I have no problem with the 'politics' or plausibility of the storyline, but the stifling pace ruined a lot of good acting and well thought out set designs.
One can only assume that the legions of reviews that rated this show 8 Stars and above never read the book and were simply stunned by the concept of a dystopian future where a misogynistic, authoritarian political climate might evolve. My guess is they're equally unfamiliar with Sharia law - and likely very resentful of the orange haired guy's election victory.
As others have pointed out, the main character's appearance is distracting and often jarring as she simply appears too old. After all, she is is supposed to be the epitome of a young fecund woman. That said, I found her acting to be mostly adequate since as the eponymous handmaid she would of necessity had to hide her emotions - so her lack of range is part of the characterization I suppose.
The roles of the other handmaids are either played by better actresses or perhaps the director allowed them more range, but it's fortunate in my opinion because a host of robotic performances like the lead would have put me to sleep by the end of the second episode. And the highlight of the show for me was the character of Serena Joy; the actress playing her part showed some real flashes of talent I've not seen in her other roles.
Unfortunately, what could have been a well paced six hour mini-series was milked for a multi-season show. It's not bad, it's simply diluted down to mediocrity. One can only assume that the legions of reviews that rated this show 8 Stars and above never read the book and were simply stunned by the concept of a dystopian future where a misogynistic, authoritarian political climate might evolve.
37 out of 82 found this helpful