OlivierAssayas revisits one of his earliest triumphs with this HBO miniseries version of IrmaVep starring Tomb Raider star AliciaVikander.
There’s no withering critique you could lob at Irma Vep that the new HBO miniseries hasn’t already lobbed at itself.
Mira, who’s just come off the promotional tour surrounding a new superhero blockbuster called Doomsday, wants a change of pace. She’s also looking to put some distance between herself and Laurie , her former lover/personal assistant. The melodramatic tabloid web extends back to another ex of the heroine’s, an actor named Eamonn , who’s coincidentally also in Paris to shoot a movie.
Still, did we need so much of this subpar remake within the remake? It draws to mind the deeply unconvincing fake superhero movie we caught glimpses of in Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria. There’s quite a bit of that acclaimed, tricky talkathon in Irma Vep. Revina , the twentysomething film-school grad Mira employs as her new assistant, is close to the same character Kristen Stewart played in Clouds: An earnest Greek chorus whispering devil’s advocate second opinions into the ear of a movie star.