She Said Movie Review

She Said (2022)

Rent She Said on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz (screenplay by), Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett (based on the New York Times investigation by), Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (based on the book "She Said" by) 
Directed by: Maria Schrader
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break one of the most important stories in a generation, a story that helped ignite a movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.

Verdict
It's an incredible story and movie. This shows us the difficulties in being a journalist, both in trying to get a story and investigating the depraved acts people commit. The script is sharp, each scene shows us nothing more than what's necessary as we march to the conclusion, but it also humanizes the main characters and provides glimpses of their lives while never resorting to exposition. As history, this story had a profound impact on the world and this movie does a great job of capturing it.
Watch It.

Review
The opening scenes present a question or an effective reveal if you have an idea of this movie's subject, juxtaposing the happiness on a movie set with the same woman's terror as she flees.

Opening in 2016, Megan Twohey (Carrie Mulligan) is going after Donald Trump and getting a lot of backlash. Bill O'Reilly does a take down, and we later find out he settled multiple lawsuits with women that accused him of misconduct. That's a preview of how influential people operate. They leverage their power to try and take down any threat.

Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan play Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor

Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) is writing a story about Harvey Weinstein. No one is willing to speak on the record because they don't want to relive the trauma or be in the news for a story like that. Kantor recruits Twohey to assist with the story. They know if they could get these women together, there would be strength in numbers. No one wants to be in the report because Weinstein is still powerful and he had many of the women that he assaulted sign non-disclosure agreements. This has allowed him to continue to assault employees and actresses with little hindrance due to their fear of reprisal.

Despite getting more and more names of victims, no one wants to go on the record. No one wants to be in the news. Through interviews this gets into why women don't talk and why they capitulate. It's self preservation. This movie is a bit of All the President's Men as we get to see how journalism works and the difficulty in building a story that targets powerful people. The sad thing is, journalists are dwindling and newspaper are disappearing. Shallow, quick stories are preferred. Journalism has been the fourth estate, and now budget cuts are forcing the profession into obscurity.

Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan play Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor

The pacing and editing are impeccable. This only shows what's necessary. Every scene drives to the next. Both reporters have families, sacrificing that time in pursuit of the story.

It's difficult to watch this and not think about what Weinstein got away with and to think about what happens across the world, smaller transgression with less famous people. This is an incredible story about something horrible and pervasive. Twohey and Kantor were able to make change which is rare, but it's only a step