“LADIES FIRST”

We’ve all seen movies where the unlikable main character must embark on a fantastical journey to gain a new perspective and become a better person. It is not a new trope, nor will it be a narrative device that leaves storytelling anytime soon, because, as the old saying goes, sometimes you need to walk in someone else’s shoes to understand their experience. So, even if this structure may be seen over and over again, when done right, it does provide both entertaining and thoughtful ideas.
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“Ladies First,” the English remake of the French Netflix film “I Am Not an Easy Man” (Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile), follows Damien (Sacha Baron Cohen), who is, to put it nicely, a chauvinistic misogynist. As a senior employee of a marketing company currently on the track to take over as CEO, Damien gets everything he wants. From designer clothes to any girl he wants, all he needs to do is ask. So much so that when the company needs a female creative director for a new Guinness product targeting women, he barks at his assistant to bring in the best female worker. This is Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike), who has been working diligently at the company for 20 years. But on her first day in her newly promoted position, Damien ignores Alex and says she is only there as an official “female representative.” Appalled, Alex quits calling Damien a sexist as she storms out of the building, and as Damien observes an attractive woman, he slams into a pole. But when he wakes up, he finds himself transported into a world where women are now the dominant gender.
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From the original French concept, “Ladies First” is incredibly appealing. From the simple gag of a man trying to navigate a world now ruled by women, the viewing is highly entertaining (especially when that man is Sacha Baron Cohen), and director Thea Sharrock takes full advantage of the concept. For example, fashion billboards now feature nearly naked men, food is marketed as low-fat for men, and all the classic literary novels star a female protagonist (e.g., Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings). This new world is less a utopia and more the modern world if gender roles were reversed, offering both a comedic and cathartic viewing experience as audiences watch Damien navigate it and experience what so many women around the world do.
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Cohen is known for playing extreme fish-out-of-water characters, and Damien is another great addition. He clearly plays both sides of Damien so that the audience knows exactly how he became a man of power. Yes, he’s a straight man, which gives him privilege, but he is also smart, charming, and confident. So, when the world literally flips upside down, it is amusing to see his arrogance get the best of him or his charm fail to impress the women or be embarrassed when Alex, his new boss in this dimension, asks if it’s time of the month since he’s acting emotional. Cohen excels in the comedy of Damien as we see him try to adjust to this new world and figure out a way to get back home (which is only possible by becoming the CEO).

Rosamund Pike also has a lot of fun with her role as Alex. Within the original world, Alex is a hard worker who isn’t allowed to showcase her full potential. This allows Pike to stretch her muscles and play an agreeable character with the potential for power. But in the other universe, Alex is much more like a traditional Rosamund Pike character; she is now also in contention for CEO and runs the agency like the Navy. But Alex has consistency in her daughter, who is present in both worlds. This is a nice touch, as it never suggests that having children is detrimental to advancing a career. Together, Cohen and Pike have a lot of fun and develop strong chemistry.
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“Ladies First” will make its audience laugh while critiquing the constant hurdles women must jump through to live a satisfying life, hopefully opening some people’s eyes. At the end of the day, it is a fun British romantic comedy that we are all in desperate need of. And as with any film using this narrative device, observing Damien learn about the harms of his actions —sexism—from this experience can be quite captivating. After all, it is cathartic to see a man get a taste of his own medicine and experience a slice of female life.

The film doesn’t aim to offer a lesson or an answer to the centuries-old problem of sexism. “Ladies First” is not a call to action or a manifesto on this social problem. But it does showcase how ridiculous a concept it is, which is one of the first steps toward fixing the problem.