"Irma Vep."

The super meta HBO series gets the Two Episode Test (and passes in the first 10 minutes).

One of the great pleasures of the “Irma Vep” television series is that it so effortlessly works on multiple levels with a naturalism and confidence that beguile. While it’s easy to get lost in the meta-verse of this gem — a TV series based on a movie of the same name from the same writer and director done 26 years earlier is just the tip of it — everywhere the camera turns there are new revelations, such as a remarkable performance from Alicia Vikander as Mira, an American A-list actress of blockbusters who really wants to do something serious, or French actor Vincent Macaigne as Rene Vidal, the slightly mental director who gives her that chance; it’s in the dialogue that seems breezy but is insightfully cutting as it looks at art and fame in the TV and film business. “Irma Vep” is that kind of rare gem that pops on the screen and looks and feels like almost nothing before it, self-consciously aware of being self-consciously aware in all the elements it’s dissecting.