The new HBO series The Idol, starring Lily-Rose Depp, has ended up with terrible scores from critics who got to see its first two episodes at the Cannes Film Festival.
Coming this June, the new HBO series is set to get people talking. From the creators of Euphoria, the new series will bring to light the controversial darkness behind the entertainment limelight. Depp portrays the role of an aspiring music idol named Jocelyn, who seems to tread the spiral path the moment she connects with Tedros, portrayed by The Weekend.
The Weekend share creative credits for the new HBO series with Reza Fahim, Sam Levinson, Joe Epstein and Mary Laws with staff writer Howard A. Rodman. Levinson, together with Amy Seimetz, directed the six episodes of the series.
Way ahead of its television debut on June 4, Sunday on HBO Max, now known as simply Max, The Idol screened its first two episodes during the Cannes Film Festival.
Despite the visual similarity of the upcoming series to the edgy teenage drama featuring various personal tribulations due to substance abuse and mental health challenges that is Euphoria, The Idol fell way too short of getting into the good graces of critics.
Lily-Rose Depp In HBO Series The Idol Gets Low Critic Scores
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Giant Freakin Robot points out that the new series starring Depp collected terrible critics rating as reflected in the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Fifteen critics reviewed the first season generating its current rating of a disappointing 27% on the Tomatometer.
Absolutely a far cry from Euphoria’s certified fresh first season at 80% with 100 reviews and 84% at its Audience Score with more than 1,000 ratings. The Idol has yet to generate its Audience Score, and many think that it might have a higher score once it releases in a few days’ time.
It isn’t extraordinary to see a discrepancy between critics’ and audience ratings as some series, or even movies for that matter, may rub the critics the wrong way but actually capture the interest of the general viewers. However, while the audience has yet to witness if the series does deserve the low critics rating, some have already uploaded their impression of it and all the dismay they may have felt watching it.
Stephanie Zacharek, a top critic from TIME Magazine, posted:
The Idol only pretends to expose exploitation, while actually reveling in it…
Similarly, David Fear from Rolling Stone, who is also a top critic, commented:
Nasty, brutish, [feels] much longer than it is, and way, way worse than you’d have anticipated.
HBO Series The Idol Starring Lily-Rose Depp Unimpress Critics
Credit: HBO
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Nevertheless, The Idol star Lily-Rose Depp stood by the creative stance of her character. In an article from People, she was quoted saying at the Cannes Film Festival press conference for the series:
I think that something about Jocelyn is just that she’s a born and bred performer. I think that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life.
She continued:
I think that the way that she dresses, for example, is her trying to tell you something all the time or say something to the people that she’s around or express herself in some kind of way.
And I also think that the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her.
While many are describing the series as ‘rapy’ or without taste, especially in presenting the exploitative impression of the glitz and glamour of the music idol industry, there is still a great part of the series that is yet to be seen. If the intention is shock and controversy for the first two episodes, then the series has definitely achieved its goal so far.
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