The First Lady first reviews: Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson’s anthology series ‘leaves a sense of disappointment’

The First Lady, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson, has not pleased critics. After 10 reviews, it holds a rating of 40 per cent on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 15, 2022 10:42 AM IST

3 min read

the first lady, Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Gillian Anderson ,

Despite such a strong cast and creative team, The First Lady has managed to disappoint several critics.

The first reviews of Showtime’s anthology series The First Lady are out. Created by Aaron Cooley, the show attempts to reframe the American leadership and tells the stories inside the White House from, as the title suggests, the perspective of the first ladies (FLOTUS) Michelle Obama, Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson essay the roles of Michelle, Betty and Eleanor, respectively. The anthology also stars O. T. Fagbenle, Aaron Eckhart, Dakota Fanning, Kiefer Sutherland and Judy Greer.

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The ten-episode series is directed by Susanne Bier, best known for helming shows like The Night Manager and The Undoing.

Despite such a strong cast and creative team, The First Lady has managed to disappoint several critics. After 10 reviews, it holds a rating of 40 per cent on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

Here are excerpts from some of the reviews:

USA Today’s Kelly Lawler pointed out that due to multiple first ladies, the series is unable to do justice to even one of the characters. “There’s never quite enough from any one first lady, which leaves a sense of disappointment. It’s unfortunately a show that is lesser than the sum of its Emmy- and Oscar-winning parts,” she wrote.

Variety’s Caroline Framke thought the same, writing that series feels like it began as separate shows before merging into one. “Watching the series attempt to make sense of itself, it’s tempting to believe that it began as three separate Michelle, Betty, and Eleanor shows before The First Lady slapped them together into one,” the review read.

NPR’s David Bianculli gave a positive review. But even he was disappointed by the structure of the series, writing, “Even though I’m lukewarm about the structure of The First Lady, and wary of the depictions of some of the specific story lines, I’m also very, very enthusiastic about the lead performances.”

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The Guardian’s Adrian Horton opined, “You will find no objections from me to giving each of these real women a chance to fill a whole series with their dualities, tensions, and complications. But there’s very little of that realness here.”

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