The Pogmentary, Prime Video’s lavish new look at the life of ex-Manchester United and soon-to-be Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, has broken records, but not the kind Prime Video would have been hoping for.
The documentary launched on Prime Video on June 17 and was billed as an exclusive, all-access look at Pogba’s life, family and career, focusing on how he became the soccer player he is today. It has, however, not gone down well with viewers at all.
The show has quickly become the lowest-rated show on IMDB in the website’s history (opens in new tab), currently sitting on just one star out of 10. Over 10,500 votes have been cast for the documentary, with almost 93% of them giving it just 1/10.
By way of comparison, God’s Favorite Idiot’s Netflix’s new comedy which was given a universal kicking by critics, currently holds a 5.7 rating on the site, a long way above the Pogmentary.
What are voters saying?
Lots of not very nice things. (opens in new tab)Particularly drawing ire from viewers is a scene where the player describes an offer of a new $367,000 (£300,000) a week contract extension proposed by Manchester United as “nothing”.
One review described the Frenchman as “An overrated, overpriced, overpaid footballer who think that his the center of the football universe, leaker and a true virus for any dressing room!”, while another called it the “Worst documentary I’ve ever watched.”
Most of the criticism was reserved for Pogba himself and his rather large ego, but the show’s structure also took a battering, with one writer adding: “How can a documentary be this bad, totally unexpected from a platform like Amazon. Really poorly structured and a total waste of time.”
The show has yet to receive a rating from Rotten Tomatoes, but thus far has an audience score of 0%, so it’s unlikely to be good news…
Is it possible it’s just loads of rival fans spamming the site?
Given that Pogba is currently, albeit probably only briefly, without a club, Prime Video executives won’t be able to pin this reaction on angry supporters of Liverpool, Manchester City, or even United, the club Pogba has just spurned.
This writer put himself through a single episode of the documentary and was surprised, but not in a good way. It’s incoherent, poorly structured, and doesn’t offer any insight into Pogba’s strengths or weaknesses. It dives into strange animated sequences before returning to footage of the player at home with his wife and children.
Prime Video has made some brilliant sporting documentaries in recent years with their All or Nothing series. The series, which has documented full seasons at the likes of Manchester City, Juventus, and Tottenham Hotspur as well as with the New Zealand All Blacks and Canadian ice hockey team Toronto Maple Leafs, is gripping viewing. It’s also very clearly made without interference from the club and players.
To shoot All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, for example, the team used 25 remotely-operated fixed rig cameras and 66 ambient microphones, which were installed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the club’s training center in Enfield, as well as a camera crew following the team.
Pogba’s documentary, meanwhile, has the feeling of a show shot with the player standing over the shoulder of the director, frequently intervening to cut out all the juicy bits.
All those who watched the show clearly felt the same.
On the lookout for a good sporting drama? Here’s a show we can really get behind.
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