10 Biggest Changes Netflix’s Vladimir Makes To Julia May Jonas’ Book

Netflix’s adaptation of Julia May Jonas’s Vladimir makes many changes to the book, updating the story in necessary ways and improving some characters. The story originally started as a 70-page play, but Jonas realized that the stage wasn’t the place for Vladimir. Luckily, Jonas’s debut novel quickly became a hit after its February 2022 release, becoming massively popular on BookTok.

The streaming giant greenlit the TV adaptation of the erotic thriller in March 2025, with Rachel Weisz attached as the lead. Like every great book-to-TV adaptation, changes were made to the source material to expand characters and translate the plot for the screen.

The good news is that Julia May Jonas created the series, and she wrote four of the eight episodes. As such, readers can be assured that the TV show maintains the integrity of the book despite these ten big changes.

10

Vladimir Has More Screentime in The Netflix Series

Considering his name is the title, it’s shocking how little time Vladimir is actually in Julia May Jonas’s book. He’s in about 15% of the book, give or take. Except for the pool day, they all take place in a professional group setting until the third act. He never flirts with her. This makes the intensity of M’s obsession all the more shocking.

Netflix’s miniseries completely changes this, though. Vladimir and M actually spend time together, and they develop a real friendship. He’s extremely friendly, charming, and occasionally a little flirty. M has more fantasies about him. All these things make it more understandable why Vladimir would feel comfortable going out to lunch out of town and seeing the cabin.

9

The Protagonist Is More Conflicted About John’s Actions In Netflix’s Vladimir

In Julia May Jonas’ book, the protagonist never actually questions whether she supports John having sex with students. She is fully on his side, repeatedly denigrating the young women he slept with and making it clear that she thinks they’re playing the victim. Even when Sid confronts her about enabling John, M dismisses her statements.

However, Netflix makes the situation a little more ambiguous. She publicly defends John’s relationships as consensual, but she lashes out at him a few times at home over the fact that he slept with students. It’s not clear whether her frustration comes from his sleeping with young people or the way it impacts her.

That being said, she does state that he’s “no longer allowed in the f*cking tower” because he “took little girls in the tower.” That would imply that she has some sort of understanding that the women he slept with might have legally been adults but they were still young and vulnerable.

8

The Netflix Show Puts Less Focus On Cynthia’s Suicide Attempt

One of the most detestable facts about Vladimir in the novel is the fact that he mentions his wife Cynthia’s suicide attempt every single chance he gets. It’s basically his go-to story. Like in the show, he mentions it during his interview. However, he also brings it up pretty much every time he is with his colleagues or with M. Luckily, Netflix’s Vladimir tones this down significantly.

Yes, Vladimir brings up her suicide attempt maybe three times, but it’s not always the entire sob story about how Cynthia left his daughter for a year when she tried to die by suicide, and then ended up in a treatment facility, and he had to be a single father. He doesn’t make his wife’s tragic action into his identity.

7

M’s Relationship With Lila Adds More Action To The Netflix Show

Most of Julia May Jonas’s Vladimir occurs within the protagonist’s head. There isn’t much action. Mostly, it’s just M complaining about John’s accusers and fantasizing about Vladimir. The ending introduces the accuser who organized the Title IX action, who never gets a name, and her conversation with the protagonist lasts only about 2 pages.

The Netflix show changes the lack of action and drama by introducing Lila, a former student of M’s who was victimized by John. She not only joins the case against John, but she also has a grudge against M for a scholarship that she lost. Her presence adds a lot more scenes with tension.

6

Sid Doesn’t Get Pregnant In Netflix’s Vladimir

Julia May Jonas’s book sets up the same major conflict between Sid and Alexis. Alexis wants to have a baby, and Sid isn’t sure. They fight, Sid cheats on Alexis, and then she goes back to her parents’ house. On the train ride, she sleeps with a random man while wasted. In the book, this encounter leads to Sid’s pregnancy.

The sexual encounter on the train still happens in Netflix’s Vladimir, but it does not lead to Sid getting pregnant. This change aligns with the show’s more feminist message about women having agency over their lives.

In the TV show, Sid doesn’t fall into the same role of being a cast member in someone else’s story. She isn’t saddled with a child because of a drunken encounter. She has the right to choose if and when to have a baby with Alexis.

5

Netflix’s Vladimir Gives A Voice To John’s Victims

In the Vladimir book, one of John’s victims gets approximately three lines of dialogue. None of the other victims gets a voice, and the Title IX hearing isn’t even shown. The Netflix erotic thriller goes an entirely different direction with this, giving John’s victims agency and a voice.

Not only does Lila have a significant role throughout the series, but it also shows parts of his Title IX hearing. During those scenes, his accusers speak about their experiences, the ways that John abused his power, and the impact of it afterward.

It’s heartbreaking to hear their pain, but it feels extremely necessary in a show that’s so heavily skewed by the protagonist’s unreliable perspective. Since M isn’t there for those scenes, it’s one of the only times that we can believe what is being said.

4

The Protagonist Doesn’t Actively Plot To Rape Vladimir In The Netflix Show

In the TV show, M takes the pills because of her belief that you should always take a few in those instances. She doesn’t actually plan to drug Vladimir with the pills, and when she does, she doesn’t do it with the intention of raping him.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she plots in the book. The protagonist takes Alexis’s controlled substances – both Seconal and Xanax – with the explicit intention of drugging him and raping him. It’s extremely sickening to read. They likely changed it so that M wouldn’t be a completely detestable main character in the Netflix show.

3

Sid Doesn’t Initially Blame Her Father For Sleeping With Students In The Series

Sid has very different feelings about her father’s actions in Netflix’s Vladimir and the original book. While she’s willing to help defend her father, Sid absolutely hates her father’s actions in Julia May Jonas’s novel, and she blames her mother for enabling him and protecting him from the allegations.

Throughout most of the show, Sid doesn’t actually think her father did anything wrong. She fervently stands by him, and she’s passionate about protecting him from the Title IX situation. However, that changes after she sits through the hearing. Sid decides to leave her father before the verdict because she’s upset, and M tells him to give her time to process.

2

M’s Book Doesn’t Get Destroyed In The Vladimir TV Show

At the end of Vladimir, M chooses to save her book from the fire rather than let it burn. This is the moment when she truly picks herself and her desires over John and Vlad. However, the situation goes very differently in the book.

The protagonist’s only copy of the book is on her laptop, which is out in the living room of the cabin when it catches on fire. She doesn’t actually wake up to the fire, only waking up when Vladimir pulls her out of the house. As such, her laptop and the book on it burned along with the cabin.

1

The Outcome Of The Fire Is Different In The Netflix Show

In both the Netflix miniseries and the novel, a space heater sparks, catching the cabin on fire. If M is to be believed in the TV show – which is a big “if” – she, John, and Vladimir all got out of the cabin safely. They weren’t harmed by the fire. Her book is saved and becomes a bestseller.

This is drastically different from the book, in which the protagonist and John get third-degree burns on 22% and over 20% of their body, respectively. Vlad only escapes harm because he was out kayaking at the time. He’s the one who pulls M and John out of the cabin. M’s book is destroyed in the fire.

The married couple receives a settlement from the space-heater company, which allows them to buy an apartment in Manhattan. They settle into a life of visiting museums, attending film festivals, and traveling. They stay together. Ultimately, the meaning and outcome of the fire in Netflix’s Vladimir make much more sense than the book.