Ladies First Review: A Surprisingly Outdated Gender-Swap Comedy Starring Sacha Baron Cohen

Ladies First Review: Imagine a world where we are not bound by the shackles of patriarchy and living a harmonious life where we don’t have to go out of our way to put someone down solely based on their gender. Now imagine not doing any of that and reversing the genders on the micro and not-so-micro aggressions that women face and putting it all on men in some sort of weird 90-minute gender swap thing and then coming back to the very unfair and sexist world on the other side.

Such is the folly of Ladies First, a film that, although humorous on paper, reminds women how utterly trash the world is for them in more ways than one, without an escape in sight.

The film has a runtime of around 90 minutes and is inspired by Éléonore Pourriat’s 2018 French film Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile.

Ladies First Review

Plot Overview

The film follows male chauvinist Damien, who is everything that is wrong with the world. Now imagine his surprise when his very easy and very privileged world is flipped upside down when he suddenly wakes up in a parallel universe where the women are at the top, and he is now facing everything that he has been dishing out for years.

Now objectified, dismissed, undermined and humiliated in ways that he has casually done to others, he finds himself battling against colleague Alex Cooper, who seems to take pleasure in his pain. This is obviously a satire, and the concept is not lost on anyone. However, there’s literally no depth in the film other than gender reversing every concept and every joke and calling it a day. There’s no exploration of why and how it’s a bad thing, and the meaningfulness of this changed dynamic.

The movie also does not evolve beyond its central gimmick, turning into a dated comedy rather than adding meaning to an interesting plot. The humour turns painful after a while because viewers can see how surface-level everything is. There’s hardly any nuance, and the film settles for an extremely exaggerated showcase of gender politics that don’t feel modern or impactful.

Satire That Rarely Cuts Deep

Ladies First never goes beyond the surface-level “imagine if women were as terrible as men.” While that’s great, it misses out on giving us a genuine commentary on the systems that create gender inequality in the first place. Men don’t just behave terribly and take women for granted because of their gender, but due to the systems that teach them from a young age that it’s okay to do so. While we do see Damien’s home life, we don’t see an evolution or commentary on it.

We swiftly move past moments that could’ve been impactful and see broad, exaggerated jokes on important topics that make the satire lose value. As a result, you are left feeling disappointed and a little icky because the film seems to have nothing to say beyond the surface. The film remains stuck to its original premise with such intensity that it forgets to evolve and make a hard-hitting commentary at some point.

Performances That Do the Heavy Lifting

Rosamund Pike is, as always, great as a strong and confident executive both in and out of the parallel universe. The script doesn’t, unfortunately, give her much leeway on expanding the scope of her character beyond just a device for Damien to learn his lesson. It’s a shame, considering the topic at hand. Sacha Baron Cohen, as Damien, is a more confusing affair, as he is unable to translate the effortless swagger required for a misogynistic prick to have. However, he does a good job with his commitment to the physical comedy that is required of him. The film also features a lot of talented actors who also deserve much nuanced characters but were, unfortunately, robbed of it.

Final Verdict

The intentions might be innocent, but the way the story evolves in Ladies First leaves a lot lacking. It’s not compelling, and neither is it memorable, and the film leaves you feeling uncomfortable when the credits roll. There are some amusing moments, but the film isn’t able to do anything with the satire that it starts off with, and ultimately is left being just another half-baked and shallow gender swap romp that gets repetitive fast.

What are your thoughts on Ladies First on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!

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