Ex-President Barack Obama and Former First Lady Michelle Obama have released their first production, a documentary called American Factory, as part of their anticipated team-up with Netflix.The power couple signed a multiyear agreement with the streaming service to produce several original series and films back in 2018, so we've been expecting this release for a while now. The pleasant surprise, however, was just howwell-review their debut has been—an exciting result for the Obamas, Netflix, and, of course, all of us.
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What's it about?
American Factory was acquired by the former First Couple's production company for Netflix, Higher Grounds, after it played at Sundance some months ago. In it,China's Fuyao corporation seeks to establish an auto glass-manufacturing enterprise in an abandoned General Motors plant in Ohio, for which it hires 2,000 American employees to work alongside Chinese immigrants.As Netflix's official description reads,
"Cultures collide. Hope survives. When a Chinese billionaire re-opens a factory and hires two thousand blue-collar Americans, early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America."
As such, the documentary features the dynamics between workers of different cultural and national backgrounds.At first, US and Chinese employees genuinely attempt to bond with each other, and their efforts seem to be going well. They share Thanksgiving dinners, take shooting lessons together and go fishing. But soon issues strike the workforce as the company takes heavy financial losses, which leads its new Chinese owners to fire American managers and appeal to Chinese nationalism to get them to work harder. This, of course,divides the staff almost beyond repair.
Netflix
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Raving reviews
The documentary currently holds a 97% approval rate at Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty huge. The page reads: "American Factorytakes a thoughtful -- and troubling -- look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy."
It also holds a score of 83% at Metacritic,indicating "universal acclaim" according to the site. All in all, it's safe to say reception has been more than favorable, and we can all expect American Factoryto be a worthwhile watch at this point. If nothing else, the documentary is a worthy cinematic debut for the Obamas.
American Factorysaw a limited release in a few selected theaters this week (which makes it elegible for an Oscar nomination next year), and is available for streaming on Netflix as of today.
(Cover photo: @michelleandbarack)
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