The Decameron: Netflix comedy needed to be weirder

Blame it on Monty Python. Or Blackadder.

The absurdist British comedies are still quoted, memed and replayed decades after anyone had ever heard of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

But they were too memorable. Now whenever there’s a comedy set during the Dark Ages that’s silly, goofy and kind of weird, it’s never silly, goofy or weird enough because Monty Python and Blackadder were always sillier, goofier or weirder.

Such was the case with The Decameron, a Netflix comedy set in 14th century Italy where a group of nobles are trying to survive the Black Death that’s sweeping Europe.

Most of the action takes place in the countryside, a day’s ride away from the plague-ridden Florence. A group of the well-to-do have been invited to isolate at a lush villa that is, supposedly, disease-free. Here, they’re free to frolic, amble and partake in general pleasures while the poor drop dead outside the gates.

But humans are far more complicated and all have different agendas. There’s the rich girl Pampinea (Girls’ Zosia Mamet), who, at 28 years old, is seeking her last-ditch betrothal after a marriage broker matched her with the villa’s master Leo, who is mysteriously absent. Her handmaiden Misia (Derry Girls’ Saoirse-Monica Jackson) has stealthily snuck in her sick lover.

There’s Sirisco (Arrested Development and Veep’s Tony Hale), who runs the villa and is trying to keep secret why Leo is not present. There’s a married couple (I May Destroy You’s Karan Gill and Lou Gala) where the wife is extremely godly and spends every day praying until she realises the doctor (Amar Chadha-Patel) to a hypochondriac noble (Douggie McKeekin) is supremely attractive.

And finally, there’s Licisca (Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds), a servant who pretends to be her high-born boss Filomena (Jessica Plummer).

The cast is funny and gung-ho for all kinds of wild shenanigans. No one is being precious here and that’s why The Decameron works when it does. But it’s also unfocused and drags on with hour-long episodes unable to sustain the momentum.

It has a rich premise that taps into both contempt for the privileged and spoilt and latent anxieties on how to survive a pandemic. What do you value when the world seems like it’s ending? Relatable! Maybe too relatable.

The show is loosely based on the real-life The Decameron, a tome written by Giovanni Boccaccio in and around 1353. In the book, the characters tell life-affirming stories (100 of them) to boost morale and keep entertained during an uncertain time.

The series is less generous about camaraderie and the resilience of the human spirit, instead painting a portrait of dysfunction and selfishness. If The Decameron sometimes hits uncomfortably (and not just the close-ups of pustules and boils), we all remember and know why.

Yes, we saw wonderful acts during COVID but we also witnessed some terrible and petty behaviours.

But there was still something that felt like it was being held back in the show, but maybe that’s not its fault. Who can measure up to Monty Python?

The Decameron is streaming on Netflix