Streaming Critics' flop "Ladies First" is top with viewers
Sacha Baron Cohen is knocked unconscious at the beginning, that's what you want to see on screen in this movie, said one critic. Nevertheless, the anti-macho comedy from Netflix is also doing well in Switzerland.
03.06.2026, 02:24
SDA
Film stars Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike play side by side in the Netflix comedy "Ladies First": Cohen ("Borat") plays a misogynistic man who wakes up in a parallel world where women are in charge and behave like machos. In other words: You see a lot of sexualized male bodies in advertising, Cohen is constantly ignored and sexually harassed by female bosses and colleagues.
The gender comedy is currently a big topic of conversation among streaming fans worldwide - and quite controversial. But audiences are by no means spurning the film, which has been panned by many critics. In its first ten days online, it has already collected around 31 million views worldwide. This is according to the Netflix weekly charts.
The film starring Pike ("Gone Girl") in the female lead role had around 18.8 million views between May 25 and 31, putting it at number one in the Netflix film charts worldwide. Previously - from launch day May 22 to May 24 - it had already been viewed 11.9 million times. The rom-com (romantic comedy) was the number one film on Netflix in 42 countries last week, including Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, Israel, France, Austria and Sweden.
The film is a remake of the French chauvinist comedy "Kein Mann für leichte Stunden" (original title: "Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile") from 2018 with Vincent Elbaz and Marie-Sophie Ferdane.
In the English-language remake, Cohen plays the model macho named Damien, while Pike plays Alex, an employee who suffers under him. But after Damien crashes into a lamppost, he wakes up in a gender-reversed world.
Critics speak of convenient feminism
Despite (or perhaps because of?) the star cast and the constantly topical subject of gender equality, the film has been criticized from many directions.
The Financial Times wrote: "Sacha Baron Cohen is knocked unconscious right at the beginning of the Netflix comedy "Ladies First" - a movie that makes you wish you could do the same every now and then."
The New York Times said: "The comfortable feminism of winking and role reversals wears thin quickly."
The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" wrote: "As a viewer, one feels melancholy above all because of the overall great cast. Alongside Baron Cohen and Pike, a Who's Who of British theater and film art is represented. But even they can't save this unsuccessful movie."
