“Ladies First”, obviously I’m going to watch something with that title. Hello? Do you know who I am? Add “comedy” into the mix and now I’m fully invested because I need comedy like vitamin D. Non-negotiable.
What do you mean I’m supposed to ignore a title like that? I saw it, I clicked it, I judged it, I still watched it. That’s the cycle.
This Netflix romantic comedy brings in Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike. And already I know this is either going to heal me or stress me out. Possibly both.
The premise: a corporate chauvinist wakes up in a parallel universe where women run everything.
Cohen plays this loud, overconfident corporate man who genuinely believes he is the blueprint. You know the type.
The “I was just joking” type. The “Is it that time of the month?” type. Exactly. That one. And watching him get hit with his own energy in reverse is actually the kind of cinema I signed up for.
Then Pike shows up and suddenly everything feels expensive. Like even the air in the room has a budget.
She steps into this alpha executive role and absolutely owns it. No effort, no stress, just pure control. If you’ve seen “I Care a Lot” then you already know she can smile while ruining your entire life and make it look like a skincare routine.
However, I prefer her in serious roles more than comedy, because that’s where she really destroys you emotionally without even trying.
Then we have Cohen, and from the first minute I’m already hooked. I love when actors fully commit to chaos. Like they are not acting, they are living it. And here he is, fully in his “wildly misogynistic corporate man” bag. The type of man who thinks he’s the standard.
The type who would say “it’s just a joke” after saying something deeply questionable. You know the ones. We all know the ones. Unfortunately.
And here’s the actual tea of the film.
In this parallel world, men are now the “inferior” gender. Alex holds the role Damien once had in the real world, while Damien now has to figure out how to climb into a CEO position as a man in a system controlled by women.
And I’m not going to lie to you – it’s funny, but it’s also slightly too familiar in moments you don’t expect.
Because in this world, men are doing the cooking, filing ridiculous sexual harassment cases, spending hours in the gym, over-grooming, waxing, obsessing over clothes and constantly trying to find that sweet spot between “taken seriously” and “don’t get harassed at work.” Sound familiar? Exactly.
Meanwhile the women are in charge, running corporate spaces with that same energy we’ve seen mirrored in real-world environments – just flipped.
And that’s where the film starts quietly messing with you.
Yes, it’s comedy. Yes, it’s exaggerated. But you still catch yourself thinking about how much of this is satire and how much is just… reality turned upside down so you can actually see it properly.
And I won’t even pretend the setting isn’t giving luxury. Mansions in perfect locations, glass offices, polished everything. It’s giving “this budget was not small and we respect that”.
But underneath all of that, the core theme is what hits.
Power. Gender roles. Workplace bias. Who gets taken seriously and who has to constantly prove they belong in the room. It’s all there, just rebranded in a way that forces you to actually look at it.
Pike runs the corporate side with precision. Cohen runs the chaos. And somehow that balance keeps the film moving even when it gets loud, messy and slightly unhinged.
And yes, it’s funny. But it’s also one of those films where you laugh and then pause for a second like “Wait… why does that feel familiar?”
That’s the point, I guess.
Rating: *** solid and enjoyable, though not groundbreaking.
