【】"Beautiful and ridiculous."

The Young Pope 。is not for everyone, though maybe that's exactly how he likes it.。

Paolo Sorrentino's series stars Jude Law as Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo), a newly elected, intimidating pope.。

The mere concept of the show — about about a pope who has been alive for fewer years than other popes — inspired tons of memes on Twitter. 。

SEE ALSO:Yes, Jude Law knows about your 'Young Pope' memes。

But critics were not as amused as the meme creators.
。

Here's what some critics had to say about the show, which debuts on HBO on Jan. 15.。

Credit: hbo 。

"Beautiful and ridiculous."。

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 。"The creator and director Paolo Sorrentino shoots the scene stunningly," Poniewozik explains. "Pius is backlit, and appears only as a furious shadow on a balcony. Mr. Sorrentino, a visual maximalist who explored Italian politics  。

in the film 'Il Divo,' 。

seems to have set up a drama of church maneuverings and of finding God through isolation." 。 SEE ALSO:We made the Young Pope an online dating profile just in case。However, the show has a lot of low moments too.。

"When。

The Young Pope。

is bad, it’s epically so — laughable, with histrionics and mustache-twirling and bombastic set pieces," he wrote. "It’s weakest the closer it sticks to its narrative of church intrigue."。

The Guardian 。

Rebecca Nicholson was a fan of the show, calling it "stunning, thoughtful and visually arresting." 。 "It could have been overwhelmed by its splashy premise: Jude Law is Lenny Belardo, now Pius XIII, an ultra-conservative, manipulative new American pontiff," Nicholson wrote. "He has serious doubts about whether he believes in God, drinks Cherry Coke Zero for breakfast and smokes more than the cast of Mad Men combined. But The Young Pope was stunning, thoughtful and dreamlike, and even though key players have been strategically shifted to dioceses around the globe, its well-earned second series can’t come soon enough."
。USA Today。 USA Today。Credit: hbo 。

"Like the Vatican itself,

Pope。

is beautiful, lush and carefully, formally composed," Robert Blanco writes. "It’s also oddly airless and cold, more a series of striking pictures than a living and breathing slice of life, one that leaves you with no way in and little reason to care. Style doesn't just trump substance here; it's the only substance。 The Young Pope 。The Young Pope 。

has. And that seems wrong." 。

Matt Zoller calls the show "compelling but strange." 。

"What, exactly, are we looking at?" Zoller writes. "This is not a series where you can immediately tell why the storyteller felt that he had to tell this particular story.。 The Young Pope。is less urgent and focused than contemplative and playful. The first three episodes amount to seductively photographed throat clearing. The sense of humor ranges from self-deprecating (“I’m not profound, I’m presumptuous,” says Pius) to goofy (one episode begins with a man doting on a sheep that he believes is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary). And it rarely finds cinematic ways to convey the spiritual longing and/or torment expressed by its various characters, preferring instead to address these matters and others in ruminative dialogue. The tone and pace are all over the map."。 Variety 。Variety 。

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