Meet “The Delicious Professor V”
Craving a show that gets under your skin (and maybe makes you squirm a little)? The name of the obsession: The Delicious Professor V. Premiering on Netflix on March 5, this eight-episode event draws on Julia May Jonas’s thought-provoking novel. At its heart: a literature professor in her fifties—acclaimed, poised, respected—whose world gets turned upside down when a new colleague arrives at her university. On screen, the formidable Rachel Weisz takes on a lead role brimming with flaws, vulnerability, and, well, magnetic messiness—while Leo Woodall (yep, spotted recently in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy as well as the BBC miniseries One Day) stands opposite her. Their on-screen chemistry? It promises both disturbance and pure fascination, according to Canal+.
A Woman at the Edge
Our heroine is at a crossroads, and not a pretty one. Her writing career is stalled. Fewer students are filling her once-popular classes. The bond with her daughter has slowly loosened, and the marriage—once defined by freedom and mutual understanding—now ticks along purely out of habit, missing the spark that once set it alight. She’s surrounded by all the familiar pieces of her life, but nothing really seems to flow anymore. Everything is in place, yet nothing is alive.
Into this delicate, already-tilting world steps Vladimir, a charismatic young writer freshly recruited by the faculty (played by the aforementioned Leo Woodall). He’s far more than the token attractive newcomer. His presence acts as a catalyst, stirring up long-dormant desire and creative energy within the professor—feelings and impulses she’d assumed were long gone.
Desire, Power, and a Campus Under Pressure
This new arrival isn’t just a plot device; he shakes up the entire ecosystem. Suddenly, desire, obsession, and creativity are back in full force for our main character, who is losing her grip on the touchstones of her identity. The narrative leans unapologetically into her subjective point of view. The viewer is carried along by the professor’s thoughts, imaginings, and fantasies—with no reliable outside perspective to cling to. The line between reality and imagination blurs like an over-caffeinated lecture, putting you right in her shoes: uncomfortable, intrigued, and unable to look away.
Rachel Weisz regularly smashes the fourth wall, addressing the camera directly—a move reminiscent of Fleabag or, for fans of French series, Mouche. But here, the tone is cooler, almost calculated. Our heroine narrates, edits, and shapes the version of events we see, handling the story with a grip as tight as her own fraying composure.
Academic Games and Dark Undercurrents
The university campus isn’t just background scenery—it’s a closed microcosm, swirling with intellectual rivalries, subtle power plays, and simmering ideological battles. And just when you think things couldn’t get more complicated, the heroine’s husband (also a professor, played by John Slattery) finds himself facing a legal case dredged up from his past. This added pressure sends the fragile balance of their household—and the campus—teetering.
Rachel Weisz herself notes that the series tackles desire, obsession, and sexuality head-on, all the while interrogating the mechanics of dominance and the pitfalls of modern academia. There are echoes here of the unsettling atmosphere found in Babygirl with Nicole Kidman. With The Delicious Professor V, Netflix may well have found its next haunting, must-see series—one destined to leave a mark that lasts well beyond its eight episodes.
