The Decameron has finally been released on Netflix with a star-studded cast. Based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection, The Decameron is a black comedy that sees a group of nobles escape the bubonic plague ravaging 1348 Florence and reside at Visconte Leonardo’s Italian countryside oasis.
Created by Kathleen Jordan, the plot synopsis from Netflix reads: “You are cordially invited to a wine-soaked sex romp set in the Italian countryside. The Decameron is a soapy dark comedy that examines the all-too-timely theme of class struggles in the season of a pandemic.
“In the year 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence, and a handful of nobles retreat with their servants to a grand villa to wait out the plague with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, a scramble for survival ensues, brought to life by a cast of characters both cunning and outrageous.”
Fans can expect eight episodes between 45 to 60 minutes each. The Decameron will see its cast scramble to survive the plague, threats from bandits and each other with their cunning and careful planning.
The series boasts a stellar line-up including Tanya Reynolds of Sex Education fame as Licisca, Tony Hale from Arrested Development playing Sirisco, and Derry Girls' Saoirse-Monica Jackson in the role of Misia.
The cast also features Jessica Plummer, formerly of EastEnders, Zosia Mamet from Girls, alongside Leila Farzad, Amar Chadha-Patel, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, and Douggie McMeekin.
Kathleen Jordan, the creator behind The Decameron adaptation, confessed she made significant alterations to the medieval anthology "When I read The Decameron, I realised its stories are not necessarily fit for television.
"They're like short little horny tales. But I loved the armature and skeleton of the stories, this idea of a group of wealthy people who think that they can escape a pandemic."
The Netflix version infuses modern risque comedy into the narrative, which is only "loosely inspired" by the source material. Kathleen further remarked: "As we took it to the writer's room and it became its own thing, I think our characters ended up being much more dimensional."
She highlighted the creative approach, noting, "Even though we weren't faithful to the book, we were really interested in using history to understand what day-to-day life was like and the practical realities of living in 1348"
All episodes of The Decameron are available to watch from Thursday, July 25 on Netflix.
