8.2
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
Overview
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Rating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Progressive
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Christianity: Negative
Judaism: Positive
Viewer Rating
8.2
Overview
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Progressive
Primary
The film's central thesis explicitly promotes a critique of religious fundamentalism and patriarchal totalitarianism, highlighting the systemic oppression and dehumanization of women and advocating for bodily autonomy and resistance, aligning with progressive ideology.
The movie features a predominantly traditional cast in its main roles. However, its narrative strongly critiques traditional patriarchal power structures, explicitly portraying white, male, fundamentalist figures as the oppressive forces within a dystopian society.
Secondary
The Handmaid's Tale depicts LGBTQ+ characters, such as Emily and Moira, enduring extreme persecution under Gilead's oppressive regime. While showcasing horrific violence and discrimination, the narrative unequivocally condemns these acts. The show portrays these characters with dignity, resilience, and agency, affirming the worth of queer lives by framing their suffering as a consequence of external evil, not their identity.
The show portrays a fictional, extremist Christian fundamentalist regime (Gilead) as inherently oppressive, cruel, and misogynistic. Its 'Christian' ideology is used to justify systemic rape, torture, and the subjugation of women, with no significant counterbalancing positive portrayal of the faith itself within the narrative.
The show depicts Jewish people as victims of severe persecution, forced conversion, and 'resettlement' by the oppressive Gilead regime. The narrative clearly frames this bigotry as wrong, positioning the audience to sympathize with the victimized Jewish community and condemn the atrocities committed against them.
The Handmaid's Tale does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The series focuses on cisgender women's experiences within a dystopian, patriarchal society, and therefore offers no portrayal of transgender identity to evaluate.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
The television series "The Handmaid's Tale" is a direct adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel. All major characters whose gender was established in the source material maintain the same gender in the show, with no instances of canonical gender swaps.
The source novel does not explicitly specify the race of several characters, including Moira, Luke, and Rita. While the show cast Black actors in these roles, their race was not canonically established as different in the original text, thus not meeting the definition of a race swap.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
8.3
8.1
Critic Ratings
8.3
8.0
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