DUBAI: English actress Kate Winslet more than earned her stripes in TV drama when the HBO miniseries “Mare of Easttown” was released two years ago. Playing a small-town detective, however, Winslet — in her bid to deliver a disappear-into-character performance — had to tone down her big-screen star wattage.
In her latest HBO series, “The Regime,” which is available to stream on OSN in the Middle East, Winslet dials up her expansive and bold charisma to an 11, this time playing a corrupt and temperamental dictator of an imploding Central European nation.
“The Regime” follows a year in the life and career of Chancellor Elena Vernham, who is celebrating her seventh year after ousting the previous chancellor, Edward Keplinger (Hugh Grant in a guest role).
Reeling from the death of her father from a lung disease, Elena is increasingly paranoid about her health and turns to the aid of Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a disgraced and volatile soldier whose recent bloody acts at a miners’ protest has earned him the title of “The Butcher.”
Elena hires Zubak to be her moisture-measurer, a guard dog-like position that entails carrying a hygrometer to check the humidity levels of each room as she enters it. As the relationship between Elena and Zubak becomes more convoluted and interdependent, the tiny country is thrown into disarray.
The show belongs to Winslet as much as she belongs to it. From the opening scene, the English actress is totally convincing as Chancellor Elena. Whether it is her drooping pout, which gets more pronounced when she is petulant or demanding, or her commanding gait and posture, Winslet physically and mentally embodies her character.
Creator Will Tracy, who worked on “The Menu” and award-winning HBO series “Succession,” is no stranger to satire. Here, however, he eschews any real-world parallels of authoritarian regimes and, instead, focuses on the idiosyncrasies and more mundane details of an individual ruler.
The result is a more unhinged, laugh-out-loud-funny take, which may not be what viewers expect from a prestige show, but definitely makes for entertaining viewing.
