A riveting behind-the-scenes dive into the story that broke Hollywood right open.
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The Harvey Weinstein case was arguably the most talked about piece of news when New York Times’ investigative journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey first broke the story back in 2017. His history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women spanned decades. Two years later, Kantor and Twohey released a book detailing their behind-the-scenes process of investigating and unconvering information that led to their published work.
The book was a critical success and it wasn’t long before the rights were purchased for a film adaptation. Fast forward to now, She Said–directed by Maria Schrader, starring Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan as Kantor and Twohey respectively–provides a visual recountment that details the book of the same name.
Given the heavy subject matter and with provision of a solid source material, there is something lacking in the film’s otherwise well-intentioned screenplay. Despite that, there is never a dull moment throughout the film’s 130-minute runtime. Apart from the cast's engaging performances, there's also Nicholas Britell’s score to thank for that, deftly contributing an underlying soundtrack that prompts urgency in an already tense setting.
The cast as a whole delivers gripping performances–from Andre Braugher's no-nonsense take as The New York Times' executive editor Dean Bacquet to Jennifer Ehle's turn as survivor Laura Madden–but it's especially leads Kazan and Mulligan's that are the driving force of She Said–the former with a more sentimental and grounded approach and the latter channelling the same amount of bite and feist from her previous Academy Award-nominated role in Promising Young Woman (2020).
It’s befitting a story that validates women’s voices was written and directed by women. The female voice is apparent throughout the film, from the more obvious subject matters to the little nuanced details of their lives. She Said elucidates the question “Why is sexual harrassment so pervasive and hard to address?” and is worth the watch.
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