This was very funny to me. I know a ton of people are going to feel offended.

Ladies First starts from an idea that could have worked on paper: placing a sexist man in a reality where social rules have been reversed and forcing him to experience, through comedy, some of the things he has ignored or dismissed for years. The problem is that the film handles that premise with very obvious clumsiness. It has intentions, yes, but intention is not enough when the jokes feel late, the mechanisms are too obvious and the satire seems painted with a very broad brush. There are a few funny moments, especially because Sacha Baron Cohen knows how to move within that kind of uncomfortable comedy and because the cast tries to lift scenes that do not always have much life in them. But the film never reaches the lightness or comic effectiveness of What Women Want, which played with a related idea from another angle and, despite its flaws, was much funnier. Here, the effort to say something important is too visible, while the film never finds a truly fresh way to say it. The biggest problem is that many of the sexist jokes do not always feel as if they are dismantling sexism; sometimes they simply repeat it with a supposedly critical coating. That can become irritating, because the film wants to condemn certain attitudes but often gets trapped in the same clichés it is trying to mock. There are moments when it is hard to know whether you are laughing at the idea, at how dated it feels, or at how bluntly it is executed. It also feels too schematic. The protagonist must learn a lesson, the reversed world must confront him with his contradictions, and the film marks each step with very little surprise. Instead of becoming a sharp, uncomfortable and genuinely smart comedy about gender dynamics, it turns into a series of fairly predictable situations, with the occasional good moment and a lot of wasted talent. It is not unbearable, because some scenes do have a spark and the cast prevents it from completely collapsing. But it remains a very minor comedy, more concerned with underlining its message than with building good jokes or believable characters. To talk about sexism, privilege and inequality through comedy, you need more precision. Ladies First has a strong idea, but turns it into something too flat, occasionally annoying and much less funny than it should be.

Another forgettable Sacha Baron Cohen film, as if he’s still paying penance for Ali G and Borat through an endless string of humiliating roles. 🙄

Could't really showcase what women actually suffered.And I don't like the end.

Ladies First follows Damien Sachs, a powerful advertising executive who finds himself pulled into a parallel world where women hold the dominant positions in business and society. In this new reality, he is stripped of his status and forced to experience the same dismissive treatment he once gave others, as roles across his company and personal life are completely reversed. He attempts to navigate this shift while trying to work out how to return to his original world and reclaim his position. The story moves through repeated cycles of reversal and humiliation, before leading into a familiar redemption arc where Damien eventually returns to his original world and attempts to make amends. It feels 40 years too late in its concept, with the satire weakened by modern context, including the fact that women have already held top political office in the UK and the now exposed lie of a so called gender pay gap. The result is a strong idea stretched too thin, creating a predictable and uneven comedy that scores 4 out of 10. Full Review at https://www.beentothemovies.com/2026/05/review-ladies-first-2026-film-starring.html