- THR: 'The Handmaid's Tale': TV Review.
- A|V Club Review: Praise be to the arresting, topical nightmare of The Handmaids Tale.Hulu's all-too-timely adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel is one of the spring's best new shows and makes Elisabeth Moss an immediate Emmy contender.
- Vox: Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale is an extraordinary adaptation of an enduring classic.oss grounds her character in a quest for reclamationof her autonomy, of her identity, of (should the fates allow) her family. Her comic timing pokes holes through The Handmaids Tales abiding darkness, and she locates a sense of resiliency in Offreds private acts of defiance. Her takeand the shows takeon the character is a distinct blend of what Atwood once identified as the main thrust of Canadian literature (survival) and a gumption most closely associated with the country Offred once called America. This can cause some tonal clash in the voice-overthe mission statement that closes episode one feels like it belongs in a different showbut it also gives The Handmaids Tale the necessary verve for an ongoing series. (This should be a limited series, but thats neither here nor there.) And Moss has to make the conviction count, because itd be noticeable in all those close-ups if she didnt.
- Vulture: Hulus The Handmaids Tale Is Your Must-Watch Show This Spring.Just as much credit goes to The Handmaids Tales writers, headed up by showrunner Bruce Miller, who have used Atwoods immortal book not as fodder for a direct adaptation (which would make for a very different TV show), but as a door into another world, one very like our own but with enough changes to make both its horrors and our own worlds terrors more acute. The result is a series that both embellishes and stays faithful to the world of Atwoods book; as the very last word of the first episode will indicate, the adaptation is poised to remain true to the spirit of the book, if not the exact letter.
The first three episodes are, appropriately, directed by a female filmmaker, Reed Morano, best known for her work as a cinematographer on everything from the movie The Skeleton Twins to HBOs Vinyl to Beyoncés Lemonade. She brings a confident visual aesthetic to the series that is impossible to ignore yet not excessively showy.