Review: She Said (2022)

She Said

Rating

Director

Maria Schrader

Screenplay

Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Book: Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey)

Length

2h 09m

Starring

Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd, Zach Grenier, Peter Friedman, Tom Pelphrey, Frank Wood

MPAA Rating

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Review

Journalism takes time and effort to get to the truth and provide ample opportunity for both sides to have their say. While some may obfuscate, the truth will come to light one way or another and it takes the courage of one’s convictions to take on the mighty. She Said follows journalists Jodi Kantor and Meagan Twohey as they look into disturbing allegations against Hollywood mega producer Harvey Weinstein.

The film lays out the case against Weinstein, detailing the horrific abuse, sexual and mental, he waged against young female actors and female employees of Miramax (and later The Weinstein Company). Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Twohey (Carey Mulligan) work for the New York Times and this film follows their attempts to uncover the truth while encouraging the victims to come forward, hoping that they can convince enough women to speak out that they can corroborate the claims. What they discover as they spend months turning over every leaf and stone is astonishing and what’s even more grotesque is the layers of silence and legal shenanigans that are put in place to keep the information from going public.

She Said starts slowly as Kantor alone works an angle on a story involving the rape of Rose McGowan (voiced by Keilly McQuail) by Weinstein, which leads to additional accusations by Ashley Judd (playing herself) and Gwyneth Paltrow (voice only). However, neither are willing to come forward due to the potential threat to their careers. Frustrated by this setback, they begin to uncover other incidents in the back offices of Miramax and The Weinstein Company that don’t involve well known actors. This line of inquiry takes time and resources only to reach a roadblock when they can still find no one to be quoted for the piece, which will put a damper on the report’s potential impact. It leads to Kantor and Twohey questioning whether they can make a case and reveal the damage caused and perhaps save others from a similar fate.

Based on true events, director Maria Schrader looks to inspiration from prior journalistic exposes like All the President’s Men and Spotlight as inspiration for her slow boiling, searing film exploring the journalistic methods employed in trying to get at the truth and to make that truth incontrovertible in the public’s eyes. Kazan and Mulligan are terrific, one more subtle while the other more forceful, they make a potent pair as they overturn every leaf in their investigation. Patricia Clarkson as their editor Rebecca Corbett and Andre Braugher as the Times’ executive editor provide strong support.

The true power of the performances in the film come from the women coming forward to describe their abuses. Samantha Morton is riveting as Zelda Perkins, one of Weinstein’s victims while Judd bravely puts herself in front of the cameras to reveal her fraught emotional state and ultimate conviction in helping to bring down Weinstein. However, for all these terrific performances, none comes close to the quiet power of Jennifer Ehle. Ehle is sensational as Laura Madden, an idealistic young woman who thought her career would be made, but who would come to regret the passion that brought her to Weintein’s hotel room door. It’s in her handful of scenes where the film’s emotional core rests and it wouldn’t have had nearly the impact without her.

Like all of the great films about journalism, She Said is a fascinating picture that explores the challenges of working in journalism where facts matter more than opinion and investigative reporters follow their leads until they can put together a firm and unimpeachable story. Films like the aforementioned All the President’s Men showcase how these events unfold, explaining them simply for audiences to digest. Ultimately, these films, along with successors like Spotlight and She Said, reveal hard truths about the powerful and their enablers and the struggles of the powerless to speak out and enable change.