The Regime – Season 1 Review
I’m kind of conflicted about this one to be honest. The acting and production quality of The Regime was great, but it has a consistent theme of self-harm that can be uncomfortable to watch. The main characters were also very difficult to like, although I’m pretty sure that was done on purpose.
Plot
The Regime is about corrupt Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) and her struggles for power in the midst of a twisted relationship with Corporal Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts).
Elena is a selfish and narcissistic leader, who has inherited an Autocracy after the death of her father. The exact country she’s leading is unclear and likely an amalgamation of real life European countries.
Elena is suffering from mycophobia that is encouraged by those around her. In a world of power struggles a weakness makes someone that much easier to exploit after all. She is obsessed with mold and “poison” being in the walls of the castle and is petrified that she might become sick and die of lung cancer like her father. Because of this, the castle is constantly being re-treated for mold and she has an escort holding a hygrometer to tell her the humidity levels of every room she enters. Another weird quirk is no one is allowed to breathe in her direction. She has some serious problems and needs some intense therapy, but she’s not the only one.
Corporal Herbert Zubak has had a dark and violent life, and he regularly inflicts harm upon himself because he believes he deserves it. He was the first to begin shooting during a protest at one of the cobalt mines their country is valued for, and many miners were slaughtered as a result. The disgraced soldiers who handled the incident are called “butchers” and hated by most common people around the country. Well, this butcher got a lucky break and was relocated to the palace to be Chancellor Elena’s official hygrometer holder, a position with an extremely high rate of attrition. He lasts for a couple days before Elena fires him, but they soon become close again and Zubak begins “healing” her with folk treatments.
Gradually Elena and Zubak become closer, and he influences her isolationist policy. Zubak also wants to implement land reform, taking vast amounts of land owned by the nation’s oligarchs and giving it back to the people. This is not a very popular idea with Elina’s corrupt council (wonder why), and Elena instead decides to annex the “Faban Corridor” against the wishes of NATO.
I’m not going to go into any more specifics because I don’t want to spoil the end for you, but the series revolves around Elena and Zubak as Elena struggles with political relationships and ultimately fallout as her life and control over the country are threatened.
My Thoughts
The Regime was an interesting series, but it contained a lot of self-harm so if that’s something you might be sensitive to this isn’t the show for you. It did a great job of portraying a megalomaniac and how carefully those around them must tread. It also hits on people’s greed for power and how they will tell you anything to get it.
The series is about darkness and corruption in leadership and what happens when you treat the people so insignificantly that they revolt. It’s also about the outside powers that are oh so happy to “help” a regime stay in power… puppet governments and all that.
If you’re curious check out The Regime on Max! Don’t forget the snacks!
