Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

House of Gucci: First reactions drop for Lady Gaga and Adam Driver murder drama

Opinions are divided on whether the film is a ‘mess’ or ‘mesmerising’

Ellie Harrison
Wednesday 10 November 2021 08:34 GMT
Comments
House Of Gucci: Trailer 2

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

House of Gucci had its world premiere in London yesterday (9 November) – and the first reactions to the film dropped on social media overnight.

Ridley Scott’s drama stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of orchestrating the assassination of her ex-husband and former head of the Gucci fashion house, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). Reggiani served 16 years in prison for the crime.

Reactions on Twitter have been mixed, with one person calling it an “overwrought slog” and another describing it as a “mess”. Others, however, were hugely impressed with the performance from Lady Gaga, who went full method for the role and didn’t break character for a year and a half.

Observer’s Brandon Katz tweeted: “#HouseofGucci is an overwrought slog without any discernible direction. Too many narrative focuses stacked on top of one another. Glitzy talented names hamming it up in wealth porn can be fun, but not enough to save the movie from its own messiness.”

He added: “Al Pacino gives the best performance, Gaga overdoes it (somewhat by necessity of the role), Jared Leto is acting in an entirely different movie, and Adam Driver seems to understand what movie he’s actually in. #HouseofGucci.”

Variety’s Clayton Davis, meanwhile, said: “#HouseOfGucci is quite the animal. Campy, everything Ridley Scott wanted The Counselor to be but wasn’t able to. Will be divided by many. Lady Gaga eats every morsel of her role up. Instantly the most quotable/meme-able movie since ‘Borat.’ Jared Leto best since his Oscar win.”

See more divided reactions below.

House of Gucci is scheduled for release in the US and the UK on 24 November and 26 November, respectively, with this year marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of the house of Gucci.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in