Netflix’s new steamy series follows a middle-aged professor who, at a particularly low time in her life, finds herself consumed by desire for her younger colleague. But is the show based on true events?
It’s been a steamy start to the year for Netflix, which kicked off 2026 with the return of Bridgerton for a fourth season. Just weeks after fans watched this season’s leads — Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) — ride off into the sunset, Netflix released another NSFW, binge-worthy drama: Vladimir.
According to Netflix’s Tudum, the series follows a middle-aged professor, M (Rachel Weisz), who, at a particularly low point in her life, becomes consumed by desire for her younger colleague (Leo Woodall). The show charts her vivid fantasies — each featuring the titular Vladimir — and how they begin to unravel her already complicated life and marriage.
“It’s like a heightened fairy tale,” Weisz, who also serves as an executive producer, told Tudum.
But what inspired Netflix’s latest drama? Read on to find out whether Vladimir is based on a true story.
The show follows a struggling professor who becomes obsessed with a colleague
Vladimir follows M, an unnamed protagonist throughout the series, a professor at a liberal arts college whose writing and teaching career has hit a dry spell. Inspiration is scarce, her capstone course is no longer as popular as it once was, and her daughter, Sid (Ellen Robertson), wants nothing to do with her. The same goes for her husband, John (John Slattery), a fellow professor at the college, with whom she has been in an open relationship for years leading up to the events of the series.
M’s life takes a darker turn when she learns that John has been accused of sexual assault. She then meets Vladimir, a young writer who joins the faculty alongside his wife, Cynthia (Jessica Henwick). M quickly becomes infatuated with him, and her obsession intensifies as the series progresses.
Amid John’s trial, M and Vladimir’s affair awakens a part of her life she thought she had long lost.
“Her fantasy is about the power of desire — the invigorating, stimulating, inspiring, and revivifying feeling that she gets from her obsession with Vlad,” Weisz told Tudum. “What it’s about is coming back to life in a certain way [after lying] dormant for some time.”
The series is based on Julia May Jonas’ 2022 novel
While Vladimir is not based on true events, it is an adaptation of Julia May Jonas’ 2022 novel of the same name.
Some elements of the series closely follow the source material, while others depart from the novel. According to Mirror UK, one of the biggest changes appears in the story’s ending.
In the novel, John, Vladimir and M have a long conversation at a cabin before Vladimir storms out and takes a boat onto the lake in the middle of the night. Later, the heaters M had used earlier catch fire, setting the cabin ablaze. Vladimir returns in time to pull both M and John to safety.
The novel continues beyond that moment. M suffers third-degree burns over about 20% of her body and spends time recovering in the hospital and rehabilitation. John also undergoes months of recovery. The couple later receives a settlement from the heater manufacturer and moves to Manhattan to start over. Meanwhile, Vladimir publishes a book inspired by his affair with an older woman.
The show takes a more ambiguous approach. In the series, it’s unclear whether the fire ever occurs. M leaves the cabin with a book in hand, leaving viewers to speculate about what happens to John and Vladimir.
Another difference involves Sid’s storyline. In the novel, she reveals she’s pregnant after a brief encounter with a man on a train, though she remains in her relationship with Alexis.
Vladimir is now streaming on Netflix.
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