‘The Great’ Review: New Hulu Series Starring Elle Fanning And Nicholas Hoult Continues ‘The Favourite’ Vibe But In Russia

A new ten-part series, The Great, a non-historically accurate comedy about Catherine The Great, has just been released on Hulu.

Hulu’s new original series The Great is a fun, witty and irreverent show about royalty, much like The Favourite. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as one of the writers of Yorgos Lanthimos’ film, Tony McNamara, created, wrote, and executive produced this new series. The Great is in fact an adaption from McNamara’s own play, and it shows, with its perfectly timed sharp dialogue. The subheading of The Great is “an occasionally true story.” This is thus not an accurate historical drama, but one that plays with the facts, highlighting the absurdity of monarchies. The series does, however, stick to the overall truth of events as told in history books, it just imagined the details.

Taking place in 1761 Russia, The Great is about the Empress Catherine The Great, the longest reigning female ruler in Russia. As the series begins, Catherine isn’t The Great yet. She is moving to Russia to marry Emperor Peter—who isn’t The Great either, but his father was. The ten episodes here imagine Catherine’s rise in the Russian court. She struggles at first to find her place in this new environment, as she is reminded numerous times that she is not Russian.

Catherine (Elle Fanning) is an intelligent, educated woman, who has read Rousseau and Descartes. Naïve and overly romantic at first, she soon learns how to find her way with the help of her savvy servant, Marial (Phoebe Fox). The way Catherine describes her expectations of her first night with the emperor is delightfully funny. Her teenage dreams of romance are quickly crushed however. After Peter kills her bear and punches her in the stomach, Catherine decides to plot with Marial a plan to overthrow the emperor and become the sole ruler of Russia, one with progressive new ideas.

The Emperor (Nicholas Hoult) here is depicted as a spoiled idiot, who only thinks of sex and shooting things. Peter rules according to his whims, forbidding beards only because he is “a modern ruler.” As the series progresses, it becomes apparent that Hoult is clearly enjoying playing this character, and is having a lot of fun with it. The same can be said of Elle Fanning who portrays a very comic Catherine who grows in character, from the young ingénue to the woman who will soon become Russia’s strong ruler.

The series portrays a dire image of the Russian court. All the women are illiterate and spend their days doing nonsensical activities, such as throwing balls on the lawn. The men, of course, are no better, laughing on cue when Peter tells a joke that isn’t funny, and smashing their glasses to the floor every time after downing a shot of vodka. The series easily falls into the grotesque when emphasizing the opulence and carelessness of the Russian court. It feels as if the series stretches the ridicule a little too far at times, making it tedious rather than funny. This is especially true of the episode with the mass torture, ordered by Peter only so that the one who attempted to kill him confesses.

Overall, however, The Great is a very entertaining, although at times uneven, show that pokes fun at childish rulers. This, of course does not only apply to monarchs, but also potentially to some of today’s politicians.

Episodes are directed by Matt Shakman, Colin Bucksey (both have directed episodes of Fargo), Bert & Bertie, and Geeta Patel (one of the directors on Dead to Me).The Great was picked up by Starzplay for the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Latin America, and is scheduled to premiere in summer 2020.

The show premieres in the U.S. on Hulu on May 15.