Critics and regular viewers don’t always agree, and that just so happens to be the case with one of Netflix’s newest titles. On Tuesday, April 12, the streamer released one of its worst-reviewed shows yet, Hard Cell, and while the series has received a rare and unsavory 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, it has earned rave reviews from the audience.
The documentary-style comedy takes place over a six-week period in the fictional female prison, HMP Woldsley, where inmates and staff are working together to put on a musical directed by ex-Eastender’s star Cheryl Fergison. Rehearsals draw together an oddball collection of women, with Catherine Tate starring in six different roles, including Laura Willis, the Governor who believes creativity leads to rehabilitation, and Big Viv, the psychopath lifer. The series, per Netflix, is “surprising yet surprisingly moving” and “leans into the comical truth of prison life,” though critics don’t seem to agree with that assessment.
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While Netflix has scored massive success on the review front with several titles that have earned 100% positive ratings, Hard Cell is on the other end of that spectrum. The series hasn’t even earned a meager 1% on Rotten Tomatoes, where its rating currently sits at exactly 0%, with one critics writing that the series “feels terribly dated, with endless toilet humour” as another wrote that it is “one show that should remain behind bars.” Meanwhile, Decider gave the series a “skip it” consensus.
“Between the tired format and the idea that Tate is playing most of the featured characters, Hard Cell becomes a lot to take, even after the first 30 minutes,” critic Joel Keller wrote for the outlet. “We can’t imagine it getting much better during its first season.”
Audience members don’t seem to agree, though. In fact, Hard Cell has received an 86% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that percentage of viewers have rated the series 3.5 or higher, and a Twitter poll posted by Decider saw 34.3% of respondents encouraging others to stream the series as compared to 25.3% who advised others to skip it. Writing on Rotten Tomatoes, one audience member said the series is a “mixture of comedy, drama and emotional parts,” with another admitting that “the ‘critics’ have no idea. Laughed at this through the whole series. Definitely worth a watch.” Hard Cell is available for streaming on Netflix.
