In The Decameron (2024), a group of nobles retreat to a countryside villa to escape the Black Plague that is running wild in Firenze. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
In 1348, the Black Plague took hold over Firenze, and every household struggled with the pestilence.
A select few nobles are invited to the Santa Villa in the countryside by its host, Visconte Leonardo of Fiesole.
Among the invitees is his betrothed, Pampinea who travels to the villa with her loyal handmaiden, Misia.
Signor Tindaro is also invited and he travels with his trusted doctor, Dioneo, who takes care of Tindaro’s various afflictions.
There’s also Panfilo and his religious wife, Neifile. and finally, Filomena who travels with her handmaiden, Liscisca.
Along the way, Filomena and Liscisca get into an argument and Filomena is pushed off a bridge into the river.
Liscisca travels to the villa pretending to be her master, and everyone else buys it. Tindaro is a man-child and a hypochondriac who is incredibly misogynistic.
He is also unaware that Dioneo is a charlatan who has been poisoning him for years to leech off his fortune.
Panfilo and Neifile are in a celibate marriage, although they have different reasons for it. Neifile is an extremely devout Christian who does not wish to sin, while Panfilo has an interest in men.
They are welcomed to the villa by the steward, Sirsco, and the cook, Stratilia. What the others do not know is that Visconte Leonardo has already died from pestilence.
Sirisco does his best to keep this from the rest of the group, but he isn’t the only one keeping secrets.
Misia has snuck in her lover, Parmena, in one of the barrels. Parmena also has the pestilence but Misia wasn’t able to say goodbye just yet.
Dioneo immediately takes a liking to Liscisca, and she shares those lustful feelings. Neifile also feels sinful thoughts looking at Dioneo and feels unclean.
Panfilo is the first to realize that Liscisca is an imposter but he agrees to keep her secret. He even takes her side when a disheveled Filomena shows up claiming to be invited.
She agrees to pretend that she is Liscisca so that she has a place to stay. When Parmena dies, Misia dumps her body in the same spot where Leonardo’s body lies.
She and Sirisco agree to keep their respective secrets and figure out a way to get out of this predicament.
Sirisco and Stratilia are worried about their futures without a master and want to secure their positions.
Sirisco and Misia tell Pampinea that Leonardo is dead, and they lie to the others that she got married to him and is now the Viscountess.
Tindaro believes that he is in love with Liscisca and begins courting her but she is having an affair with Dioneo.
Neifile is encouraged to follow her lustful emotions so she offers herself to Dioneo, but he falls in love with Liscisca and turns her down.
Sircsico starts sleeping with Pampinea, but she convinces herself that he is just a vessel for her true love, Leonardo.
Panfilo’s family is in grave debt and he wishes to secure his position in the villa so he starts warming up to Pampinea.
When he finds out that she doesn’t have a claim, he comes up with a plan to oust her from a position of power.
Pampinea claims that she is pregnant with Leonardo’s baby, and Sirisco feels betrayed so he joins Panfilo in his plan.
Filomena grows close to Misia and she tells her the truth about switching places. Stratilia tells Tindaro that his doctor has been poisoning him.
Tindaro confronts Dioneo in front of everyone and after exposing him, he proposes to Liscisca, a proposal she accepts.
Ruggiero, Leonardo’s cousin shows up with a group of friends after getting the invite from Sirisco.
Ruggiero is a reckless man who enjoys sin and temptation and Pampinea is not thrilled by his presence.
While they are all partying, the truth about Filomena and Liscisca comes out so Ruggiero banishes them from the villa.
After that, Sirisco brings Leonardo’s head to prove that Pampinea is lying. Ruggiero kicks the rest of them out, letting Neifile and Dioneo stay.
They invite a group of whores while everyone else spends the night in the stables. Filomena and Liscisca find a cave to sleep in and argue the whole time.
Panfilo wants to save his wife but he sees her sleeping with Ruggiero and lets her have her moment of happiness.
The next morning, Neifile finds everyone else dead from the pestilence after one of the prostitutes brought the illness in.
The others return to the villa and restrain Ruggiero until they figure out what to do. Tindaro is scolded by Stratilia for whining and then they have an erotic domme-sub relationship.
Neifile and Panfilo had a brief argument but they express their love for each other while trying to convince Ruggiero to make them his stewards.
Pampinea offered to marry him in exchange for his freedom but he turns her down and calls out all of her flaws.
She is incredibly hurt and asks Misia to kill him for her. Niefile gets the pestilence so Panfilo decides to spend her last hours with her.
Filomena and Liscisca are captured by mercenaries who are led by a religious zealot and they are ordered to be executed.
Filomena admits that Liscisca is her half-sister because she thinks they are going to die. They manage to escape and head back to the villa.
Misia kills Ruggiero and is left devastated by the experience. Sirisco leaves the villa and runs into some peasants who welcome him with open arms.
He promises them food and leads them back to the villa so that they can enjoy its riches. Tindaro discovers Stratilia has a son named Jacopo who is Leonardo’s bastard.
Pampinea realizes that Jacopo is Leonardo’s son and tries to kill Stratilia while also revealing that she was never pregnant.
She accuses Stratilia of being a witch and tries to burn her, with Misia helping her throughout.
Sirisco arrives with the peasants at the right time to help Stratilia and then chase Pampinea through the villa.
Stratilia wants to run away with Jacopo, but he convinces her to take the villa since he has a claim to it.
Filomena comforts Misia since she has been through too much and they make love to each other while Pampinea watches, hidden in a chest.
Neifile dies from her illness and Panfilo is overtaken by the grief. Liscisca doesn’t know how to feel about her newfound nobility and wants to get away from all the chaos.
A messenger tells Panfilo that the mercenaries are coming and he warns the others. Liscisca says that they could be bought and everyone starts looking for Pampinea’s dowry.
When they cannot find it, they kick her out of the villa but Misia hides the dowry and hands it to Pampinea as she leaves.
Liscisca leaves soon after because she cannot stay with Filomena anymore and she finds Pampinea trying to swallow her jewels.
She takes the bag from her and gets as far as the gate before turning back because the mercenaries are already there.
Ending explained:
Striking a bargain
Liscisca returns to tell everyone that they are at the gates, and then she heads out through the secret entrance.
Filomena tries to reason with her but then she reveals that their father wasn’t dead, she lied so that they would leave and not end up with the pestilence like him.
Tindaro attempts to rally the rest of the people in the villa to defend themselves, even though they are poorly armed and inexperienced.
The gate is breached and the mercenaries arrive at the front door. A knight named Eric enters with Pampinea, who says she made a deal with them.
She offered them her dowry in exchange for their survival, so Liscisca handed over the bag of jewels.
However, Eric says that they have all been taken over by greed so his men will be taking the villa in the name of their order.
Putting up a fight
Before Eric can make it out, Panfilo kills him and is filled with renewed confidence since he has nothing left to live for.
They announce to the others that they have killed Eric but that doesn’t deter the mercenaries.
Tindaro was stabbed by Eric before he died, and he is close to his end. Everyone tries to hide around the villa hoping that they will survive.
Filomena is hurt that Misia is still loyal to Pampinea but Misia says that love is complicated and has deep claws.
The mercenaries break in and start looting the place. One of them finds Filomena Liscisca and goes to save her while Panfilo distracts the others.
Misia realizes that she will always feel trapped with Pampinea so she makes her hide in a barrel and promises to let her out later so that they can escape.
She then seals that barrel and burns down the cellar to be free of her master.
A noble sacrifice
Everyone gathers in the kitchen trying to figure out how they are going to get out alive. Panfilo says that he has a way of distracting the mercenaries while the others escape.
He goes upstairs and gets Neifile’s body to scare away the zealots while the others escape. Tindaro fights off one of the men to help Jacopo and Stratilia run away as well.
Filomena, Liscisca, Misia, Jacopo, Stratilia, Sirisco, and the peasants all manage to get away, and the peasants split up because Sirosco has only led them to trouble.
Tindaro is stabbed in the heart while Panfilo is hit with several arrows while holding onto Neifile’s body.
Filomena and Liscisca lead the others to the cave they found earlier and they celebrate the fact that they survived, unsure of what the future holds for them.
