A tense, wholly engrossing investigative journalism feature as two female reporters of The New York Times blow the lid on the silence surrounding sexual assault in Hollywood.
In the mould of Spotlight and All the Presidents Men, the female led She Said responds to Hollywood’s worst kept secret – constant accusations against Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse. With dogged resilience, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan – Ruby Sparks, The Big Sick) and Megan Twohey (a particularly fine Carey Mulligan – An Education, Suffragette) look to cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’, knowing the ramifications should they get anything wrong. Travelling between New York, California and the UK, meeting sources in darkened bars, the two slowly build the article as they try to convince reluctant victims to go on record. On publication the article made history.
It’s a surprisingly tense telling from director Maria Schrader (Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe, TV’s Unorthodox) as revelation after revelation is exposed and followed through as deadlines loom. The strength of She Said (aside to the strong newsroom camaraderie and support – especially from department editor Rebecca Corbett – Patricia Clarkson, The Station Agent, The Party) is its calm telling and non-judgemental respect shown to the women who endured the abuse, kept silent due to the industry indifference – and then finally spoke out.
Surprisingly, She Said failed to secure any Oscar recognition.
Rating: 78%
An Opinion or Two 