The beginning of the year has brought some extremely cold temperatures, but Netflix will soon turn up the heat on 2026 with what’s sure to be one of the sexiest limited series of the year. Maybe it will even be the sexiest limited series of the year. Based on the novel by Julia May Jonas, Vladimir will soon leap off the page and come to life on our watch lists.
On Jan. 27, Netflix offered fans the first-look at Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz and One Day star Leo Woodall in the steamy drama series. Perhaps most importantly, Netflix finally shared when we will get to binge-watch the sizzling new limited series, which is set for a release on Thursday, March 5. The countdown is on to read the book before the show premieres!
Vladimir limited series coming to Netflix in March 2026
Kicking off the spring season on Netflix, Vladimir debuts on March 5 with its eight-episode season. According to Netflix, the episodes are each about 30 minutes in length, making the limited series a rather quick binge-watch compared to other hour-long titles. The series was created and written by Jonas, the book’s author, and was executive produced by Weisz, Sharon Horgan, and others.
In an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, Weisz describes Vladimir as a “heightened fairy tale” as the series “explores what women feel like when they’re allowed to desire,” according to Jonas. Weisz’s unnamed character, a college professor known as “M,” finds herself having an intense crush on her younger colleague Vladimir (Leo Woodall) that completely shifts the balance of her life.
Sometimes fantasies should stay fantasies.
Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall star in VLADIMIR, a new limited series, coming to Netflix on March 5. pic.twitter.com/UOyNXdOmIC
— Netflix (@netflix) January 27, 2026
While M is married to fellow college professor John (John Slattery) and has a daughter named Sid (Ellen Robertson), she’s grown tired of her monotonous life. She didn’t attain success as a writer, her class doesn’t have as many students signing up as it used to in the past, and she isn’t feeling fulfilled in the bedroom in her marriage. Thus why Vladimir turns her head, even though he’s also married to his stunning and well-loved wife Cynthia (Jessica Henwick), who also works at the same college.
Check out the show’s official synopsis via Netflix’s press release:
“When a passionate but reckless professor’s world begins to unravel, she finds herself dangerously fixated on her magnetic new colleague. Seduction and obsession collide in Vladimir—a provocative limited series brimming with forbidden desires, razor-sharp wit, and charismatic, unpredictable characters. As boundaries blur and secrets simmer, she’ll risk everything to bring her most scandalous fantasies to life.”
Even though the series is named after Woodall’s character, Jonas explained that’s merely to flip the expectation of older novels that bared the name of the male protagonist’s object of desire. From both page to screen, we’re watching M’s interest in Vladimir from her perspective, so much so that the cast and creator shared with Tudum that M speaks directly to the audience onscreen and in narration. But her point of view might not always be the most reliable given her restless state of mind.
There’s no doubt that Vladimir’s by far the most intriguing new Netflix original series currently on the calendar. Not only does it star an Oscar winner who hasn’t appeared onscreen since the 2023 Prime Video limited series Dead Ringers and one of Hollywood’s best rising heartthrobs, but it’s the sexy series that will get everyone talking.
Vladimir kick starts Netflix’s amazing run of new series releases in March 2026, which continues with One Piece season 2, Virgin River season 7, Beauty in Black season 2 part 2, Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole, and the Duffer Brothers’ first post-Stranger Things production Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Make sure you set your reminders for the new limited series!
Vladimir premieres Thursday, March 5 on Netflix.
