Starz is set to release “Gaslit” this weekend, with an eight-episode limited series based on the infamous 1970s Watergate scandal and some of the untold stories during that time.
The series, which stars Julia Roberts as Martha Mitchell and Sean Penn as John Mitchell, is set to premiere on Sunday and has already received an 88% fresh critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
While most critics are satisfied with the latest spin on the Watergate scandal, others were disappointed with the storyline and the casting of Roberts.
Here are some of the reviews about the series.
TV Line - Dave Nemetz
“‘Gaslit’ is a wickedly entertaining and irreverent look at an infamous slice of American history that none of these characters are particularly proud to be a part of.”
Chicago Sun-Times - Richard Roeper
“‘Gaslit’ is a valuable reminder that in the matter of Watergate, she was on the right side of history.”
Entertainment Weekly - Darren Franich
“This snazzy but pandering miniseries takes a recognizably post-Trump approach to the Nixon administration’s dirty tricks.”
Variety - Daniel D’Addario
“The particularities of the way Nixonian paranoia played itself out over the national landscape defy easy comparison, and yet the show makes frequent, flat gestures towards the modern day.”
USA Today - Kelly Lawler
“Funny, fierce, and even occasionally profound as it unfolds the farcical events of the scandal, from the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters to the FBI investigation to the congressional hearings to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.”
Vanity Fair - Richard Lawson
“Gaslit is crafted with enough style to dimly distinguish itself, even if its substance is more familiar than I’d hoped it would be.”
Washington Post - Inkoo Kang
“Roberts simply feels miscast as Martha, to whom she bears no resemblance, physical or otherwise. Martha was willing to shuck her ladylike trappings — to be ugly and to say ugly things — in ways the actor evidently is not.”
CNN.com - Brian Lowry
“Losing a bit of momentum down the stretch thanks in part to its diffused storylines and semi-satirical tone, it’s still an extremely well-cast look at the presidential scandal that made the suffix ‘gate’ part of our lexicon.
“Gasliit” premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Starz.
Julia Roberts and Sean Penn star in “Gaslit.” Photo: Starz
