Critics are not happy with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series Polo.
Hopes were high that the latest installment of the couple’s £80 million deal with the streaming service would make an impact and, at the very least, impress viewers.
But the docuseries that was meant to “pull the curtain back on the grit and passion” of the world of polo has seemingly fallen short, failing to engage viewers and showing little of the main couple in question.
Highlights
- Critics label Prince Harry and Meghan's new series Polo a tedious look at posh polo.
- Prince Harry and Meghan barely appear in the documentary, disappointing viewers.
- Commentators describe the content as flat and unengaging to most audiences.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series Polo was widely criticized for its plain, misleading content
Image credits: Netflix
Numerous disappointed reviews have flooded the Internet despite the documentary having dropped just yesterday.
It received two stars or less out of five across the board and was labeled a “tedious inside-look at posh polo” despite promising “content that informs but also gives hope,” according to Daily Mail.
While the prince and his wife were executive producers and very “hands-on” in the making of the show, they only briefly appeared a handful of times, much to the dismay of critics.
Image credits: Jason Koerner / Getty
As Ed Power from The Telegraph put it, “what it doesn’t have much of is Harry and Meghan, who, in a historic first, manage not to make it all about them,” later adding that “royal watchers will be disappointed by the uncharacteristically camera-shy couple.”
In an attempt to make up for their absence, their “ridiculous polo pals” explain to audiences the ins and outs of the sport while “flashing their naked chests” and commenting that “polo gives me hope that I can accomplish something,” as written by Jane Fryer.
“Polo is not just a sport. Polo is a lifestyle,” one person cried. “We eat, we breathe, we sleep polo!”
The verdict of many critics was simple: it wasn’t engaging
Image credits: Netflix
But what was most disappointing to viewers was that the documentary fell short at keeping audiences interested.
Joel Keller from Decider said, “SKIP IT. Polo is a mostly boring look at a sport that very few people outside of elite circles have any particular interest in.”
Image credits: Netflix
Fryer seemed to agree, labeling it “flat, plodding and really rather boring,” but wondered whether it “could have been fun, guilty pleasure TV — a sort of brilliant mash-up of Rivals, Selling Sunset and Made in Wrexham, that made us shout the telly in horrified joy” if it was placed in the right hands.
From the first episode, the dialogue and content wasn’t relatable to most but could be interesting to those who wanted to learn the “nuts and bolts” of the sport, as said by a reviewer.
Polo was seemingly a passion project for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Image credits: Mike Coppola / Getty
In an interview with People, showrunner Miloš Balać pulled back the curtain on what went into the making of the series dedicated to “the sport of kings.”
Apparently, the prince and Meghan had lots of ideas and outlines going into the creative process.
Image credits: Netflix
“They really had a vision for trying to get polo to be accessible to a wider audience,” he said. “Prince Harry knows the sport inside and out.”
Balać added, “To have a polo expert in-house with him was so special. I think a lot of projects have EPs that can give great notes, but it’s rare that you have someone who’s truly an expert in the subject that you are documenting.”
Polo is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.