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It is difficult to be a god. At least that is Chaos would have you believe. The new eight-episode Netflix series (pronounced “chaos”) aims to bring heaven to earth and place the gods of Greco-Roman mythology in a modern context. Together with Prime Videos A good omenone could say that the show belongs to the still young microgenre of “mythological comedy.” Perhaps not the most obvious cocktail for laughs – but in the hands of Charlie Covell (The End of the damn world), who knows?
Downtown ChaosThe universe of Zeus is Zeus, king of the gods, who rules over modern Crete from some kind of antiseptic, spa-like celestial palace. Unlike traditional depictions of the figure as a burly, bearded electro-hunk, ChaosZeus is vain, moody and played by Jeff Goldblum – who here winsomely embodies the sleazy playboy archetype he has long specialized in. When Zeus notices a line on his forehead one morning, he is convinced it is a sign that he will fall victim to a prophecy that will overthrow his rule; thanks to a wry, genteel-sweet voiceover from Zeus’s friend-enemy/prisoner Prometheus (Stephen Dillane), we know this is true.
This is how it starts Chaos‘s sprawling, irreverent tale, which mixes, assembles and remixes various legends into a vast, chaotic tangle. Alongside Zeus, a pantheon of other mythological figures are reimagined in a sort of contemporary way: Billie Piper’s Cassandra is a visionary disguised as a washed-up paranoid, Orpheus (Killian Scott) a Sam Fender-esque pop star, Hades a wonderfully creepy David Thewlis. Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan), Zeus’s half-human son, is recreated here as a clubber and drug-addicted nepo baby – albeit one under the thumb of his father and stepmother Hera (a steely-looking Janet McTeer). For Dionysus, it’s a world where god eats god.
Of course, it is not only Netflix that deals with the Greeks. Revisionist retellings of ancient Greek myths have a certain moment lately, in everything from video games (the devilishly large Hades) to the musical theatre (the one splashed by Tony Hadestown). Compared to these admittedly demanding examples, Chaos is a little shaggy and disjointed in the way it plays with tradition. Those familiar with the original lore will probably wince as often as they nod in recognition; those unfamiliar may find themselves lost in the sea of intermingling characters, all of whom are either too general or too vaguely drawn.
It cannot be denied that parts of Chaos are compelling – stories don’t last for millennia unless they’re basically a good old story. But the series does falter in places under the weight of its over-the-top, high-sounding premise. It may not be all Bohemian villages for me – but some of it definitely was.
