When Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) addresses the citizens of her unnamed Central European country, she doesn’t sound like a politician. “My loves,” she coos in a plummy, posh accent, further softened by a hint of a lisp. “I bless you all, and I bless our love. Always.” Seven years into her reign, this signoff suggests that Vernham has transcended the role of head of state, or even autocratic strongwoman. The propaganda videos she records from her palace, a luxury hotel turned personal residence, are closer to guided meditations than ideological sermons. The relationship between this ruler and her subjects, Vernham seems to believe, is more intimate and emotional
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