She Said Review

The exposure of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse and his conviction shook Hollywood to its core. The story about how the New York Times exposed the powerful movie mogul gets told in She’s Said.

Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) is a journalist at the New York Times who receives a tip that some famous actresses in Hollywood had been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. She investigates the story with another journalist, Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), and discovers the extent of Weinstein’s abuse. But the journalists must battle against Weinstein’s intimidation tactics and his wall of silence that has prevented the story from being reported on before.

There have been many great films about journalism. Two of the most famous were All the President’s Men and Spotlight and She Said wanted to be like those films. All the President’s Men was made only two years after the Watergate scandal broke, whilst She Said was released five years after the publication of the New York Times’ story. Like Spotlight, She Said focused on a sexual abuse scandal. All three films were about major American newspapers reporting on a cover-up by an institution. All the President’s Men and Spotlight had major success at the Oscars, and She Said would want to emulate that.

She Said had a similar opening to Spotlight because both had a prologue where someone suffered at the hands of their abuser. All these films were about the long journey of building up a story. In She Said, Kantor and Twohey’s investigation has two major points. The first aspect was personal, Kantor and Twohey needed to get to women to talk about their experiences and most importantly get them on the record. The other part of the investigation involved the paper trail since many of the women signed NDAs, meaning they had received big payouts. It was tough work to tie all these threads together. The film was actually shot at the New York Times’ headquarters which added to a sense of authenticity.

This presented Kantor and Twohey with some massive hurdles. Many women refused to speak because of the pain of their experience, tied by the NDAs, or feared Weinstein. Weinstein was a constant presence because he was a bully who always got his way: he threatened and intimated people if they dared to investigate him or attempted to speak out. Weinstein also knew when to use the carrot by giving people movie deals. He was a tough opponent for any organisation or individual.

Added to that were doubts about whether the investigation would have any real impact. Before joining the Weinstein investigation, Twohey reported on Donald Trump’s sexual misconduct during the 2016 Election, and Trump still won. The fallout was Twohey and the women who accused Trump were harassed by Trump’s supporters. Weinstein had some similarities to Trump because they were powerful men, brash New Yorkers who used the same techniques if anyone threatened them.

The big difference between Spotlight and She Said was the cast. Spotlight was an ensemble piece with big-name stars and recognisable actors. She Said had a smaller cast with its main characters working alone as they investigate. Due to the focus on two main characters, there was a look at their personal lives. Kantor was a mum of two young girls and the investigation puts a strain on her since it was the first time she reported on this type of story. Twohey was more experienced in reporting on sexual misconduct cases but suffered from post-natal depression and has a crisis of confidence in the film due to the Trump story.

Kantor and Twohey had different personalities and approaches. Twohey was a tough woman who enjoyed confronting villainous men. Kantor had a quiet personality and Twohey even mentions that Kandor was less intimidating. Kazan and Mulligan are excellent actresses and are believable in their roles. I have known Kazan for quirky roles in independent films, so playing a hard-working mum and journalist was something different from her.

She Said was mostly an obviously serious film, yet there were moments of levity. Kantor and Twohey had some relatable interactions like wearing similar dresses. Andre Braugher played Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times and he had the ability to get under Weinstein’s skin which was fun to see.

She Said was a film made for people who have an interest in recent history and journalism. It was successful because of the characters and matter-of-fact approach