--- title: "Lessons in Chemistry" year: 2023 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry" fi1m_id: "lessons-in-chemistry" imdb_id: "tt13911628" tmdb_id: 117303 wikidata_id: "Q113630126" fi1m_score: 63 critics_score: 62 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-10-01T00:01:41.772080+00:00" updated: "2026-10-01T00:01:53.030635+00:00" region: "HU" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Lessons in Chemistry (2023) Created by Lee Eisenberg · NMHH 16 · Drama ## Identity Lessons in Chemistry - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** lessons-in-chemistry - **IMDb ID:** tt13911628 - **TMDB ID:** 117303 - **Wikidata ID:** Q113630126 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13911628/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/117303, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113630126 **Fi1m score: 63** · Critics 62 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Everything in 1950s California has been pressed and lit, including the sexism > Lee Eisenberg’s adaptation of Bonnie Garmus’s novel is handsome, well acted and kind to everyone in it, which is the problem. Brie Larson and Aja Naomi King are worth the evening; the series around them keeps deciding not to hurt anyone. ## Synopsis California, the 1950s. Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) is a chemist employed as a lab technician at the Hastings Research Institute, where her boss Robert Donatti (Derek Cecil) puts his name to her work and Fran Frask (Stephanie Koenig) keeps the secretaries in line. Elizabeth wants a laboratory of her own and the doctorate she was denied. Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman), the institute’s celebrated and solitary chemist, mistakes her for a secretary, then argues with her over a tray of beakers, then cannot stop thinking about her. Across the street lives Calvin’s neighbour Harriet Sloane (Aja Naomi King), a mother and campaigner trying to stop a freeway being run through her neighbourhood. A stray dog attaches himself to the couple. Elizabeth names him Six-Thirty. ## Review Lee Eisenberg’s eight-part adaptation of Bonnie Garmus’s novel puts a gifted chemist in a 1950s California laboratory where the men publish her work and expect her to make the coffee. Elizabeth Zott is denied a doctorate and a laboratory of her own, and the series follows her out of the building and, by a route we will not describe, into a television kitchen. It is handsome, well acted and kind to everyone in it. It never once made us uncomfortable, which for a story about what was done to clever women is a strange thing to be able to say. It is a decent evening. It should have been a better one. Brie Larson plays Zott with her chin up and her voice flat, a woman who has decided that if she is going to be disliked she may as well be disliked for being right. She does not smile because someone would like her to. It is a controlled performance and a funny one, funnier than the series around it. Lewis Pullman’s Calvin Evans, the institute’s celebrated chemist, is all elbows and apologies, a man who has had a laboratory to himself for so long that another person in it is a chemical event. Their courtship, conducted over an argument about whose beakers are whose, is the best thing in the first two episodes, and Larson and Pullman play it as two people slowly realising they are not, after all, alone. Aja Naomi King is the other reason to watch. Her Harriet Sloane, the neighbour who wants a freeway kept out of her street, has a patience that is plainly costing her something, and the scenes in which she has to explain, again, to a room of white men why her home matters got at us more than anything in the laboratory did. We had not expected that. The series knows what it has in King, and it still leaves her on the margins for long stretches while the plot attends to Elizabeth’s troubles, which are real but which are also, by then, being solved. Zachary Galler and Jason Oldak shoot the period in warm, even light, so that the institute’s pale tiled corridors and Cat Smith’s rows of glassware look like a museum display of a laboratory rather than a place anyone sweated in. Smith’s best set is Elizabeth’s kitchen, refitted with burners and glass tubing until kitchen and lab are the same room, which is the whole series in one picture. Mirren Gordon-Crozier puts Elizabeth in trousers and plain shirts against the full skirts of the typing pool and lets the difference do the talking. Carlos Rafael Rivera’s strings arrive whenever a scene might have been allowed to sting and smooth it over. Six editors are credited, and the episodes have six slightly different rhythms. The gentleness is the trouble. Derek Cecil’s Donatti and Rainn Wilson’s Phil Lebensmal, the station boss, are written so bluntly that they let every other man in the story off the hook; the sexism belongs to a couple of villains rather than to the air everyone is breathing. Then there is the dog. Six-Thirty narrates the novel, and the series wisely cuts most of that, then hands one stretch to his point of view anyway. We resented it, plainly: we were being asked to feel through a dog what the series had not let its women say out loud. The series steadies when it reaches the television studio. Kevin Sussman’s Walter Pine, the producer, is warm and hangdog and out of his depth, and Larson’s Elizabeth treats the studio kitchen as a lecture hall and the housewives at home as colleagues, which is when the character finally gets to be as clever as we have been told she is. Stephanie Koenig’s Fran Frask thaws over the eight episodes in a way the script only half earns but Koenig sells. Watch it for Larson and King, an episode or two at a time rather than in one go, because its virtues are of the kind that pall in bulk. Bring someone who has read the book; they will have things to say about the dog. *Fi1m score 63, published 1 October 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find Lessons in Chemistry pleasant, handsome and easy to watch, and most stop short of recommending it without qualification: three reviews are warm, eight sit in the middle and two are cold. The praise clusters on Brie Larson, whose dry, idiosyncratic Elizabeth Zott is singled out by almost every review, with several also enjoying her pairing with Lewis Pullman. Aja Naomi King draws the most consistent secondary praise as Harriet Sloane, and the 1950s setting and the cooking-show scenes are regularly noted as the parts that come alive. The reservations are about shape rather than execution: too gentle, too polished, too many storylines, politics drawn too simply. Several critics feel Harriet’s story is sidelined. The spread is wide. The i Paper and Collider rate it highly; Vulture finds it inert; Den of Geek objects almost entirely to the handling of the dog, Six-Thirty, whose narration is largely cut, a decision The Guardian applauds. ## Straight answers **Is Lessons in Chemistry worth watching?** *Lessons in Chemistry* is worth watching for Brie Larson and Aja Naomi King, and we scored it 63. The eight-part adaptation of Bonnie Garmus's novel is handsome and well acted, but it is so gentle with everyone in it that a story about what was done to clever women never once made us uncomfortable. Watch an episode or two at a time rather than in one go. **How long is Lessons in Chemistry, and what is it rated?** *Lessons in Chemistry* is rated 16 by the NMHH in Hungary. It is a drama series. **Where can I watch Lessons in Chemistry in Hungary?** *Lessons in Chemistry* is not on any streaming or rental service in Hungary at the moment. It is available in 26 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Lessons in Chemistry, and is it suitable for children?** *Lessons in Chemistry* is a 15 in the UK and TV-MA in the US, so it is not meant for children, though our review found nothing in it violent or frightening. The adult content is a matter of its subject, 1950s sexism in a laboratory, and of a drama pitched at grown-ups rather than at families. Teenagers interested in the period would find it mild. **How does Lessons in Chemistry compare to Far from Heaven?** *Lessons in Chemistry* is the gentler and the lesser of the two, while [*Far from Heaven*](https://film.one/film/far-from-heaven) is the one that hurts. Both dress the 1950s in warm, pressed surfaces, but Todd Haynes makes the prettiness the point and lets Julianne Moore's politeness become unbearable, where the series smooths over every scene that might sting. Choose the film for feeling and the series for a longer, kinder evening with Brie Larson and Aja Naomi King. **What should I watch after Lessons in Chemistry?** After *Lessons in Chemistry*, try [*Far from Heaven*](https://film.one/film/far-from-heaven) (2002, Fi1m 87): Todd Haynes’s 1950s in Technicolor, where the pretty surfaces are the point. Then [*Hidden Figures*](https://film.one/film/hidden-figures) (2016, Fi1m 80): Three women doing the mathematics while the men take the bows. ### Reviews we read (13) - **The i Paper**, Marianne Levy (90/100, inferred): Levy calls the adaptation a resounding success, with only occasional missteps. She especially praises Brie Larson’s nuanced, magnetic performance and the series’ vivid presentation. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/lessons-in-chemistry-apple-tv-review-2681853?ico=most_popular) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Angie Han (70/100, inferred): Han finds the series imperfect but enjoyable, praising its endearing cast, witty dialogue, and accessible themes. She especially singles out Brie Larson’s open, dryly humorous performance, while criticizing the simplistic politics and uneven subplots. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/lessons-in-chemistry-brie-larson-apple-tv-1235600921/) - **Empire**, Sophie Butcher (65/100, inferred): The review finds the series affecting and worthwhile, though overly gentle and sometimes sentimental. It praises Brie Larson’s performance and the richly realised period setting, while noting that the cooking scenes are especially absorbing. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/lessons-in-chemistry/) - **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (65/100, inferred): Mangan finds the series wholly enjoyable and highly watchable, but ultimately feels it wastes an opportunity to offer something fresh. She praises Aja Naomi King’s charismatic performance and the decision to largely remove the talking dog. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/oct/13/lessons-in-chemistry-review-luckily-the-talking-dog-segments-are-kept-to-a-minimum) - **Variety**, Alison Herman (65/100, inferred): Herman finds the series uneven but sees it as a welcome showcase for Brie Larson. She especially praises Larson’s idiosyncratic performance and her affecting chemistry with Lewis Pullman. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/tv/tv-reviews/lessons-in-chemistry-review-brie-larson-1235751451/) - **The AV Club**, Meredith Hobbs Coons (C+): The review finds the series an enjoyable, feel-good adaptation that remains somewhat under-seasoned. It especially praises Aja Naomi King’s fully realized portrayal of Harriet Sloane and her compelling storyline. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/lessons-in-chemistry-review-apple-tv-plus-brie-larson-1850892807) - **Evening Standard**, Vicky Jessop (3/5): Jessop finds the series enjoyable but too polished and underdone to make a lasting impression. She praises Brie Larson’s performance and the show’s gorgeous visuals, while criticizing its predictable story and bluntly drawn characters. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/lessons-in-chemistry-on-apple-tv-review-brie-larson-b1112865.html) - **Radio Times**, Morgan Cormack (60/100, inferred): The review suggests the series is engaging but somewhat muddled. It praises Brie Larson’s captivating performance while noting the tale feels slightly muddled. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/lessons-in-chemistry-apple-tv-review/) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (C-): Travers finds the series muddled and exasperating, unable to balance its romance with its other storylines. He praises the central romance, noting that Brie Larson and Lewis Pullman make a cute pair. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/lessons-in-chemistry-review-apple-tv-show-1234915671/) - **Vulture**, Jen Chaney (30/100, inferred): Chaney finds the series handsome and entertaining but ultimately inert and insufficiently challenging. She praises Aja Naomi King’s warmth and quiet power as Harriet, while faulting the show for sidelining her story and yielding screen time to a dog’s point of view. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/lessons-in-chemistry-review-apple-tv.html) - **Collider**, Carly Lane (9/10): The review finds the series rewarding and praises Brie Larson’s dynamic portrayal of Elizabeth Zott. It also highlights the central romance, while noting that Harriet’s story initially lacks independence and equal weight. [Read](https://collider.com/lessons-in-chemistry-apple-tv-review/) - **Paste**, Kaiya Shunyata (6.9/10): Shunyata finds the series weighed down by too many storylines and an unclear focus, despite its strong beginning. Brie Larson’s performance and Elizabeth’s journey from chemist to cooking-show host stand out as its strengths. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/apple-tv-plus/lessons-in-chemistry-review) - **Den of Geek**, Erin Qualey (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the series’ treatment of Six-Thirty frustrating and inconsistent. She praises B.J. Novak’s voice performance but objects to the loss of the dog’s narration and changes that make him seem responsible for Calvin’s death. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/lessons-in-chemistry-leaves-six-thirty-fans-in-the-doghouse/) ## Details - **Created by:** Lee Eisenberg - **Creator:** Lee Eisenberg - **Director:** Millicent Shelton, Sarah Adina Smith, Bertie, Tara Miele, Bert - **Teleplay:** Lee Eisenberg, Elissa Karasik, Emily Jane Fox - **Cinematography:** Zachary Galler, Jason Oldak - **Editor:** Geraud Brisson, Matthew Barbato, Laura Zempel, Daniel Martens, Jack Cunningham, Lilly Wild - **Music:** Carlos Rafael Rivera - **Production design:** Cat Smith - **Costume design:** Mirren Gordon-Crozier - **Cast:** Brie Larson as Elizabeth Zott; Lewis Pullman as Calvin Evans; Aja Naomi King as Harriet Sloane; Stephanie Koenig as Fran Frask; Patrick Walker as Curtis Wakely; Rainn Wilson as Phil Lebensmal; Derek Cecil as Dr. Robert Donatti; Kevin Sussman as Walter Pine - **Certificate (NMHH):** 16 - **Release (Hungary):** 12 October 2023 - **Genres:** Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1PuK8mxASE ## Where to watch in Hungary Not streaming, renting or buying in Hungary at the last check. Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, KR, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PL, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Mad Men* (2007): The same offices and the same men, with the cruelty left in. - *Far from Heaven* (2002), Fi1m 87: Todd Haynes’s 1950s in Technicolor, where the pretty surfaces are the point. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/far-from-heaven.md) - *Hidden Figures* (2016), Fi1m 80: Three women doing the mathematics while the men take the bows. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hidden-figures.md) - *Made in Dagenham* (2010): Essex machinists, 1968, and a strike; warmer and rougher than this. - *Julia* (2022): Another woman builds a television kitchen; the cooking is taken more seriously. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry