Ladies First Review: A Fun but Predictable Comedy of Gender Role Reversals

Based off a 2018 French comedy, Ladies First is centered on the “waking up in another version of reality” trope and does little to shake up the genre. Still, Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike lead an ensemble of strong performances and the writing, while also not terribly original, is clever enough to make this a fun, casual watch.

Damien Sachs (Cohen) is very much not your typical admirable male lead. He’s an openly chauvinistic jerk who uses everyone around him, especially women, to his own advantage. While he does rather reluctantly allow the promotion of Alex (Pike), it’s only to cover up a lie that he told to get around his own company’s general dismissal of its few female employees. He even insists that men have a harder time in the world.

After running headlong into a pole (an admittedly satisfying moment), that statement turns into self-fulfilling prophesy. He returns to find Alex in his office, his assistant Felicity as Atlas’s CEO, and women occupying all roles of power at the company and often treating the male assistants the way Damien and his peers had once treated them: there to be assigned worth mostly depending on how they look.

 Unable to be heard otherwise, he eventually has a makeover and catches Felicity’s eye and attention—only for her to suddenly die while they’re having sex. The rest falls into place: Alex is the presumed successor but Damien fights for the role of CEO as well. Damien and Alex hook up but she leaves him in bed just as he’s done with many one-night stands. Alex is made CEO and fires Damien for comments that, in this universe, might actually be valid.

Damien begins to pursue a lawsuit that works enough to get him “back” as Atlas’s CEO. But before when can explore what this could unpack, he hits his head again, sees the error of all his ways, and begins treating all the woman in his office (including a revived Felicity) with some respect. He apologies to Alex, who of course quickly accepts. He at least does genuinely support her good ideas and helps her bring then to very successful fruition.

Cohen is known for playing some especially zany characters. By comparison, Damien’s prominent quality is that he challenges the notion of a protagonist by being utterly unlikable for most of the movie. It’s a lot, but it works. If this man actually had hidden depths, it might make some of what he goes through more uncomfortable than funny.

The downside is that we spend almost all our time seeing him be taught lessons and very little time actually learning them. He spends most of his time around female leaders panicking about his new position and ultimately only truly shows his remorse when he’s hit his head again and is back in the corporate structure that he knows. The scenes do work, especially his apology to his assistant, Ruby, but they’re far too short.

His apology to Alex is another example. We’re in the closing moments by the time he delivers it, leaving only a moment or two to see the ultimate proof of Alex’s intelligence and prowess—themselves acting as proof that he should have been begging her forgiveness and help much sooner. While Alex does hold Damien briefly to task, she then accepts with little resistance. In lesser hands, it could make her into a pushover.

Thankfully, Pike is up to the task. Known more for serious roles, she’s also acting somewhat against type, and this might be part of the reason she’s able to make Alex a strong and deserving figure throughout. I also appreciate that, even around the literal sex scenes, whether or not she’s a romantic interest for Damien is barely a factor in why she she should be given everything she’s fought for.

The smaller characters also more than hold their own, as does most of the comedy. There are a fewer moments that are just more awkward than funny, most notably Felicity’s over-the-top “death”, but for the most part we’re focused on the lighthearted beating-up of a man who definitely has it coming and eventually even learns from it. It’s nothing to write home about, but most of the jokes still land.

Ladies First is probably trying to emulate the success of feminist movies like Barbie. It falls far short of the smart and pointed commentary that comedy was able to deliver, but as a made-for-streaming romp, it’s still enjoyable enough to be worth a couple hours of your time, thanks mostly to the effort of its lead performers. It won’t make you think too much, but it’s at least worth a few laughs.  

---

What did you think of this episode of Ladies First? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Ladies First is now streaming on Netflix.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!