Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic, is an exhausting 166-minute, glossy barrage of melodrama that explores the star’s troubled life in uncomfortably graphic detail designed to shock streamers, says columnist NICK OVERALL.

“BLONDE”, Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic, is the first original film on the platform to be slapped with an NC-17 rating (R18+ in Australia).

It’s no surprise. Clocking in at an exhausting 166 minutes, this glossy barrage of melodrama explores the star’s troubled life in uncomfortably graphic detail designed to shock streamers.

Monroe’s lurid rise to stardom is portrayed right alongside her crippling addiction to barbiturates and the sexual exploitation she suffered throughout her sadly short life.

It’s a demanding watch, one where the audience is resigned to see Monroe become the powerless plaything of the Hollywood elite and a victim of fame.

Some scenes, including one with a portrayal of JFK, are so uncomfortable they border on unwatchable.

It’s clear the movie wants this reaction, whether it needed to go this far is another question.

The reception has been split right down the middle.

For those who believe Monroe a figure of more agency than what’s portrayed here, the film is likely to leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

Others may find its brutal approach a confronting, yet much needed exposé of the entertainment industry’s treatment of women.

Whichever side viewers find themselves on, the indisputable highlight of “Blonde” is its lead actress Ana de Armas, who commits to the role without an emotional inch held back.

She charmed audiences in her supporting roles in films like “Knives Out”, “Blade Runner 2049” and even as a Bond girl in the most recent 007 escapade “No Time To Die”. 

In “Blonde”, she’s stepped into a dazzlingly bright spotlight with a role that she totally embraces.

Spending 12 months with a dialect coach in order to get Marilyn’s accent right is just the beginning of her dedication. De Armas is also reported to have spent hundreds of hours studying photographs, videos, audio recordings and films of the star in order to prepare for the performance.

The film is an intriguing turn from director Andrew Dominik, whose movies before now have centered on hyper-masculine subjects such as “Killing Them Softly” and “The Assassination of Jesse James”.

With a filmography made up of gangsters and cowboys, it’s clear Dominik is not as at home with a female lead, let alone one of the most iconic feminine figures of the 20th century.

Regardless of the divide that will be caused by his approach to telling their story, “Blonde” will be a boon for Netflix and one of those intriguing films watched sheerly for its crash landing in the pop-culture canon.

WINDING the clock back a few centuries and Stan is sporting a stylish new period drama called “The Serpent Queen”.

This eight-parter centres on the 16th century Queen of France Catherine de’ Medici (Samantha Morton), one of the most powerful, yet detested figures of the 1500s. 

Married at just 14 to Prince Henry, the second son of King Francis I, a decade of infertility would lead to speculation that de’ Medici was a witch, just the start of a life of derision she’d face until her death at 69.

Most famously, de’ Medici was blamed for the the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, a concocted string of assassinations against the Hugenots during the French religious wars that attempted to take out all of her enemies in one fell swoop.

While this all sounds heavy to say the least, audiences may be intrigued to find “The Serpent Queen” decorated in a dark sense of humour.

Fourth-wall breaking glances at the camera and a raunchy repartee mocks the absurdity of the time period it’s set in. “The Serpent Queen” wields this comedy in a way that stops its intense subject matter from collapsing in on itself.

It’s the latest in a string of modern shows attempting to reinvigorate the period drama with a meta spin to suck in modern audiences. “The Great” (on Stan) and “Bridgerton” (on Netflix) are two other examples that have successfully hooked viewers who would otherwise be uninterested in their historical settings.

It’s an approach that won’t appeal to all viewers, especially more hardline history enthusiasts, but the irreverent manner of “The Serpent Queen” makes it one series that’s unafraid to leave a bite.