Ever since Ana de Armas’ first look in Netflix’s Blonde came out, the internet has been waiting for the movie to drop. Now that the movie is officially having its limited theatre run, with a streaming debut scheduled for next Wednesday (Sep 28), reviews have started pouring in. And it’s not looking overwhelmingly positive.   

Don’t get us wrong, Blonde seems to be a mixed bag for now. Both critics and audiences seem to be divided, as reflected by its 53 percent critics score and a 43 percent audience score, with some hailing it as “miserabilist” and others as “fascinating”.  

Directed by Andrew Dominik, Blonde is based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates and tells a fictionalized story of Marilyn Monroe’s life. Here’s what the official synopsis reads – “Blonde boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.”  

Along with Armas, the movie also features Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, and Julianne Nicholson. In case you’re planning to watch the fictionalized biopic next weekend, here’s what the critics are saying.   

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian writes: “[Ana de Armas’] performance is great; the film itself is self-satisfied and incurious.”  

Meanwhile, Richard Brody of the New Yorker appears to be less impressed writing, “The movie is ridiculously vulgar—the story of Monroe as if it were channeled through Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”  

In a positive review, Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall wrote: “The film is charged with energy and passion, ambitiously visual and anchored by a fiercely layered performance from Ana de Armas. It also has strong things to say about celebrity culture, even as it knowingly deploys the myths.”