And the public reacts to a lot of food.
The Sam Levinson series The Idol has been shown to its first audiences, and is greeted with a 5-minute standing ovation in Cannes. This is the first series to have its official premiere at the festival.
It makes the series creator so moved that he is almost unable to talk.
The attempted speech from Sam Levinson also seems to make the main actors emotional.
Abel The Weeknd Tesfaye, who makes his acting debut in The Idolmust at least wipe away a few tears before both he and Lily-Rose Depp give their friend a hug.
See snippet below.
But it’s not just Sam Levinson’s tears that become a talking point after the premiere.
Most people have for a long time expected that The Idol will be rough and controversial food, especially after what those involved in the production could tell Rolling Stone earlier this year.
Now that more people have seen the first two episodes, it may seem that the series is living up to expectations. Or maybe even surpass them?
“Revenge porn images of bodily fluids on Depp’s face, masturbation with ice cubes, swindling nightclub owners and vile Hollywood sycophants characterized the first two episodes of the already controversial series,” reads Variety’s summary.
Others offer longer and more detailed spoilers. We will steer clear of the details, but some claim that one of the episodes is directly pornographic.
Several of the first reviews are also starting to come in.
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair agrees that the series leaves little to the imagination, and that it tries hard to titillate and shock.
Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter thinks the series is at its best when it doesn’t try to shock.
«The Idol shows glimpses of potential when it stops trying so hard to be shocking. There is a kind of strain in the sex scenes between Depp and Tesfaye that kills any kind of eroticism. It’s a relief when the series moves away from them and focuses on Jocelyn fighting for her comeback,” writes Lovia.
See also: Abel responds to Rolling Stone criticism
Peter Debruge from Variety writes that one could argue that there is something revolutionary about the way Sam Levinson portrays female sexuality.
But that at times it moves a little too much one direction.
Peter also singles out Lily-Rose Depp, and believes the series positions her as a fearless actress.
“Her barely-there wardrobe and hyper-erotic choreography is a kind of jab at the sex-shaming imposed on celebrities in documentaries that Framing Britney Spears and Janet Jackson.”
It is worth mentioning that so far there are only two episodes of The Idol on which the first reviews are based.
The highly anticipated series consists of five episodes and premieres on HBO Max on June 4.
