‘Cheer’ Season 1: Reviews for the Netflix Docuseries Are In

The reviews for Netflix‘s cheerleading docuseries, Cheer, are in, and most critics appear to enjoy the latest creation by Last Chance U director Greg Whiteley.

Linda Holmes of NPR was one of the many that praised Cheer, writing: “I found the series utterly engrossing, just perhaps not in the way its marketing suggests. I did see the hard work, the dedication, and the benefits of giving people a place to belong and to work hard. But I also saw something darker, something about which I felt much more ambivalent.”

The series, which was created for Netflix, debuted on Jan. 8, 2020. Many critics were hoping for a happy series focused on the fun aspects of being a cheerleader. Season 1 currently holds a 100 percent rating from critics, and 93 percent from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brady Langmann of Esquire added to the praise, pointing out how Cheer goes for a different tone than other docu-series. This isn’t the standard series created by ESPN or NFL Network.

“For the perspective of someone else than a guy like Larry Bird talking his way through the hundredth Celtics-dynasty documentary, Cheer is more than worth the watch,” Langmann writes. “It proves that, even after six seasons of 30 for 30 and years of HBO Sports documentaries, there are still stories out there that aren’t getting told.”

Cheer follows the coaches and cheerleaders at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. This small school has more than a dozen national championship titles under its belt after coach, Monica Aldama built the program from the ground up, and it has drawn attention for the sheer amount of training required to achieve this level of success.

As the docuseries shows, achieving success is never easy, and it often requires a staggering amount of strength and effort. These cheerleaders have to work for hours on end to build up their strength, and the slightest mistake could lead to a devastating injury.

As Hank Stuever of The Washington Post writes: “Cheer quickly and effortlessly becomes all-consuming for the viewer. Whiteley superbly structures the story through six episodes to heighten the anxiety as the competition nears.”

All six episodes of the cheerleading docuseries are available to stream on Netflix. With Whiteley having the popular Last Chance U on his resume, there were questions about how he would be able to tackle the world of competitive cheerleading. The majority of critics have declared that he was successful in this attempt.

Photo Credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images