A film taking a tongue-in-cheek dig at the ongoing trans sports debate has emerged as a streaming success with viewers.
Lady Ballers, a comedy developed by conservative US studio The Daily Wire, portrays a group of male basketballers who decide to join a women's league under the pretense they now identify as female.
The movie became available to stream on December 1 and two weeks on, it's become the "biggest launch in Daily Wire history".
Popular movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes also states it resides in the top five list for most popular streamable films.
It currently has a 91 percent audience score from over 5,000 reviews on the site, despite being branded "transphobic" by its critics.
The audience score places it higher than a number of major new releases currently available to stream, including Amazon Prime's Candy Cane Lane featuring Eddie Murphy (46 percent) and Netflix's May December starring Natalie Portman (70 percent).
Ben Shapiro makes a cameo in the movie
THE DAILY WIRE
The cast is led by The Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing, who also serves as the film’s director and writer.
Cameos in the movie include Ted Cruz, Cadance Owens, Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro.
Among its critics are MSNBC columnist Katelyn Burns who called it an “awful anti-trans propaganda film”.
John Serba of Decider also said on Rotten Tomatoes: "It’s racist, sexist, transphobic and antisemitic, and there’s really no debating that.
"Anyone looking for a coherent and logical conservative point of view on transgender issues won’t find it here."
And Roger Moore of Movie Nation echoed the backlash: "A groaning 110 minutes of agenda in search of a laugh."
But Boreing and The Daily Wire haven't let the complaints overshadow the success Lady Ballers has achieved with streamers.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Boreing lauded the movie's achievement as he posted: "Thank you to everyone who helped give Lady Ballers the biggest launch in @dailywireplus history.
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Ted Cruz makes a cameo appearance in Lady Ballers
THE DAILY WIRE
"Best launch day for new subs, Best launch day for reviews (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) And the online buzz is off the charts."
The movie features several scenes that have sparked controversy and been met with uproar from reviewers.
In one instance, one of the male basketballers says he is "trans age" to compete in a schoolgirls' basketball match.
One of the players also inadvertently flashes his penis during one of the female league matches, which prompts the referee - played by Shapiro - to state: "I don't care."
