‘The Decameron’ Season 1 Review – A Series With A Self-Imposed Banality

The Decameron is one of the more tedious adaptations in recent memory. Not only is the series unfunny and misses the mark on so many jokes that are equivalent to low-hanging fruit, but it also completely fumbles the concept with today’s modern triggers. For one, it reminds us how the working class had to work and wait out our modern pandemic while others’ privileges helped them survive.

And all of this is meant to be funny. Yet, The Decameron’s final product comes across as exploitive and opportunistic, with a jaw-dropping lack of wit that is infectious. This Netflix series tries to cover up so many platitudes with little self-awareness, poor use of contextual humor, and a grating level of exaggeration as if they were filming a poor imitation of a Mel Brooks comedy.

Loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century Italian short stories of the same name, Netflix’s adaptation is an American medieval black comedy about a group of people trying to wait out the Black Death ravaging 1348 Florence. The source material should work perfectly if viewed through today’s lens. However, these characters act as they normally would on any ordinary day, which we know is simply untrue, as life has never been the same.

The story follows three men and seven women as Visconte Leonardo invites them to the Villa Santa. It’s hard to imagine a cast this recognizable would read the scripts and not pull a Gob and say to themselves, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” You’ll recognize several comic actors, including Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, Amar Chadha-Patel, Tanya Reynolds, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, and Karan Gill.

Netflix’s The Decameron underwhelmingly attempts to tell a classic tale that feels almost like a spoof of Boccaccio’s original work. In fact, it goes out of its way to avoid subverting our expectations. The execution is practically a crime of anachronism, with characters behaving as if they were living today, completely unaffected by their historical circumstances.

The stories are unoriginal, lack depth, and exhibit a type of high-brow banality that makes the viewer tediously restless. Additionally, the fact that we are still living with COVID-19. In fact, most don’t know at least one person dies from the infectious disease each week. This adds to the series’ failure to show respect for our current situation. While it is acceptable to take creative liberties, the adaptation never finds the heart or respect for contemplative themes that Kathleen Jordan’s version completely forgets.

Many will forgive The Decameron. A majority of critics who need access to interviews for social media purposes will forgive most actors for anything. Then there are the crows that will be praising the visual style of the series because of the medium and the love of the medieval era. However, don’t be fooled.

This adaptation lacks interesting characters and humor, and the only thing in common with the classic work is the title.

The Decameron is available to stream on Netflix. 

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