What's the Offbeat Series with Kate Winslet All About?

© HBO

Three years after the brilliant Mare of Easttown series, Kate Winslet makes a long-awaited return to the small screen in the highly anticipated The Regime. Spanning six episodes, HBO's miniseries narrates the downfall of a modern authoritarian regime led by the formidable Chancellor Elena Vernham, who becomes increasingly unstable. A delightful series with a satirical touch that feels more real than fiction.

In The Regime, everything is crafted to draw parallels with past dictatorships during the USSR era, particularly with Russia under Vladimir Putin. While the story unfolds in an unnamed fictional Eastern European country, deliberate references to arbitrary arrests, uprisings, conspiracies, disappearances, and suspicious murders echo the daily life of the dictator aiming to create a "new Europe." All this, without forgetting to post a story of her army invading a neighboring country...

Released exactly two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Regime is, above all, a comedy laden with dark humor to be taken with a grain of salt: absurd situations, extravagances, and excessive characters are all part of the package. It's a tale of exaggeration and decadence, complemented by the folk music composed by the maestro Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water), whisking us away to Eastern Europe, much like the sumptuous palace settings reminiscent of Versailles and the Kremlin.

Undoubtedly, Kate Winslet keeps the series afloat. Paranoiac and hypochondriac, her character Elena Verham doesn't shy away from getting her hands dirty to cling to power. Yet, she elicits more laughter than fear, especially when she navigates the palace corridors in a hermetic throne to protect herself from potential bacteria.

The frightening element is assured by Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone). The Belgian actor portrays the uncontrollable soldier Herbet Zubak and confidant of the despot, mainly serving as a foil. The ultimate joy comes with the inclusion of Guillaume Gallienne (Guillaume et les garçons à table), theatrically brilliant in the role of the "First Gentleman" who follows his wife like a loyal puppy. The result: an iconic scene during Christmas wishes... Each of his appearances delights and is worth a look. Pssst... Hugh Grant makes an appearance, but we won't spoil his role for you!

An episode available every Monday on the Warner Pass via Prime Video starting March 4.

When a series featuring Nicole Kidman is released, it's bound to be a success. Following the incredible hits Big Little Lies, The Undoing, and Nine Perfect Strangers, the Australian actress returns to the small screen in Expats, created by Lulu Wang. The mini-series, available on Prime Video from January 26, focuses on the lives of three American expatriates in Hong Kong who are connected by a tragedy. Gripping.

It all begins at the birthday party of Clarke (Brian Tee), a wealthy American businessman who has migrated to Hong Kong for work, bringing along his wife Margaret (Nicole Kidman) and children to live in a golden bubble filled with wealth, social events, luxurious apartments, and employees at their service. Despite this seemingly happy event, a shadow looms over this seemingly perfect family.

Why is Margaret depressed on that night? What happened that made her want to rent an apartment to be alone, away from her husband and two children? As for her friend Hilary Starr (Sarayu Blue), also the wife of a wealthy expat, they no longer speak. Not to mention the presence of Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), a young American-Korean who came to China after her studies, disrupting the lives of these two women. The reason behind these tensions? The disappearance of Gus, Clarke and Margaret's youngest son.

This tragedy is at the heart of Expats, a series adapted from the successful book The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. However, the drama becomes a pretext to portray these three broken women. Regardless of one's wealth, another's poverty, their skin color, or education, each must endure the terrible consequences. We passionately follow the lives of these women as they try to rebuild despite the guilt and grief that consume them.

Dazzling, Nicole Kidman grips the audience in her role as a mother struggling to recover from the unthinkable, taking us into her grief without succumbing to pathos. But she is not the only star of this series. Facing her, Sarayu Blue, a familiar face on the small screen in the United States (Never Have I Ever), embraces her character Hillary, who tries to regain control of her marriage in the face of infidelity, under the guise of a conflict-ridden relationship with her parents and questioning her desire for motherhood. This series dares to show both the immeasurable grief of a mother and a woman who believes it's better not to have children, without judging either character for their choices and actions.

Finally, Ji-young Yoo (The Sky Is Everywhere), a rising star in Hollywood cinema, completes this radiant trio: inscrutable and perplexing, she is undoubtedly the most intriguing character in the story. Is she hungry for wealth, or is she simply searching for her place in this world? The 24-year-old actress skillfully leads us through her turmoil.

While the series relies on its three strong women, other destinies are only briefly touched upon. Among them: a wealthy friend of Hillary planning to leave her husband, Mercy's only and best friend, and especially the housemaids who often make appearances. Unfortunately, the series does not provide answers about these secondary characters who deserved more spotlight. It would have been fascinating to explore these employees—all women—serving as caregivers, cooks, and housekeepers, becoming, for some, mothers to the children they care for and substitute mothers for their employers.

Central characters in the series, they are the counterbalance to the wealthy expats: coming from other Asian countries, penniless, hoping for better-paying jobs. Leaving behind their families and children, they sacrifice their lives to be with a new "family." The entire ensemble of these women is worth exploring in this series that will mark the beginning of the year.

Expats, one episode available every Friday on Prime Video starting January 26.

Courtesy of Prime Video - Amazon MGM Studios

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