‘Vladimir’ Creator Unpacks the Netflix Series’ Ambiguous Ending: ‘I Wanted It to Sizzle’

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Vladimir.”

Netflix’s “Vladimir” reaches quite the fever pitch in its final episodes, and that is even before the fire breaks out.

In her desperate desire to finally have her sexual fantasies of co-worker Vladimir (Leo Woodall) fulfilled, the show’s unnamed protagonist (Rachel Weisz) takes him out for a birthday lunch that quickly spirals into something much, much more deeper. Taking advantage of every opportunity she can find, Weisz’s “M” eventually leads Woodall’s unsuspecting, married writer back to her cabin retreat. There, she gets him drunk and — in one of the series’ most shocking moments — drugs him and chains his passed-out, half-naked body to a chair.

Lest viewers think otherwise, author Julia May Jonas, who wrote the book “Vladimir” is based on and created its Netflix adaptation, told TheWrap Weisz’s character really is just “making it up as she goes along” throughout the show’s final two episodes. “What I’m always interested in exploring is impulsivity,” Jonas explained. “I am really drawn to characters who make impulsive choices.”

“I wrote it as a series of escalating wins and losses on [M’s] part,” the writer said of the trip that ends with Woodall’s Vladimir chained to a chair. “That all is feeding into her desperation of, like, ‘All I want is for him not to go. I just don’t want this moment to be over. I just don’t want this story to end.’ “

After she’s drugged him, Weisz’s character texts Vladimir’s wife (Jessica Henwick) from his phone demanding some space. When he wakes up the next day and discovers the message, he realizes his older co-worker’s attraction to him. Later that night, after some awkward fumbling, the two sleep together. Weisz’s tenured professor uses the encounter to finish her developing novel — just in time for her husband John (John Slattery) to show up at the cabin.

And that is where things get even stranger.

First, John reveals that his “affair” with Henwick’s Cynthia, which Weisz’s M used to help propel Woodall’s Vladimir into her arms, is nothing more than a mutually beneficial friendship. That information does not deter Vladimir from groping Weisz’s protagonist again and telling her he wants their affair to continue on a weekly basis because she “inspires” him. Despite longing for him all series, Weisz’s character reacts coldly to that remark.

Later that night, viewers watch a fire break out in the cabin and Weisz’s character abandon both John and Vladimir to be engulfed in flames in favor of saving both herself and the notepads containing her latest, just-completed novel. It is unclear whether or not “Vladimir” is showing us reality or the scripted ending of its heroine’s book. The series offers no clarity, either. Instead, it concludes with its protagonist watching from a distance as her cabin goes up in flames.

Weisz’s M assures viewers, “Don’t worry. I call 911. Everybody gets out.” As the cabin continues to burn, however, she turns to address the camera one final time, asking with a smirk, “You don’t believe me?”

Reflecting on the series’ deliciously ambiguous ending, Jonas told TheWrap, “I wanted it to sizzle. I wanted it to make you go, ‘Whoa,’ but also leave you questioning. I think the whole show is really about questioning yourself. Is this right? Is this wrong? Should she be doing this? Should she not be doing this? So it felt like leaving it on this note of ambiguity of, ‘Wait, did that happen?,’ was the right lift off for the end of the show.”

“Sometimes, something just feels right in your body when you’re watching it,” Jonas said of seeing Weisz’s character framed by the image of her burning cabin.

Below, the “Vladimir” creator discusses the show’s origins further, as well as its visualization of the female gaze and why Weisz was the perfect actress to play its fourth-wall-breaking narrator.

TheWrap: When did you first start to think about adapting your own book? How did that start?

Julia May Jonas: This was my first novel. When I published it, naturally books go out to be optioned. With this, everyone assumed I would adapt it, and I just didn’t end up correcting them. [Laughs] So it wasn’t something where I had to [pitch it]. It just was assumed, and we went forth accordingly.

Why a limited series instead of, say, a movie or ongoing show?

Jonas: I could have seen it as a movie. But it was exciting for me to work with [executive producer] Sharon Horgan and people who had experience with TV. We ended up landing at Netflix, and that was how we developed it. So it became a limited series mostly because I was excited about the collaborators [that presented], and I just wouldn’t want it to be a multi-season project.

What was the most difficult part of the adaptation process for you?

Jonas: The major challenge with adapting it, and it wasn’t difficult in a bad way, was really asking myself, “What is the work that needs to be done?” The book is really quite internal. You’re spending a ton of time with what the narrator thinks, and there’s very little action. There’s action in the beginning, and then we skip a bunch of steps and then there’s action again at the end. How do we turn that into this limited series and keep intensifying the things that are happening for the main character?

How do we make that internal conflict both this visual thing and also present it to the audience? Obviously, we did that somewhat through direct address, but the challenge really was, “How do we get inside her in this way that we really feel with her this entire time? And how do we make it very clear that we’re looking at this world through her view?”

Obviously, a huge part of the show is lust and physical attraction. What conversations did you have with the show’s directors about how you wanted that communicated visually?

Jonas: I felt very lucky in that, in the meetings I had with the directors, they immediately talked about lust — about what it would look like to have a female gaze and how they wanted to capture that. I think that’s one of the main things that people really grabbed onto in the story. So it really was a conversation of, “Let’s try and play with the idea of the female gaze.”

With that in mind, were there any shows or movies you held onto as a personal reference while you were making “Vladimir”?

Jonas: I used to talk a lot about “The Age of Innocence.” That was the one I would talk about the most, particularly the lushness of it. That movie is made for my comedic taste. I think it is actually a very funny movie, and then there’s all the opera, the flowers, the longing, the food! It’s such a powerful movie. It is one of my favorites, so I did bring that up a lot to people, to the directors and my collaborators, as we were talking about it. I really wanted the show to feel lush in that way, and Rachel and I talked about her character feeling like a heroine in an Edith Wharton novel. Unfortunately, she has to live in the present moment, but what she wants to be is this Edith Wharton heroine. [Laughs]

Rachel does feel like the perfect fit for this character and this show. How did her name initially come up, and what was it like collaborating with her?

Jonas: When Netflix said they would be interested in having her star, I was like, “Who do I want to talk to me more than Rachel Weisz?” That was pretty much it! I couldn’t think of any other actor that I had the same kind of excitement about having her address me directly in that way, and she was just a really incredible collaborator. She has so much integrity about how to perform, which doesn’t necessarily translate into over-discussing the material.

It translates into her just deeply knowing when something is right and isn’t right, you know? So if she would say, “I don’t feel like this line works,” I would know that meant I needed to look at it again. I would know that the moment could be more truthful to the character, more in line with her character. The fact that she is also so beautiful and yet still able to pull off being so enamored by Leo speaks, I think, to what an incredible performer she is.

She and John Slattery are the kind of duo who just make sense on screen. What was it like watching them together?

Jonas: I think something both Rachel and John knew from the beginning was, “No matter what our lines say, what has to be clear from the beginning is there is a kind of love in this relationship. There’s a history here and we’re going to approach the relationship from that perspective.” I’ve always seen them as these kind of intellectual equals. You can see the mutual respect they have for each other, but you can also see at points the hurt they’ve caused each other and, obviously, John’s character has done some very, very difficult things. He takes her for granted, but I don’t know. It’s complex.

Sometimes, it’s hard to talk about Rachel’s character because you can’t pin her down. I think their characters’ relationship is similar. It’s complicated, and I think both Rachel and John, as actors, approached that with a lot of integrity.

“Vladimir” is streaming now on Netflix.

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