Underrated Ryan Gosling Film With 68% Audience Score Hits Global Streaming Charts — Here's Why It Wasn't Loved Back Then
So good that some films get the second life they deserve.
Ever feel like a film got totally overlooked when it first came out — only to find its second wind years later? That’s exactly what’s happening with Damien Chazelle’s First Man.
Despite a quiet box-office showing back in 2018, this space drama starring Ryan Gosling is now shooting straight up the charts on HBO, landing at number four on their worldwide top 10 list.
Set against the tense backdrop of the Cold War space race, First Man dives deep into the early Apollo missions — when NASA was neck-and-neck with the Soviets, and every launch felt like a gamble with history.
Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong, a man driven by a dream so big, it costs him dearly in his personal life. And Gosling? Well, critics couldn’t get enough of his performance, praising how he captures Armstrong’s quiet intensity.
Critics and fans had a bit of a split opinion though. While Rotten Tomatoes rates the film an impressive 87% Certified Fresh, the audience score lags behind at 68%.
That divide echoed in the box office, where First Man grossed just over $105 million worldwide against a $70 million budget — a modest haul for Chazelle, especially following his Oscar-winning La La Land. The film’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime and its focus on the emotional, dramatic side rather than blockbuster thrills likely put some moviegoers off.
Still, if you missed it the first time, streaming might just be the perfect way to discover this beautifully crafted, thoughtful space epic. After all, First Man isn’t just about rockets and moon landings — it’s about the sacrifices behind those giant leaps.
