This was a good film. Produced in the 1990’s it has to be watched with that in mind. It compares both well and poorly to the series which I am watching with my daughter. Some parts, notably ‘The Ceremony’ is more horrific in the film when compared to the series. That with the drive towards racial purity which was very absent in the series.
When it was produced, according to Wikipedia, Owen Gleiberman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a "C−" grade and commented that "visually, it's quite striking", but that it is "paranoid poppycock — just like the book". John Simon of the National Review called The Handmaid's Tale “inept and annoying.”
While many now compare this to the loss of women’s rights in America, it is more accurate to compare it to how women are being treated in Afghanistan. Which means that sadly, this film is not paranoid poppycock.
I suspect that if I only had to watch one, I would watch the series, but this is certainly worth watching as well.