Ratings: 5.9/10
Runtime: 1h 30min
Genres: Comedy
Director: Thea Sharrock
Writer: Natalie Krinsky, Cinco Paul, Katie Silberman
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, Tom Davis
Language: English
Ladies First 2026 directed by Thea Sharrock walks into the room wearing polished charm then quietly slips a knife beneath the table. The film starts light. Sharp jokes. Champagne fizz. Velvet hotel halls glowing under amber light. However the mood sours fast once ambition and betrayal begin chewing through every relationship onscreen. Sharrock keeps the camera close to faces and that choice matters. Tiny flinches land harder than speeches. Meanwhile crowded gala scenes pulse with nervous energy full of clinking glasses and fake smiles stretched too tight. Several early reactions online have praised the film’s uneasy balance between biting comedy and emotional wreckage and honestly that friction gives the story its teeth. It never feels soft. The performances carry bruised weight. One stare across a dinner table says more than pages of dialogue. Then somebody snaps. Suddenly the room feels airless. What surprised me most was the anger simmering underneath the glamour . So it burns slow. Moreover the cinematography avoids glossy perfection. Shadows stain the corners of expensive rooms therefore even moments of success feel slightly rotten. For viewers searching through afdah for drama with claws Ladies First cuts deeper than expected and refuses to smooth its rough edges.