After much controversy leading up to its release, Netflix’s docuseries “Queen Cleopatra” received a shockingly low audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The docudrama currently has a 2% audience score and 11% critic rating on the review platform.
“Willing to give it a chance since it was promoted so much for some reason on my feed. I don’t know where all the money goes to these shows you can never notice it. The acting wasn’t the worst but the story is just slow and dreadful,” one review said.
“If this was supposed to be a fictitious, loosely based reimagining of Queen Cleopatra this would be an otherwise ok film,” another commenter said. “However it is being showcased as a documentary and the insurmountable inaccuracies of this ‘documentary’ are too many to ignore.”
“Hopelessly inaccurate and a complete failure to understand Egyptian culture and history. No depth or atmosphere of the time. Just a poor attempt to Americanize Egyptian history by changing it to suit American Culture,” a third review echoed.
The critics weren’t much better. “It’s too soapy for serious history fans, and not enough of a soap for viewers who like juicy historical dramas,” the Daily Telegraph reviewer wrote.
“Queen Cleopatra” was controversial from the start due to casting actress Adele James to play the main role. Many Egyptians were especially furious over this because James is mixed race and they believe the real Cleopatra had lighter skin.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities previously released a statement condemning the Jada Pinkett Smith-produced docuseries claiming that the project didn’t truly reflect history, as The Daily Wire previously reported. It recently announced that Egypt’s state-affiliated United Media Services will produce its own Cleopatra documentary featuring a lighter-skinned version of the historical queen.
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“Queen Cleopatra” director Tina Gharavi responded to criticism about casting James. “Doing the research, I realized what a political act it would be to see Cleopatra portrayed by a black actress,” Gharavi wrote in an article for Variety.
“Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white?” she asked. “Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians it seems to really matter,” she said.