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- Starz
- Sep 11, 2022
- Starz
- Sep 11, 2022
Summary Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton) tells how she rose to power after being married off at the age of 14 to a French count in this drama series based on Leonie Frieda's book "Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France."
Created By: Justin Haythe
- Starz
- Sep 11, 2022
- Starz
- Sep 11, 2022
Summary Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton) tells how she rose to power after being married off at the age of 14 to a French count in this drama series based on Leonie Frieda's book "Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France."
Created By: Justin Haythe
Where to Watch
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
76
83% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
17% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
76
83% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
17% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
“The Serpent Queen” offers juicier period drama than either of the ballyhooed fantasy epics [“House of the Dragon” and “The Rings of Power”]. ... [Samantha] Morton mesmerizes.
Samantha Morton, whose career has brought her from strength (“Jesus’ Son,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) to strength (“Harlots”), is just right for the role. ... In the five episodes (of eight in all) made available, Morton is somewhat peripheral, as we see how Catherine came to power through flashbacks featuring an excellent Liv Hill as the younger, more vulnerable version. But she nonetheless casts a powerful shadow across those episodes.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.1
75% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
6% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
19% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.1
75% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
6% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
19% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Morton’s adult Catherine only appears on the edges of the series’ initial episodes, but her performance is mesmerizing from her first moments onscreen, and it’s her presence that carries this drama throughout.
For all its minor faults, though, The Serpent Queen still feels like a worthy successor to the likes of Becoming Elizabeth, The White Princess, and The Spanish Princess, carrying on Starz’s legacy of lavish period pieces told through a more modern lens.
Morton is the one that guides us through all of the story’s challenges with ease. When making the most of her performance and the character study it creates, The Serpent Queen proves to be more than worth getting wrapped up in, with the story only luring us in — much like the snake in its title.
Maybe the most interesting about “The Serpent Queen,” though, is the strange tension between its attempts to twist the historical drama with fourth-wall breaks and modern soundtrack and the fact that it is otherwise….well, an entirely typical historical drama. Which is fine!
The show livens up when Hill (or eventually Morton, as Catherine ages into adulthood in the framing device) struts in to perform her Machiavellian calculations, but until she does, the show can be a bit of a bore.
