“LADIES FIRST” ON NETFLIX (MY REVIEW)
Way back in junior high school, in 1975, I appeared in my very first stage play. Our drama teacher was Mr. Brewer–I still remember his name. He made a bold decision for us to perform If Boys Wore the Skirts: A Farce in One Act — by Anne Coulter Martens. It was a polemical play about self-identity and gender reversal. All males in the cast wore skirts and were in subservient roles. All females in the cast wore long pants and were in dominant roles. I played the school’s star football player. And yes–I wore a skirt onstage along with a football jersey. When we performed the play live in front of the entire school including students and teachers, there were hecklers and much laughter. But it was all great fun. The challenge of that unusual experience really made me enjoy theatre and musicals, which I did from then on until graduating from high school.
Unfortunately, such a controversial stage play would never be performed at any public school today, especially given how gender identity has become such a hot-button political issue. It also reveals we haven’t evolved very much in the last 50 years when it comes to our social attitudes and acceptance (or lack thereof). Even questions and curiosities are suppressed. That makes me sad.
That play was a memorable experience, especially at that tender age. It was certainly an education, probably more so for those who performed and got whistled at and even ridiculed, as well as for those who saw the show. I was just 13, but you can’t convince me we were “too young” to explore mature themes. In fact, this was the perfect age to start asking questions and take on activities inspiring us to think for ourselves. The stage play helped us to do precisely that. Then and now, I believe most kids want to be taken seriously, and we should give them the opportunity to examine issues which challenge basic assumptions.
Last night, I was mindful of that early theatrical experience when watching a new Netflix movie, Ladies First. It takes the basic premise of If Boys Wore the Skirts and expands the theme more broadly to power, money, business, career, culture, advertising, and even dating and marriage. It asks and then answers the hypothetical — what would happen if the world was turned upside down? In “Ladies First,” gender gets flipped and women run the world. Men are reduced to secondary support roles and sex objects. Filmed entirely on location in bustling London, many scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, yet the show also manages to expose the often invisible shackles of gender on individuals and amplifies the oppression of those so often subtle and spoken constraints upon greater society. Sure, I thought of myself as reasonably “enlightened” on this issue before, but then the movie reveals so many clever subtleties that we don’t think much about which turns out — constantly reinforce gender stereotypes and buckle down us all down into mass conformity.
There’s so much to like and enjoy about “Ladies First” that I don’t know where to begin. Let’s start with the two leads — Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike. They’re both exceptional–as is the entire cast. Both Oscar-nominated stars have demonstrated wide versatility in several previous film roles. Cohen is a master of parody, but he’s also shown serious dramatic chops, as well. This role returns quite comfortably to his comedic talents, and he delivers plenty of laughs. I was reminded of Tim Curry, hamming the hell out of every scene. He’s perfect as the lovable jerk. Meanwhile, Pike (who should have won Best Actress for 2014’s Gone Girl) gives yet another great effort. Pike has to play two very different characters — the subservient office female and then the corporate “bitch.” She nails both. By they way–see what I did there? Stubborn forceful dictatorial male CEO… a visionary! Stubborn forceful dictatorial female CEO…a bitch.
But the real gems of this movie lie in the frequent flamboyant details. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss one. All the advertisements we see — exploit men. The popular store isn’t called “Victoria’s Secret.” It’s become “Victor’s Secret,” with gaggles of giggly men inside buying goodies to please their mates. Burger King? Nope. They eat at “Burger Queen.” And, if they want to spend a little more for something better, then it’s “Five Gals.” Red double-decker buses roll through London streets with scantily-clad men on placards and billboards. On the crowded tube (subway), creepy women rub themselves against pretty men. Does this all sound strange? Sure — but it’s often hilarious and uncomfortably thought-provoking.
This English-version is an updated translation of a French-language film release about a decade ago (which I did not see). Indeed, this familiar topic of gender conflict has been covered many times before in movies. We’ve seen 9 to 5, about the misogynist boss and office secretaries who extract their revenge. Working Girl was similar hit film that took on gender and sexism. What Women Want was yet another comedy that explored these themes. Ladies First is at least as good as any of those movies, and manages to update the messaging for a 2026 audience.
Surprisingly, the Netflix movie (released on May 22nd) has divided critics and audiences, alike. I don’t understand the criticism. This is one of those rare movies that’s best enjoyed in a mixed viewership. My wife and I watched it together — both of us laughing at most of the same high points. However, I noticed she laughed at some messaging I missed. Her laughter actually made me think about what she saw in the scene that was funny — and to me that made it even more interesting and fun. No doubt, women are more likely to enjoy Ladies First just because it’s told in their voice and shines as a comedic manifestation of their exhaustive frustration, entirely justified. The “chick flick” moniker may even apply here, which just goes to show that everything addressed on this fictional movie is pretty much spot on accurate — even when it comes to reality and the way people react to it, which is likely to correspond to gender.
I thought Ladies First was excellent. Terrific performances. Laugh out loud funny. Smart. Inquisitive. Thought-provoking.
I grade this an *8* on a *10* scale.