New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan portray Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, respectively. They are two investigative reporters at the New York Times who helped break the story about sexual misconduct permeated by Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood, which in turn, helped the #MeToo movement take off.
I admit I was hesitant about this film when I heard it was coming out. The Weinstein story broke pretty recently, in 2017, and his trial in Los Angeles is currently ongoing. While I knew this film would focus on the journalists who broke the story, I was unsure how big of a role Weinstein would play. He is in the movie, but the film does not center on him. You never see his face; mostly, you hear his voice. However, his presence looms large, and he feels like a malignant shadow.
I like excellent investigative films, something akin to “All The President’s Men” and “Spotlight” come to mind. “She Said,” I believe, does take inspiration from those films and turns out to be quite compelling and engaging even though it’s primarily full of people talking.
Mulligan and Kazan are strong performers and carry the film remarkably well. You can see how empathetic and understanding Kazan is as Kantor. She makes these women feel safe to share their past dealings with Weinstein. Mulligan plays Twohey a bit more hard-edged. She deals more with Weinstein’s people, and it is riveting to see how she coaxes information out of them.
I am so glad that these women’s stories are being told because while I’m sure there are plenty of people who are aware of Weinstein’s heinous actions, they, unfortunately, do not focus as much on the women who were affected by him. The actresses who played these women – Jennifer Ehle as Laura Madden, Samantha Morton as Zelda Perkins, and Angela Yeoh as Rowena Chiu – really had the most powerful scenes in the film. The closing credits were also quite affecting.
There are some clichéd moments in the film, but luckily, there are not very long. It felt a bit strange that big-name actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow and Rose McGowan were often mentioned but were both absent in the film, especially since Ashely Judd is present in the film as herself.
“She Said” is a well-acted and gripping film from director Maria Schrader that, most importantly, listens with no judgment to the women involved in these inappropriate incidents caused by Harvey Weinstein and helps break the silence surrounding sexual assault in Hollywood.
In Theaters Friday, November 18th
