{"id":373400,"date":"2026-03-07T22:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T22:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/373400\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T22:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T22:34:17","slug":"vladimir-creator-unpacks-the-netflix-shows-ambiguous-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/373400\/","title":{"rendered":"Vladimir Creator Unpacks the Netflix Show’s Ambiguous Ending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This story contains spoilers from \u201cVladimir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s \u201cVladimir\u201d<\/a> reaches quite the fever pitch in its final episodes, and that is even before the fire breaks out.<\/p>\n

In her desperate desire to finally have her sexual fantasies of co-worker Vladimir (Leo Woodall<\/a>) fulfilled, the show\u2019s unnamed protagonist (Rachel Weisz<\/a>) takes him out for a birthday lunch that quickly spirals into something much, much more deeper. Taking advantage of every opportunity she can find, Weisz\u2019s \u201cM\u201d eventually leads Woodall\u2019s unsuspecting, married writer back to her cabin retreat. There, she gets him drunk and \u2014 in one of the series\u2019 most shocking moments \u2014 drugs him and chains his passed-out, half-naked body to a chair.<\/p>\n

Lest viewers think otherwise, author Julia May Jonas, who wrote the book \u201cVladimir\u201d is based on and created its Netflix<\/a> adaptation, told TheWrap Weisz\u2019s character really is just \u201cmaking it up as she goes along\u201d throughout the show\u2019s final two episodes. \u201cWhat I\u2019m always interested in exploring is impulsivity,\u201d Jonas explained. \u201cI am really drawn to characters who make impulsive choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Vladimir\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote it as a series of escalating wins and losses on [M\u2019s] part,\u201d the writer said of the trip that ends with Woodall\u2019s Vladimir chained to a chair. \u201cThat all is feeding into her desperation of, like, \u2018All I want is for him not to go. I just don\u2019t want this moment to be over. I just don\u2019t want this story to end.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

After she\u2019s drugged him, Weisz\u2019s character texts Vladimir\u2019s wife (Jessica Henwick) from his phone demanding some space. When he wakes up the next day and discovers the message, he realizes his older co-worker\u2019s attraction to him. Later that night, after some awkward fumbling, the two sleep together. Weisz\u2019s tenured professor uses the encounter to finish her developing novel \u2014 just in time for her husband John (John Slattery<\/a>) to show up at the cabin.<\/p>\n

And that is where things get even stranger.<\/p>\n

\"RachelRachel Weisz in \u201cVladimir\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

First, John reveals that his \u201caffair\u201d with Henwick\u2019s Cynthia, which Weisz\u2019s M used to help propel Woodall\u2019s Vladimir into her arms, is nothing more than a mutually beneficial friendship. That information does not deter Vladimir from groping Weisz\u2019s protagonist again and telling her he wants their affair to continue on a weekly basis because she \u201cinspires\u201d him. Despite longing for him all series, Weisz\u2019s character reacts coldly to that remark.<\/p>\n

Later that night, viewers watch a fire break out in the cabin and Weisz\u2019s character abandon both John and Vladimir to be engulfed in flames in favor of saving both herself and the notepads containing her latest, just-completed novel. It is unclear whether or not \u201cVladimir\u201d is showing us reality or the scripted ending of its heroine\u2019s book. The series offers no clarity, either. Instead, it concludes with its protagonist watching from a distance as her cabin goes up in flames.<\/p>\n

Weisz\u2019s M assures viewers, \u201cDon\u2019t worry. I call 911. Everybody gets out.\u201d As the cabin continues to burn, however, she turns to address the camera one final time, asking with a smirk, \u201cYou don\u2019t believe me?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\""The\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Reflecting on the series\u2019 deliciously ambiguous ending, Jonas told TheWrap, \u201cI wanted it to sizzle. I wanted it to make you go, \u2018Whoa,\u2019 but also leave you questioning. I think the whole show is really about questioning yourself. Is this right? Is this wrong? Should she be doing this? Should she not be doing this? So it felt like leaving it on this note of ambiguity of, \u2018Wait, did that happen?,\u2019 was the right lift off for the end of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, something just feels right in your body when you\u2019re watching it,\u201d Jonas said of seeing Weisz\u2019s character framed by the image of her burning cabin. <\/p>\n

Below, the \u201cVladimir\u201d creator discusses the show\u2019s origins further, as well as its visualization of the female gaze and why Weisz was the perfect actress to play its fourth-wall-breaking narrator.<\/p>\n

\"Vladimir\"Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in \u201cVladimir\u201d (Photo Credit: Netflix)<\/p>\n

TheWrap: When did you first start to think about adapting your own book? How did that start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Julia May Jonas:<\/strong> This was my first novel. When I published it, naturally books go out to be optioned. With this, everyone assumed I would adapt it, and I just didn\u2019t end up correcting them. [Laughs] So it wasn\u2019t something where I had to [pitch it]. It just was assumed, and we went forth accordingly.<\/p>\n

Why a limited series instead of, say, a movie or ongoing show?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas: <\/strong>I could have seen it as a movie. But it was exciting for me to work with [executive producer] Sharon Horgan and people who had experience with TV. We ended up landing at Netflix, and that was how we developed it. So it became a limited series mostly because I was excited about the collaborators [that presented], and I just wouldn\u2019t want it to be a multi-season project.<\/p>\n

What was the most difficult part of the adaptation process for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas:<\/strong> The major challenge with adapting it, and it wasn\u2019t difficult in a bad way, was really asking myself, \u201cWhat is the work that needs to be done?\u201d The book is really quite internal. You\u2019re spending a ton of time with what the narrator thinks, and there\u2019s very little action. There\u2019s action in the beginning, and then we skip a bunch of steps and then there\u2019s action again at the end. How do we turn that into this limited series and keep intensifying the things that are happening for the main character?<\/p>\n

How do we make that internal conflict both this visual thing and also present it to the audience? Obviously, we did that somewhat through direct address, but the challenge really was, \u201cHow do we get inside her in this way that we really feel with her this entire time? And how do we make it very clear that we\u2019re looking at this world through her view?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RachelRachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in \u201cVladimir\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

Obviously, a huge part of the show is lust and physical attraction. What conversations did you have with the show\u2019s directors about how you wanted that communicated visually?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas:<\/strong> I felt very lucky in that, in the meetings I had with the directors, they immediately talked about lust \u2014 about what it would look like to have a female gaze and how they wanted to capture that. I think that\u2019s one of the main things that people really grabbed onto in the story. So it really was a conversation of, \u201cLet\u2019s try and play with the idea of the female gaze.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that in mind, were there any shows or movies you held onto as a personal reference while you were making \u201cVladimir\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas:<\/strong> I used to talk a lot about \u201cThe Age of Innocence.\u201d That was the one I would talk about the most, particularly the lushness of it. That movie is made for my comedic taste. I think it is actually a very funny movie, and then there\u2019s all the opera, the flowers, the longing, the food! It\u2019s such a powerful movie. It is one of my favorites, so I did bring that up a lot to people, to the directors and my collaborators, as we were talking about it. I really wanted the show to feel lush in that way, and Rachel and I talked about her character feeling like a heroine in an Edith Wharton novel. Unfortunately, she has to live in the present moment, but what she wants to be is this Edith Wharton heroine. [Laughs]<\/p>\n

\"vladimir-rachel-weisz-john-slattery-netflix\"Rachel Weisz and John Slattery in \u201cVladimir.\u201d (Netflix)<\/p>\n

Rachel does feel like the perfect fit for this character and this show. How did her name initially come up, and what was it like collaborating with her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas:<\/strong> When Netflix said they would be interested in having her star, I was like, \u201cWho do I want to talk to me more than Rachel Weisz?\u201d That was pretty much it! I couldn\u2019t think of any other actor that I had the same kind of excitement about having her address me directly in that way, and she was just a really incredible collaborator. She has so much integrity about how to perform, which doesn\u2019t necessarily translate into over-discussing the material.<\/p>\n

It translates into her just deeply knowing when something is right and isn\u2019t right, you know? So if she would say, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like this line works,\u201d I would know that meant I needed to look at it again. I would know that the moment could be more truthful to the character, more in line with her character. The fact that she is also so beautiful and yet still able to pull off being so enamored by Leo speaks, I think, to what an incredible performer she is.<\/p>\n

She and John Slattery are the kind of duo who just make sense on screen. What was it like watching them together?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonas:<\/strong> I think something both Rachel and John knew from the beginning was, \u201cNo matter what our lines say, what has to be clear from the beginning is there is a kind of love in this relationship. There\u2019s a history here and we\u2019re going to approach the relationship from that perspective.\u201d I\u2019ve always seen them as these kind of intellectual equals. You can see the mutual respect they have for each other, but you can also see at points the hurt they\u2019ve caused each other and, obviously, John\u2019s character has done some very, very difficult things. He takes her for granted, but I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s complex.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it\u2019s hard to talk about Rachel\u2019s character because you can\u2019t pin her down. I think their characters\u2019 relationship is similar. It\u2019s complicated, and I think both Rachel and John, as actors, approached that with a lot of integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cVladimir\u201d is streaming now on Netflix.<\/p>\n

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