CANNES, FRANCE: 'The Idol' has garnered a lot of negative responses after its first two episodes premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, May 22. The HBO series, created by The Weekend, Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, has been lambasted by critics for its graphic sex scenes and too much nudity.
Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd star in the controversial show, which was the first TV show to be screened at the Grand Theatre Lumiere at the annual event in France. According to a synopsis from the producers, the show follows the story of "rising pop idol" Jocelyn (Depp) as she starts a "complicated relationship" with Tedros (The Weeknd), "a leader of a modern-day cult" and nightclub manager.
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'Torture porn'
Even before its release on June 5, Rolling Stone called it "torture porn" and also detailed a series of troubles amid production. 'The Idol' received a five-minute standing ovation after its Cannes premiere but has also been hit by a slew of underwhelming reviews.
'More regresive than transgressive'
The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye described 'The Idol' to be "more regressive than transgressive." The reviewer slammed HBO for marketing the series only based on sex-fuelled debauchery, advertising it from the "sick and twisted minds" of 'Euphoria' creator Levinson and The Weeknd. The outlet also described the show as "an older, even more stylized version" of Season 2 of 'Euphoria'. The reviewer mentioned a scene where a music executive argued with a director to "stop c***blocking America," saying it "puts a metaphorical hand up at incoming haters." "Some of them have momentum, others are contradictory and most of them are confusing," the review read, adding, "It makes you wonder if in trying so hard to be transgressive, the show ultimately becomes regressive."
"Rarely does a scene go by without the camera showing flashes of her [Depp] breasts or a**. You start to wonder if this is building to anything, and by episode two it seems likely that it's probably not," the review further continued. According to the report, Jocelyn tells an associate she likes Tedros' "rapey" vibes in one scene. The review further said, "There's a strenuousness to the sex scenes between Depp and Tesfaye that kills any sense of eroticism."
The critic, however, noted that the series "shows glimmers of potential when it stops trying so hard to be shocking."
'The Idol' left Cannes 'scandalized'
Variety also detailed some of the "controversial" sex scenes in the show, claiming that 'The Idol' had "scandalized" Cannes at its premiere. "Revenge porn photos of bodily fluids on Depp's face, masturbation with ice cubes, nightclub-owning scam artists and vile Hollywood sycophants populated the first two episodes of the already-controversial series," critics Matt Donnelly and Zack Sharf wrote.
Deadline slams Cannes for airing show
Deadline also slammed Cannes for being "attention-grabbing" by airing an HBO show at the film festival. Damon Wise wrote, "In a case of life imitating art, the crazy scenes surrounding the premiere would not have been out of place on the screen in a story that, at least as far as anyone could tell, is a satire on the sensation-saturated world of contemporary pop culture, where good is bad and bad is the bare minimum."
Wise went on to describe the series as "one part giallo, one part erotic thriller and thus two parts Brian De Palma," while comparing it to Charles Manson. "Could there be a clue in Nikki's assertion that Jocelyn's look is 'a little Sharon Tate' and the fact that Tedros has assembled a loose family of misfits as he tries to break into the music industry?" he asked.
