The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 41 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 523 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	Your Score
7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 523 Ratings

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The Handmaid's Tale

Now Playing: The Handmaid's Tale

Season Details & Credits

HULU | Season Premiere Date: April 30, 2017

Starring: Alexis Bledel, Elisabeth Moss, O.T. Fagbenle

Summary: In the totalitarian society of Gilead, a handmaiden enslaved to produce a child for Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) named Offred (Elisabeth Moss) seeks the daughter taken from her in this drama series based on Margaret Atwood’s best-selling novel.

Genre(s): Drama, Science Fiction

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E10. Night
Air Date: June 14, 2017
tbd
S1:E9. The Bridge
Air Date: June 7, 2017
tbd
S1:E8. Jezebels
Air Date: May 31, 2017

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Metascore

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Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Kristi Turnquist

Apr 20, 2017

Painfully timely. It's also absolutely enraging, and completely riveting. ... The Handmaid's Tale isn't just the best original show Hulu has ever done. It's one of the most impressive series of the year. Read full review

100

Scott D. Pierce

Apr 24, 2017

At least in the first three episodes, which were screened for critics, everything comes together for A Handmaid's Tale--Miller's script, direction by Reed Morano (who's best known as a cinematographer) and the performances. Moss' performance is arresting. Read full review

100

Tom Long

Apr 28, 2017

[It] sounds pretty dark, and it is, but the wonder of both Atwood’s novel and the series is that it actually manages to be playful and witty at times. Read full review

Verne Gay

Apr 25, 2017

Beautiful, immersive and joyless, Tale can be tough to watch, but “rewarding” trumps “tough.” Read full review

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Apr 26, 2017

It is ambitious, rich, complex, beautifully made television. It may take a couple episodes to really show you what it has to offer, but then you won’t be able to turn away. Read full review

Kelly Lawler

Apr 25, 2017

The Handmaid’s Tale is something unique, with an adult take on the dystopian genre and a somber and relevant story about the lives and fears of women. The show serves as a wake-up call, and you won’t easily fall back asleep after viewing. Read full review

John Anderson

Apr 21, 2017

The problem with Hulu’s Handmaid is that nothing is dreadful enough. ... Ms. Moss’s Offred comments regularly on her condition with outraged, silent vulgarities, and seems appalled by rituals and outrages that had become routine in the book. ... But the original Offred was almost too terrorized to imagine defiance, much less exercise it. And such calibrated portraiture helped make the novel click. Read full review

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User Score

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7.9

User Reviews

Bianca9

Mar 21, 2019

It´s must-watch show. So deep and wonder. It´s very hard to watch sometimes but realy worth.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Glic2003

Feb 27, 2019

This is probably the most perfect realization of Atwood's terrifying novel imaginable. Everything hits the right notes: the cast, the performances, the production. Even the (admittedly very slow) pacing seems right on point. It's still a horrible premise, but it's an excellent adaptation.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

DukeCumberjack

Apr 26, 2017

Don't believe the low user ratings. Excellent distopian drama. Leave politics aside while you watch--it has been an incredibly well done series so far after three episodes.

32 of 60 users found this helpful3228

JLuis_001

Sep 6, 2017

A sad but crude and surprisingly close portrait of a future in which we can fall.
It is not easy to observe and even several times you will feel impotent, but when a series like this gets an emotional response from you, you know that it is very good and did its job well.

2 of 10 users found this helpful28

LamontRaymond

Apr 30, 2017

It begins with an interesting premise, but it feels a little "samey". Feels like I've seeing it before, whether it was Children of Men, or Man in the High Castle. I feel that it needs to play with its score a bit more like Leftovers does so effectively. And one of my faves, YvonneIt begins with an interesting premise, but it feels a little "samey". Feels like I've seeing it before, whether it was Children of Men, or Man in the High Castle. I feel that it needs to play with its score a bit more like Leftovers does so effectively. And one of my faves, Yvonne Strahovski, feels like she's being wasted. You can't just have her sitting there, seething, through the first two episodes. I know it's early, and I'll revise my score if need be as more episodes unfold. [Added after 3rd Ep;] Things picked up during the 3rd episode, and one thing became clear - this series is one hell of an endorsement for stronger 2nd Amendment protections. Can't imagine this anti-woman regime would ever gain a foothold in the United States with the number of legally armed women we have now.… Expand

20 of 42 users found this helpful2022

ndrgdsdc

Jun 10, 2018

The show is set in Gilead, a male-dominated dystopian society clearly intended as a reflection of the patriarchy/misogyny/homophobia present in far-right Christian politics in the US. However, the portrayal is so hyperbolic that any useful social commentary gets lost. For example, this isThe show is set in Gilead, a male-dominated dystopian society clearly intended as a reflection of the patriarchy/misogyny/homophobia present in far-right Christian politics in the US. However, the portrayal is so hyperbolic that any useful social commentary gets lost. For example, this is how the show deals with misogyny: all male characters in the show are two-dimensional, most are wholly evil, and all policy they seek to implement in Gilead is motivated solely by their desire to dominate women sexually. Religion is used by them to justify all their bad behavior and is portrayed with the same lack of complexity. Ultimately, the show leaves itself open to reasonable accusations of misandry, bigotry toward Christians, and that it relies on mostly straw-man arguments to make its point, which is, ironically, that misogyny and bigotry are bad.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

wrightfd

Feb 9, 2019

I have not read the book so I will only comment on this TV show, from what I have seen this is a poor propaganda at best, that pushes the narrative extremist men will enslave all women for the purposes of procreation, i'm not really buying the acting, the main character is a perpetual victimI have not read the book so I will only comment on this TV show, from what I have seen this is a poor propaganda at best, that pushes the narrative extremist men will enslave all women for the purposes of procreation, i'm not really buying the acting, the main character is a perpetual victim that is hugely sexist, all the men are one dimensional evil sexual deviant, even in the most barbaric of countries this type of treatment has not become mainstream, so suspension of disbelief is particularly hard.

TLDR; acting really poor, propaganda piece that soviet Russia would have found reasonable.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

SEE ALL 72 REVIEWS

Seasons & Episodes

83

Series Overview
Season 4

61
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: April 28, 2021
Season 3

68
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: June 5, 2019
Season 2

86
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: April 25, 2018
Season 1

92
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 30, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E10. Night
  Air Date: June 14, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E9. The Bridge
  Air Date: June 7, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E8. Jezebels
  Air Date: May 31, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E7. The Other Side
  Air Date: May 24, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E6. A Woman's Place
  Air Date: May 17, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E5. Faithful
  Air Date: May 10, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E4. Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum
  Air Date: May 3, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E3. Late
  Air Date: April 26, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E2. Birth Day
  Air Date: April 26, 2017
- 7.4
  S1:E1. Offred
  Air Date: April 26, 2017