Bonnie Gamus’ novel Lessons in Chemistry was an absolute publishing sensation when it hit bookstores in 2022, which made it a lock for some kind of screen adaptation. Now cooking and chemistry collide in the resultant eight-part miniseries starring Academy Award-winner Brie Larson.
How to watch in Australia
Lessons in Chemistry is streaming in Australia now on Apple TV+, with new instalments landing weekly.
Lessons In Chemistry: Season 1
What is Lessons in Chemistry about?
As Apple’s official synopsis says: set in the early 1950s, Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott (Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. When Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has. She accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives—and the men who are suddenly listening—a lot more than recipes… all the while craving a return to her true love: science.
The cast of Lessons in Chemistry
In addition to the always watchable Larson, we have Lewis Pullman as fellow scientist and love interest Calvin Evans; Aja Naomi King as Elizabeth’s neighbour, Harriet Sloane; Kevin Sussman as harried TV producer, Walter; plus Stephanie Koenig; Patrick Walker; Thomas Mann; Beau Bridges; Ashley Monique Clark; and Derek Cecil.
Lessons in Chemistry trailer
What are the critics saying about Lessons in Chemistry?
Reviews have been pretty positive so far, singling out Larson’s strong performance and the series’ strong feminist themes for praise. But they haven’t all been too crash hot. Our own Cat Woods was fairly unimpressed, noting that “Everything about this show is clever, pacy, dramatic and gripping until midway through the second episode when things start to go corny-shaped.” Still, fans of the book, of which there are many, are going to want to check this one out.
