Netflix's comedy "Ladies First," starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike, has racked up nearly 31 million views worldwide in its first ten days on the platform, topping global movie charts despite scathing reviews from critics.
In this film, the actor known for his roles in Borat and Ali G plays a misogynist who wakes up in a parallel world where women rule the roost and act like macho, chauvinists, and downright prudes.
The films depict sexualized male bodies, and Cohen's character is constantly ignored and sexually harassed by female bosses and colleagues.
The gender-transition comedy sparked heated debate among streaming service viewers worldwide and generated considerable controversy. However, audiences remained enamored with the film despite scathing reviews from critics.
Between May 25 and 31, the film garnered approximately 18.8 million views, taking the number one spot on Netflix's global charts. In the three days between its launch on May 22 and May 24, it has already garnered 11.9 million views.
The film is a remake of the 2018 French comedy "I Am Not an Easy Man" ("Je ne suis pas un homme facile"), starring Vincent Elbaz and Marie-Sophie Ferdan, which is also available on Netflix.
In the English-language remake, Pike plays Alex, an employee suffocated by the ego of her boss, a typical chauvinist named Damien, played by Cohen. After Damien crashes into a lamppost, he wakes up in a world where gender identity is reversed.
Despite—or perhaps because of—its stellar cast and ever-relevant theme of gender equality, the film drew criticism from many quarters: according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, only 28% reviews were positive.
The Financial Times writes: "Sacha Baron Cohen faints at the start of the Netflix comedy Ladies First, a film that only occasionally makes you wish you did the same.".
The New York Times wrote that the film's "frivolous feminism, based on innuendo and role reversals, quickly wears thin," and that what audiences end up with is a film that, for all its superficial feminism, is ultimately about a man and his personal development.
In Germany, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper wrote that "the entire elite British theater and film industry is involved in the film. But even they couldn't save this disastrous picture.".
Le Parisien wrote that the film feels rushed, with predictable moral conclusions and endings, while Variety noted that the film "relies too heavily on ideas from the past.".
"Ladies First" is available to all paid Netflix subscribers starting May 22. This romantic comedy reached the number one spot on Netflix's movie charts in 42 countries during the last week of May.