The Handmaid's Tale

A very depressing spectacle and the most sick totalitarianism since Hitler, a truly twisted fundamentalist regime. The story of life in a dystopian Gilead in the United States, where women have become sex slaves whose sole purpose is to procreate. While the series has a slower pace, it still holds the viewer's attention well, as this regime has a lot to offer and the gradual discovery and exploration is engaging enough. The main character is excellent and so is the rest (you'll hate Aunt Lydia). There is a lot of sex and there is room for violence (lots of hangings, cruel punishments), and there are some interesting surprises throughout. Emotional, psychological, sexual and very chilling. 80%. (16/09/2018)

An interesting vision of a dystopic society where fertile women change into incubators for the leading classes. Great work with information dosage is supported by excellent acting performances. Moss is convincing as the smart woman plunged into a nightmare and the white bonnet suits her. Atwood invented an intelligent and functional world with characters who grab the attention and the first season ends in perfect synchronization, exactly at the moment when the story and the leading lady enter a new phase that leaves behind what we know so far in a cloud of dust. No futuristic technological gadgets, just a couple of words about solar energy and smarter utilization of the human workforce. I look forward to seeing that world – it’s almost chillingly contemporary. (30/09/2017)

When a hot dinner, a cold bottle, and an ironed shirt cease to be a daily staple because the baby's cries and used diapers begin to dwindle suspiciously, it is necessary to reach for the time-tested collection of the Old Testament and gut out a few apocrypha that did not bend so efficiently even in the days of the Inquisition. I don't fully understand the criticism that is being leveled at it, especially from the right. The female quintet behind the camera is very down-to-earth and sensitive. In fact, the social apocalypse is an almost intimate affair, with events happening in passing and the viewer praying to see more, but fearing that on a more global scale, it will fall apart. From my perspective, though, it takes the incredible internal dynamic from the fact that no other dystopia I can remember has gone so much to the root of the hypocrisy that automatically accompanies all totalitarian systems. It bubbles under the surface perfectly, but Jezebel’s visit definitely pushes it to a genre event that imagines the apocalypse without nuclear fallout. (20/11/2017)

After the first season, I was basically satisfied. The theme was great, I enjoyed the story, and I was looking forward to the next season. Imagine my disappointment after that. Season 2 very quickly ruined everything I liked about the show and focused mostly on emotional blackmail and constant close-ups of Offred's face, which was torture. The development of the characters got stuck in a loop (the personality traits of the characters lacked any kind of nuance). Logic, atmosphere and pace of the story went AWOL, and after Season 2, I’m going to follow suit. (03/10/2018)

From the expected intensively experienced relationship, two hesitant dates emerged. Mutual getting to know each other ended with the realization that I am putting the series on hold, or rather into the drawer of works worth watching until I break both legs and more attractive and interesting titles come along. What stood between me and The Handmaid's Tale wasn't the director or the actors, but Margaret Atwood herself. Her world of a totalitarian society, in my opinion, is built on foundations that are too shaky, I didn't believe in its existence, and therefore nothing motivated me, despite its undeniable screenwriting and other qualities, to immerse myself in it. In my opinion, the crisis would develop and the regime resulting from it would have completely different parameters. Alternative history and projecting the near or distant future make sense, but these things should adhere to logic. Three stars express the qualities of the project's craftsmanship, and this time I will also forgo a percentage rating. (20/01/2019)