14th century, The Decameron narrates the story of a group of nobles and their servants who take refuge in the grand Villa Santa, on the outskirts of Florence, while the black plague wreaks havoc in 1348.

To pass the time, they take turns to tell witty and unrestrained stories. The series has a similar premise, but with a twist reminiscent of Lord of the Flies: as time passes and social norms are depleted, the orgy of wealth and liquor turns into a fight for survival. 

The project's germ arose from the desire to explore themes of class disparity. "In times of crisis, the gap between the haves and the have-nots grows larger," explains Jordan. "Obviously, that is something we have seen in recent years, particularly with COVID," the creator told Netflix's Tudum. 

But not everything is black plague in Villa Santa. Jessica Plummer, who plays the noble Filomena, compared the antics and nonsense of the series to a very popular reality show in the United States. "Think of Love Island, but in medieval times," she says. "Lots of drama, lots of sex, lots of madness."

Front and behind the cameras

Given the tone of the project, actors with a talent for comedy were chosen for the cast, such as Tony Hale (Veep, Being the Ricardos), Zosia Mamet (The Flight Attendant, Girls) and Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls) among others. 

The Decameron is produced by Jenji Kohan's company (GLOW, Orange Is the New Black), Tilted Productions. Michael Uppendahl, who has worked on series like Ratched and American Crime Story, is behind the camera directing the episodes.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence