This Sexy, Irreverent Period Comedy Is Hands-Down the Best Thing on Netflix

At the heart of the story is Pampinea (Zosia Mamet at her very best), a—gasp—unmarried 28-year-old who is finally betrothed to a wealthy landowner; too bad that he inconveniently dies before she has a chance to actually meet him. She is trailed at all times by her impish servant Misia, played by cutest human alive, Saoirse-Monica Jackson. Then there’s the farcical Filomenia (Jessica Plummer) and Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), a noblewoman/handmaid duo who are constantly switching identities and doing the kind of bug-eyed physical comedy that would have played well on a Shakespearian stage. Next up is Panfilo (Karan Gill) and his young wife Neifile (Lou Gala), who boasts both a Jesus complex and some seriously unholy kinks. We round things out with man-child Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) and his sexy, opportunistic and mostly shirtless doctor Dioneo (Amar Chadha-Patel).

All of these characters descend on a perfectly manicured villa outside of Florence, hoping to escape “the pestilence” and maybe improve their social standing while they’re at it. The only hiccup? The villa’s owner has died, and his harried staff (helmed by the hilariously long-suffering Tony Hale) are struggling to keep operations in order. And, oh yeah, the Black Death is constantly, sometimes literally, knocking on the front door. (Somebody hires prostitutes. It doesn’t go well.)

What results is farcical and fun, with a deeply irreverent bent and modern sensibility. Aside from featuring an anachronistically diverse cast, series creator Kathleen Jordan allows her characters to speak with a mish-mash of modern and antiquated language, in both American and British accents, and the soundtrack features hard-rocking songs from Nine Inch Nails and The Pixies. All of which makes for a richies-behaving-badly vibe in tune with any of your favorite HBO show—most notably the aforementioned Lotus.

Each of the tight eight episodes had me guffawing loudly, but I also appreciated that the show moved from slapstick to grim to existential over its course. As the stakes get higher and the contagion closer, a mortal dread sets in…but a funny one, still mired in severed heads and social absurdities.

I’m not sure why more people aren’t buzzing about The Decameron, which dropped on Netflix in July, but I also like having it as my own little under-the-radar gem to share at dinner parties or in group texts. And I promise it’s not pandemic-y, if that’s not your thing. After all, this crew is way too horny for social distancing.