The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale is set in Gilead, a religious and authoritarian state that has risen from the ruins of the United States amid pollution, nuclear accidents and a sharp decline in fertility. Most women can no longer bear children, so those who can are seized and placed with the regime's commanders as reproductive servants. Kate, captured while trying to flee with her family, is assigned to Commander Fred and given the name Offred, marking her as his property. She must live under constant surveillance, and any transgression is punishable by death, as the bodies hanging on the fences around Gilead constantly remind her.

Volker Schlöndorff directed the film, which followed Death of a Salesman in his filmography. Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay, and Natasha Richardson plays Kate, with Faye Dunaway as Serena Joy, Aidan Quinn as Nick, Elizabeth McGovern as Moira, Victoria Tennant as Aunt Lydia and Robert Duvall as the Commander. The production had a budget of 13 million dollars and returned about 5 million at the worldwide box office.

Audience response has been mixed but broadly positive: on IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from roughly 12,000 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 6.1 out of 10, from around 295 votes. The critics' rating of 5.2 out of 10 from 23 reviews is lower than both audience scores.