Physical on Apple TV +: What does the press think about the series on aerobics with Rose Byrne?

What is it about?

The 1980s, on the California coast. A depressed housewife regains physical and mental energy thanks to the fashionable practice of aerobics!

Physical, by Annie Weisman with Rose Byrne, Rory Scovel, Paul Sparks, Della Saba … Available on Apple TV + since June 18.

What the press thinks

According to Le Figaro

Not a line of dialogue or a word too much. Not a sequence that does not serve history. Not a useless character. Not a comedian who mismatches the rest of the cast. Everything is thought out, troussé, pointed, sharpened by a staging that borrows from vintage without forgetting to be contemporary. 4.5 / 5

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According to Le Monde

One of the best finds of the series is the voice-over which gives voice to Sheila’s hateful soliloquies. There are many others, such as the one that consists of staging the young woman’s binge eating as a tragicomic ritual, a mixture of new age nudity and fast food. 4.5 / 5

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According to The Wall Street Journal

Viewers will be engrossed in the story which, after three or four episodes, may strike the viewer like a bag of free burgers and an empty motel room would for Sheila. 4/5

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According to The Washington Post

Perhaps the smartest decision on the show, aside from casting Rose Byrne, is her tendency to evoke rather than spoon-feed. 4/5

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According to IndieWire

In the end, Physical is a real showcase for Byrne that will make you jump in all directions even if the stories seem a little unbalanced. 4/5

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According to Les Inrocks

In the 1980s, a Californian discovered aerobics – while plunging with spectators into her inner throes. An attractive pitch, but a mixed result. 3/5

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According to Première

Undeniably, Rose Byrne shines in Physical, but in the genre, the series does not yet reach the level of On Becoming a God in Central Florida (in 2019). 3/5

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According to New York Times

It’s okay with Sheila being a withdrawn and unkind woman. But it’s a problem that through 10 episodes, we couldn’t figure out why. 2/5

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According to Télérama

The retro packaging, embedded under a soundtrack aligning the vintage tubes, reinforces the impression of déjà vu of the series. Annie Weisman does not seem to have much to deliver outside of the course of her heroine, whose small inner voice generates, over time, a wobbly comic dynamic. 2/5

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According to Variety

Sheila’s pains and compulsions are real and will speak to many, but they don’t say anything specific about her. 2/5

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