Glamorous (2023) follows Marco Mejia as he gets his dream job working for one of the biggest beauty brands in New York but has to do a lot of growing up too. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Story
Marco Mejia gets his dream gig working for beauty icon Madolyn Addison but he soon realizes that he has a lot to figure out under some serious pressure.
Along for the ride is Venetia, a career-focused woman who does let her ambition affect her relationships in negative ways, Chad, Madolyn’s son who is in constant need of validation from his mother, Ben, a shy guy who is smitten with Marco but cannot pull himself to make a move.
Madolyn’s company, ‘Glamorous by Madolyn’, is struggling and the team has to prove that they still have some tricks up their sleeve to convince potential buyers that the company is worth the risk.
Marco makes mistakes and learns about life the hard way but he eventually lands on the right path toward finding out his place.
Performances
The series is filled with a host of characters who come across as unlikable due to their stubborn natures and achingly long emotional growth and the cast isn’t helped by this.
Miss Benny’s portrayal of Marco is accurate in the sense that they brilliantly encapsulate the immaturity and flashy personality of the character but that also makes them quite annoying at times.
Kim Cattrall is phoning it in as Madolyn with a barely convincing effort. There’s nothing special about her character and Cattrall makes no attempts to dispute that through her performance.
Jade Payton goes through a flip-flop journey as Venetia, struggling to balance her loyalty and ambition. Payton comes across as cold and antagonistic more often than not which isn’t intended outright.
Zane Phillips plays Chad Addison, Madolyn’s son who behaves like a man-child and has a drug problem that is referenced far too casually. He has some funny moments and Phillips does his best to impress.
Michael Hsu Rosen is probably one of the few performers who got a good character to portray and he performs admirably. Ayesha Harris plays Britt and exists mostly as a story device for other characters’ growth.
Positives
Glamorous lives up to its title with some of the costumes and looks that are served throughout the season. The shots of the bustling New York and some of the sets are quite flashy and exciting.
Negatives
The show has poorly written characters that are barely redeemable and makes frustrating decisions that exist simply to stretch out the narrative. Despite having progressive motives, the story is anything but.
The script is also deplorable with some truly ridiculous jokes. Some comments are intended to be cutting and sassy but they’re mostly insensitive and unfunny.
There is an unhealthy obsession with the lens flare effect and it can be distracting at best and disorienting at worst. From a technical perspective, there are many things about Glamorous that are below par.
The final episode has this side plot of Marco dissing an influencer as a way for him to make peace with Ben and it is shoehorned in. The reveal that he’s visiting a transgender specialist is sweet but it also comes mostly out of nowhere with little to no build toward it.
The episodes are far too long for this particular genre and truly test one’s patience and is a slog to get through.
Verdict
Glamorous is a series that is quite superficial and extravagant and while it strives to tell a broad-minded story and while it lays the appropriate groundwork, it doesn’t build on it sufficiently. It is filled with bothersome characters who make it all the more difficult to get through the show without groaning often.
