# The Idol (2023)

> A pop star determined to reclaim her crown after a breakdown falls under the spell of a seductive nightclub impresario in Los Angeles.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/111707

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Sam Levinson, Abel Tesfaye, Reza Fahim
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Abel Tesfaye, Lily-Rose Depp, Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Jane Adams, Mitch Modes, Hank Azaria, Ramsey
- TMDB rating: 4.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14954666/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: seductive, feverish, decadent, bleak, sensual

## What critics say

Audience reception was strongly negative, with viewers rating the five-episode run poorly and calling it panned.

## Synopsis

The Idol (2023) is a American prestige music drama created by Sam Levinson, Abel Tesfaye and Reza Fahim for HBO, produced as a single five-episode season. Lily-Rose Depp plays pop singer Jocelyn, determined to reclaim her status as America's greatest pop star after a nervous breakdown derailed her last tour, while Abel Tesfaye plays Tedros, a nightclub impresario with a sordid past who reignites her ambitions. Hank Azaria and Da'Vine Joy Randolph round out the principal cast, with Suzanna Son and Troye Sivan orbiting the nightclub world. The engine of the story is Jocelyn's hunger for a comeback set against the glossy, hedonistic pressures of the Los Angeles music scene, where every performance, party and romance carries a risk of collapse. Each episode moves through rehearsal rooms, velvet lounges and private parties with a seductive, hazy atmosphere. The tone is sensual and feverish, mixing dazzling pop spectacle with a bleak undercurrent of exploitation and manipulation. Viewers who enjoyed the pop-star excess of Euphoria or the sharp industry satire of Shampoo will recognize its appetite for glamour and its unease about desire. Its run ended after one season, leaving the story unfinished.

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