Weekend with My Mother 

It’s no secret that men are in a position of power across most of the world. The United States has always been a patriarchy, and that doesn’t seem like it’s changing any time soon. In Ladies First, a misogynistic man gets a taste of his own medicine when he hits his head and wakes up in a universe where women are in charge. Over the course of the film, Damien Sachs (Sacha Baron Cohen) realizes how horribly he treats the women—namely, his subordinate Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike)—in his life. Meanwhile, the audience learns just how deep the internalized misogyny of the film’s writers goes.

In the flipped universe, women are in charge. They are also given incredibly masculine characteristics. Some of these make sense. Men manspread and mansplain because they are taught that they should take up space. If women were superior, of course they would also do this. However, at other times it feels like they’re mocking women. The ladies of the matriarchal world are shocked that Damien will drink anything other than pink fruity cocktails. They expect him to not wear a suit and instead wear loose, gender neutral clothing. Ladies First has a fundamental misunderstanding of what's feminine because of the patriarchy and what women do because they genuinely enjoy it.

It’s not to say there was nothing to like about Ladies First. At times it’s incredibly funny. Sacha Baron Cohen is excellent at portraying the worst type of powerful business man, and his shock when women start treating him that same way is fun to watch. Kathryn Hunter gives a standout supporting performance as Glenda, a cleaner in the patriarchy and the business’s owner in the matriarchy.