“Why is sexual harassment so pervasive and hard to address? Let’s interrogate the whole system,” says veteran New York Times editor Rebecca Corbett. This sets into motion a months-long investigation by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey resulting in an article that begins the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and galvanises the #MeToo movement. Directed by Maria Schrader, She Said is based on the book of the same name by Kantor and Twohey, detailing the work that resulted in a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting.
In the grand tradition of journalism movies like All The President’s Men and Spotlight, She Said is all about process. The screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz takes its time showing the painstaking and often mundane work that goes into reporting a story like this. In sharp contrast to those male-centric movies, She Said does a great job of showing the audience how being women informs all aspects of Kantor and Twohey’s work. When the investigation requires them to travel, the journalists share a quick look and Kantor volunteers to travel so that Twohey can remain home to nurse her new-born child. These little touches by Lenkiewicz and Schrader allow us to see why the survivors trusted these two journalists to tell their story.
Schrader’s direction is understated. She doesn’t resort to melodrama or showy camerawork, trusting that the story is powerful enough to take the viewer along on its journey. If anything, this lack of grandstanding makes certain scenes even more difficult to watch, especially when survivors are recounting their experiences. Even though the movie is almost all phone calls and people talking in rooms, there is a propulsive nature to the narrative - aided by Nicholas Britell and cellist Caitlin Sullivan's first co-produced score (the two are husband and wife).
While the visual style of the movie is muted, there are still some affecting compositions. The first time we see our leads, it is as part of an establishing montage of regular women out and about, emphasising that they are just as much a part of the group that they are fighting to help. In another arresting visual, we see Twohey facing Weinstein and a battery of lawyers and advisers in a conference room all by herself. We don’t hear the dialogue, but we see them yelling and gesturing agitatedly while she sits calmly, secure in the knowledge that her meticulous reporting has them spooked.
The measured approach of the movie is accentuated by a few instances of reality blurring with the dramatisation on screen. We hear the actual audio from an encounter that Weinstein had with one of the survivors, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, when she wore a wire to a meeting in collaboration with the New York Police Department. The film was shot in the real New York Times office, marking the first time the Gray Lady has opened her doors to a production, adding a layer of authenticity to the background. Finally, in a remarkable example of an artist using their craft to find catharsis, actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the earliest and most prominent Weinstein accusers and contributors to the article, plays herself.
Schrader wisely chooses not to depict any of the assaults, only their aftermaths and the impact that they had on the survivors. Weinstein's looming presence is felt throughout, but he is rarely seen as the movie centres itself on the survivors' journeys. When the survivors tell their stories, it is the small details that are most devastating. One woman says she was advised to always sit in an armchair and never on the sofa, which would give Weinstein an opportunity to sit next to her. Another speaks of going to Weinstein meetings wearing two pairs of tights as a precaution.
The movie is not without a few minor flaws. The pace lags a bit in the middle of the second hour. And an understandable decision to include dramatisations of some of the survivors' recollections including an affecting prologue set in Ireland detracts from the otherwise objective point of view of the movie.
Zoe Kazan plays Jodi Kantor as capable, but a little nervous given the scope and significance of the investigation. She is more than a little relieved when Megan Twohey (played by Carey Mulligan) agrees to join her on this piece. Mulligan’s Twohey is fiercely determined but weary, having previously reported on harassment allegations against Donald Trump, questioning whether the work they do has any real impact.
The movie spends a fair amount of runtime showing the two bonding and working together. When Kantor turns to Twohey for advice and counsel on how to approach survivors, Twohey suggests: "I can't change what happened to you in the past, but together we may be able to use your experience to help protect other people." In return, mother-of-two Kantor shares her experience with postpartum depression with new mother Twohey, who is having a hard time after her first child is born.
The performances are top-notch. Zoe Kazan gives a masterclass in being a scene partner and reacting in silence. Her Kantor has most of the scenes reacting to survivor’s accounts, and Kazan channels her reactions through her entire body when she listens - from the way her eyes widen to the way her breath quickens when a survivor mentions a particularly harrowing detail. It is the kind of performance that usually gets overlooked in awards season in favour of more showy roles.
Carey Mulligan, who will be competing in the far easier supporting race, hides a coiled frustration and rage simmering just beneath the surface. In one memorable scene, she exasperatedly shuts down the unwanted advances of a man at a bar, channelling her earlier role as Cassie in 2020’s Promising Young Woman.
Even the supporting cast is stacked with solid performances. One wishes there were more of Patricia Clarkson's Jessica Corbett, who played a huge role in shepherding the investigation. The always-reliable Andre Braugher is great as Dean Baquet, the executive editor, who has had run-ins with Weinstein in the past, and knows exactly how to deal with bullies like him. Jennifer Ehle brings a humanity to her portrayal as one of the many survivors, Laura Madden. And Samantha Morton’s single scene performance as Zelda Perkins, one of the key contributors to the story, is the closest the movie gets to showing its anger and frustration at the system. Morton seems to be making a habit of single scene tour-de-force performances this year; keep an eye out for her turn in The Whale with Brendan Fraser.
When it was first published, the article led to Weinstein’s arrest. It has now come full circle with the judge at Weinstein’s ongoing Los Angeles trial barring jurors from watching the She Said trailer when it came out a few months ago. It ignited a movement that is still going strong, but in the words of Megan Twohey “Has anything really changed?”
She Said released in theatres in India on November 18, 2022.
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