Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Ana de Armas, Netflix, Rotten Tomatoes, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Ana de Armas, Netflix, Rotten Tomatoes, Film and TV
A film centered on the late, great Marilyn Monroe wasn't well received by fans.
The film dropped on Netflix back in 2022 and sees Ana De Armas, best known for starring in Knives Out and No Time To Die, portray Monroe.
The actress underwent a huge transformation for the role and ditched her brunette locks for that of Monroe's statement bleach blonde 'do.
But the R-rated film didn't go down well with Netflix viewers.
Advert
Blonde divided professional critics at the time of it's release, with a great deal of disapproval regarding director Andrew Dominik’s depiction of sexual assault and trauma. It currently has a 42 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
X users also roasted Blonde, with hot takes and amateur reviews calling it ‘awful’ and ‘exploitative’.
“Tried to watch @netflix Blonde,” one person commented at the time.
“Couldn’t stomach more than about 20 minutes of the nearly three hours length. That 20 minutes was nothing but cruel and heartbreaking. Absolutely unwatchable.”
“#Blonde on Netflix is tragically awful. RIP Norma Jean,” another wrote.
A third social media user shared a warning about the film’s content and urged people to ‘prepare themselves before watching'.
“I'm now 20 minutes into #Blonde and even though Netflix has offered a disclaimer about sexual content it should be noted that there are scenes of child abuse, violence against women and rape.
"Please prepare yourselves if you watch this. I'm flinching throughout.”
Another person shared their disappointment with the film.
They wrote: “Not even 20 minutes in, and I am thoroughly NOT enjoying the new Marilyn movie. #blonde.”
While one viewer rushed to check X to see how others were reacting.
“I watched the first 20 minutes of #blonde and then immediately had to check twitter to see if I was missing something or if other people were as disgusted as I am,” they wrote. “I feel vindicated.”
One person only lasted 15 minutes. “Nah…the beginning of this #Blonde movie not for the faint of heart,” they warned. “I’m about ready to turn it off in the first 15 minutes."
Amid the criticism about exploitation, Ana de Armas said she didn't feel exploited filming nude scenes for the film.
The 34-year-old told Entertainment Weekly: "It's harder for people to watch [those scenes] than for me to make them, because I understood what I was doing and I felt very protected and safe.
"I didn't feel exploited because I was in control. I made that decision. I knew what the movie I was doing. I trusted my director. I felt like I was in a safe environment.
"We had hundreds of conversations about these scenes. Everyone felt a deep respect for the movie we were making. And in that sense, I had no fear. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, even though they were really hard scenes."
Blonde is available to stream on Netflix.