The Handmaid's Tale

Critics Consensus

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31%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 16

44%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 5,701

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Movie Info

Margaret Atwood's vision of a fundamentalist Christian dystopia is grimly fascinating, but much less trenchant than it might have been. It takes place in a future where pollution has rendered 99 per cent of the women in the U.S. infertile. The country is ruled by a fundamentalist Christian dictatorship, which has sequestered all fertile women to serve as breeders for sufficiently wealthy families. Made slightly after the heyday of the Christian right, the film clearly intended to do for that movement what Orwell did for Communism in 1984 -- to envision the consequences of its ideology. But, the film's imagination is limited, and concentrating as much as it does on the mandated child-bearing relationship of Robert Duvall, Natasha Richardson, and Faye Dunaway, it seems less a satire of a madly conservative theocracy than the more banal story of a maid trying to avoid her boss' advances. Schlondorff does little to enhance the film's apocalyptic intentions, shooting and framing much of it like a gothic romance gone awry. Duvall and Dunaway are as effective as they can be within the ritualized framework of their characters, but Richardon is strangely pallid as an ostensible rebel. Elizabeth McGovern has the best of it as a free-spirited "gender traitor" or gay woman, and her few scenes come as a welcome relief.

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Cast

Natasha Richardson
as Kate /Offred
Robert Duvall
as Commander
Faye Dunaway
as Serena Joy
Aidan Quinn
as Nick
Elizabeth McGovern
as Moira
Victoria Tennant
as Aunt Lydia
Blanche Baker
as Ofglen
Traci Lind
as Ofwarren/Janine
David Dukes
as Doctor
Zoey Wilson
as Aunt Helena
Kathryn Doby
as Aunt Elizabeth
Lucile Dew McIntyre
as Rita
Julian Bell
as TV Announcer
Gary Bullock
as Officer on bus
Ed Grady
as Old man
Jim Grimshaw
as Eye in van
J. Michael Hunter
as Preacher
Tom McGovern
as Guard #2
Janell McLeod
as Martha
Bill Owen
as TV Announcer
Robert Pentz
as Guard #1
Linda Pierce
as Another wife
Robert D. Raiford
as Dick
Reiner Schöne
as Luke
James Martin Jr.
as Steve
Muse Watson
as Guardian
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News & Interviews for The Handmaid's Tale

Elisabeth Moss, Alexis Bledel, and Joseph Fiennes Reveal 8 Ways The Handmaid’s Tale Brings the Book to Life
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Critic Reviews for The Handmaid's Tale

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (3)

View All Critic Reviews (16)

Audience Reviews for The Handmaid's Tale

  • Apr 28, 2011
    The best thing to be said about this is that Natasha Richardson is really, really beautiful in the film. What a dull adaptation of a slightly less dull novel.
    Jennifer X Super Reviewer
  • Jan 03, 2010
    The screenplay and the film fall short of Margaret Atwood's novel. It seems more like Lifetime porn than a disturbing look at a possible future. Disappointing.
    Juli R Super Reviewer
  • Jun 03, 2009
    The film adaptation of a dystopian future as envisaged by Margaret Atwood. Part morality tale, and part cautionary, told with a touch of intrigue. Natasha Richardson plays a woman caught in a web of moral rationalization and becomes the chosen vessel for the Commander's (Robert Duvall) seed. His wife (Faye Dunaway) holds the reigns of power. This film does not hold up well, as most tales of the future do not. The prop master is limited in what technology he can predict and therefore the film looks dated. However, the moral and religious climate still makes the basic premise a possibility and for that, the story still resonates. Well done, but this viewer would recommend the book over this. The three main actors do a credible job, as do the supporting actors, Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth McGovern.
    Mark A Super Reviewer
  • Jun 30, 2007
    Chilling look at a possible future.
    April N Super Reviewer
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