The Idol
THE IDOL／ジ・アイドル
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A pop star and a cult leader; the HBO series that met with hostile reviews at its Cannes premiere and was cancelled after one season.
Jocelyn, a pop star in Los Angeles, is still reeling from her mother's death and trying to come back after a breakdown cancelled her last tour. While her team, the managers Chaim and Destiny, the label executive Nikki, her assistant and best friend Leia and her creative director Xander, scramble over a leaked intimate selfie and a Vanity Fair profile, she goes to a nightclub and meets its owner, Tedros, a self-help guru. She takes him home that night, and he begins to direct her, in sex and in her music.
Soon Tedros has moved into her mansion with his followers, among them Chloe, a young singer, and Izaak. He talks Jocelyn into scrapping her album and starting again with the producer Mike Dean. At a dinner he gets her to tell the group that her mother beat her with a hairbrush, then turns that memory against her in their sex. Destiny discovers that his real name is Mauricio Costello Jackson and that he has a string of domestic abuse charges. When Xander says that Jocelyn's mother made him sign away his own music career, Tedros tortures him until he takes it back. Jocelyn learns that her dancer Dyanne, who brought her to the club, belongs to Tedros's group and has been offered a deal by her label. To hurt Tedros she sleeps with her ex-boyfriend, Rob, within his hearing; Tedros's people stage photographs that get Rob accused of rape.
In the finale Jocelyn calls Tedros a con man in front of everyone and takes his singers as her opening act. Chaim offers him $500,000 to go, which he refuses; he is thrown out, and a Vanity Fair exposé brands him a serial pimp and brings a tax investigation down on him. Six weeks later, on the opening night of her tour, he arrives at the stadium on a VIP pass in his real name. She tells him that fame means less without him. In her dressing room he picks up the hairbrush and sees that it is brand new, and understands that she has been playing him all along. Jocelyn brings him on stage, calls him the love of her life and kisses him.
Starring
Lily-Rose Deppas Jocelyn
A young pop star grieving her mother and planning a comeback, who lets a stranger take over her life and art.
Jocelyn’s story
Jocelyn is trying to come back from a breakdown, grieving the mother who beat her. The night a selfie leaks, she meets Tedros at his club and takes him home. She lets him rework her single, then her album, and fill her house with his followers; at his urging she tells them about her mother's hairbrush, and he brings that memory into their sex. She learns that her dancer Dyanne is one of his, and has been offered a deal by her label. She sleeps with her ex, Rob, where Tedros can hear, then calls Tedros a con man and has him thrown out. On her opening night she tells him fame means less without him; he finds her hairbrush brand new. She brings him on stage, calls him the love of her life and kisses him.
Abel Tesfayeas Tedros
A nightclub owner and self-help guru who runs a cult-like group of aspiring musicians and moves in on Jocelyn.
Tedros’s story
Tedros meets Jocelyn the night her selfie leaks and begins to direct her, in bed and in the studio. He moves into her mansion with his followers, persuades her to scrap her album, and turns her memory of her mother's hairbrush into part of their sex. Her manager Destiny finds that his real name is Mauricio Costello Jackson and that he has a string of domestic abuse charges. When Xander speaks against Jocelyn's mother, Tedros tortures him until he takes it back; when Jocelyn sleeps with Rob, his people stage photographs that get Rob accused of rape. He refuses money to leave, is thrown out and exposed as a serial pimp. Six weeks later he comes to her opening night, sees that her hairbrush is brand new, and understands she has been playing him. On stage she kisses him.
Troye Sivanas Xander
Jocelyn's creative director and childhood friend, who once gave up his own music career and falls under Tedros's sway.
Suzanna Sonas Chloe
A young singer and pianist loyal to Tedros, who moves into Jocelyn's house with him.
Jennie Ruby Janeas Dyanne
A backup dancer and friend of Jocelyn's who secretly belongs to Tedros's group and is after her place.
Rachel Sennottas Leia
Jocelyn's best friend and assistant, the first to distrust Tedros.
Why it matters
The Idol set out to satirise the way the music industry consumes young women, and to many critics it became an example of what it meant to expose. Its first director, Amy Seimetz, left with roughly four-fifths of it filmed, and Rolling Stone reported that the rewrite scrapped her story of a starlet reclaiming her agency from a predatory industry figure; crew members described the new version as sexual torture porn. What remains puts coercive control, a cult leader's grooming and a star's commodified sexuality on screen at length, then ends by suggesting that Jocelyn was in control all along. Whether that twist restores her agency or excuses everything before it is the question the series leaves. It was panned, one critic in The Guardian calling it one of the worst programmes ever made, and HBO cancelled it after one season.