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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
17
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews
Jun 18, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The show devotes too much time to developing peripheral characters of unequal interest, while resorting to the stale tactic of Sheila's narration contradicting what actually comes out of her mouth too often, punctuated by those rare moments of candor when she says what's truly on her mind.
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RogerEbert.comAug 2, 2023
Season 3 Review:
It leans into the lore of its previous two seasons, a move that feels a little unearned for a show with around 15 hours to its name. This final season is also disjointed, as if they had to stuff multiple seasons of plot and character development into one last set of episodes.
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Jun 18, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Physical would be unwatchable misery if it wasn’t for Byrne’s performance. Her Sheila is a mess that’s fraying at her edges. In Byrne’s hands, that jittery exterior gives way to a bellowing sadness and frustration not just at her life gone wrong, but also the state of the world around her.
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Jun 18, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Rose Byrne is an immensely likable actress playing a character who needs help but is too shallow, too self-consumed and too damaged to know where to look. We get the feeling it’s exhausting to be Sheila. And, unfortunately, it’s exhausting to spend so much time with her.
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Jun 7, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Physical spends so much time on Danny’s boring campaign that we’re often not rooting for anyone we see on screen. ... The only reason we root for Sheila at all is Byrne, who stokes her character’s desperation while gradually finding the building blocks of her strength, in aerobics class and out of it.
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The GuardianJun 18, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Everyone in the cast does good work with their thinly written characters, who have few redeeming features among them. Not least Byrne, whose commitment makes Sheila credible even in her most vicious or unlikely moments (stealing video equipment from a potential political ally foremost among them). But Physical feels like a wasted opportunity generally.
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Jun 17, 2021
Season 1 Review:
A distinctly flat and unfocused example. Abusing its status as satire, it doesn’t work hard enough either to generate real laughs or to coherently dramatize the serious issues — fulfillment, control, body image, the slow fade of idealism — around which it jury-rigs its story.
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Jun 17, 2021
Jun 16, 2021
Season 1 Review:
With this star, setting, and premise, Physical looked from a distance like another surefire success. But just as Sheila Rubin’s picture-perfect exterior conceals a whole lot of pain and suffering, the glitzy packaging of Physical is wrapped around a miserable, frustrating show.
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Jun 16, 2021
Season 1 Review:
If you accept going in that Physical is a dark and tormented character study propelled by an ultra-intense performance from Rose Byrne, there are things to be engaged by. But I’ve rarely seen a show more committed to following storylines I didn’t care about at the expense of its best assets. ... After 10 episodes, I can’t say Physical has inspired me to become that inner voice motivating you to watch.
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