--- title: "The Rehearsal: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-rehearsal/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/the-rehearsal" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 10 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." --- # The Rehearsal (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics are won over. Nine of the ten reviews are positive, and the praise clusters around the scale of the idea: painstaking replicas of real places for volunteers to practise difficult conversations, and a structure that keeps folding back on Nathan Fielder himself. Several call it his most ambitious work, stranger and funnier than Nathan for You and unexpectedly moving under the discomfort. Its dissection of reality television and its power dynamics is repeatedly named as what the series does best. The spread is wide. Even admirers note that the series turns inward, spending more time on Fielder’s own anxieties and need for control than on the people it is meant to help, so that the melancholy overtakes the comedy. Variety, the one negative review, pushes this further: the constant attention to the creator drains the show of whimsy and leaves a general bad feeling where his earlier work had a sharper target. The Ringer raises the same worry more gently. ## IndieWire — Ben Travers Rating A. 21 August 2022. The critic finds the series finale rewarding and affirms that the rehearsals serve Nathan as much as the participants, yet the journey itself is the point. It singles out the ethical complexities and the show's dissection of reality TV and gamified life for praise. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/08/the-rehearsal-episode-6-review-nathan-fielder-finale-spoilers-1234753964/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 2022. The critic calls the series a dazzling yet horrifying display of scale and social experimentation that disorients viewers while exposing the mechanics of reality TV. It singles out the production's meticulous recreations and the unsettling power dynamics for both praise and discomfort. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/nathan-fielder-the-rehearsal-hbo-comedy-review.html) ## The i Paper — Emily Baker Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 August 2022. The series is a bold, original thought experiment that raises questions about relationships, self-importance and the pressures placed on others. It serves as a reminder to stop sweating the small stuff, since life is not a rehearsal. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-review-uk-sky-comedy-now-real-life-no-practice-runs-1813947) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Daniel Fienberg Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 July 2022. The series is uncomfortable, funny and unexpectedly poignant, with impressive ambition and meta twistiness that captures contemporary unease. It feels more real than its predecessor despite greater contrivance and offers stealthy provocation. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-1235178614/) ## Variety — Daniel D'Addario Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2022. The show makes uncomfortable art from mockery with great self-awareness and imagination, but its endless focus on the creator himself results in paralyzingly little whimsy. It lacks the clarifying contempt of Fielder's prior work and settles for generalized bad vibes. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2022/tv/reviews/nathan-fielder-the-rehearsal-review-hbo-1235310807/) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating A. 11 July 2022. The critic calls the series Fielder's most ambitious and hysterical project yet, proving him a potential genius. They highlight the elaborate rehearsal concept blending reality and simulation as a standout achievement. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-rehearsal-tv-show-review-nathan-fielder-hbo/) ## Consequence Rating A. 11 July 2022. The critic hails the series as confirmation of Fielder as a comic visionary, blending help for real people with his own existential reflections. They praise the outrageous lengths of the rehearsals and the show's beating heart amid the comedy. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2022/07/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-review-hbo/) ## Paste — Reuben Baron Rating 9.0. 13 July 2022. The critic finds the series mind-blowingly weird and fascinating, noting its scripted layers of rehearsal and meta tension between creator and character. They single out the paradoxical emotional insight amid the convoluted planning. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/nathan-fielder/nathan-fielder-the-rehearsal-review) ## /Film — Lex Briscuso Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2022. The critic describes the series as surreal genius that reinvents reality TV with cringe, heart, and introspection. They praise how it turns comedy into something meaningful beyond mere entertainment. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/923280/the-rehearsal-review-nathan-fielder-continues-to-reinvent-the-reality-tv-wheel-with-beautifully-cringe-results/) ## The Ringer — Alison Herman Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 2022. Fielder extends his rehearsal concept from Nathan for You into a full series where volunteers prepare for difficult life moments, but the show increasingly centers on Fielder's own social anxieties and need for control. The critic notes that it inverts the prior ratio of comedy to tragedy, making the existential melancholy the focus rather than an ironic accent. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2022/07/15/tv/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-review-hbo-nathan-for-you) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/the-rehearsal.md