Movie Details
Movie: She Said (2022)
Director: Maria Schrader
Cast: Zoe Kazan Carey, Mulligan, Patricia Clarkson
Movie type: Thriller/Drama
Release date: 13 October 2022
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Languages: English, Hebrew, and Cantonese.
Duration: 2h 9m
Trailer
Synopsis
The #MeToo case shook Hollywood and not only Hollywood a few years ago. She ended careers, exposed problems that had been overlooked for years, and pointed out that things happen in the movie business that should not happen in a decent society. #MeToo still resonates today, of course. In courts, in society, in television and pub debates, but also in statuses on social networks, where some people still like to claim that the women should have spoken up earlier that they knew what they were getting into, and that they were to blame. This shows that we are still nowhere near the end of #MeToo. On the other hand, there are quite a few people who are still a bit confused about what the whole case was about and whether it is not an inflated bubble. The drama When She Spoke is an ideal way to clarify the whole matter. Even in
Maria Schrader started as an actress, and even though she sometimes jumped back to directing at home in Germany, she managed to impress only in the last two years. First with the series Unorthodox, then the original romance I’m Your Man, after which she got the rope from Hollywood. For many viewers, her new film She Said will be the first opportunity to get to know her. This is also my case. And I will say straight away that Schrader left a very good impression and seems like a mature filmmaker who knows exactly what and how she wants to show in her film. The only problem may be that what it shows is not so appreciative of the audience.
The main characters are journalist Megan Twohey and her younger colleague Jodi Kantor. They work for the prestigious New York Times, are damn good at what they do, have the courage to tackle complex topics, and keep a professional distance at all times. Even in their new report, they find out that Hollywood boss Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful and influential people in the film industry, liked to invite aspiring actresses to his hotel room, wearing only a bathrobe, asking them for massages and often much more. Those who did not submit to him could say goodbye to their careers. Those who spoke up were muzzled in the form of an out-of-court settlement. But Twohey and Kantor discover over time that there were more cases of sexual harassment than anyone expected and that Weinstein is a predator and a disgusting person whose actions the world simply needs to know about. Finding his victims is not a problem. Now it will be necessary to convince them to start talking. They risk humiliation, shame, and loss of career and dignity.
Today we know how it all turned out. And maybe that’s why Schrader didn’t treat When She Spoke as a classic journalistic drama in the vein of the classic All the President’s Men or the Oscar-winning Spotlight. In other words, yes to a certain extent. When she spoke, she showed the ant work of journalists. How he has to deal with dozens of people, earn their trust, verify everything, and later stand up against the powerful lawyers of the people he is running into. But Schrader approaches this whole search almost in a documentary style. It captures conversations that are often cold and emotionless, and there are no scenes where an actress cries touchingly in front of the camera or we get overly descriptive flashbacks. In short, it’s just talking to people and putting together a picture step by step of what Weinstein has done and why it’s necessary to tell the world about it. And tell him about it in such a way that it leads to something.
She said she kept her distance from the victims and the heroines. There will be no clichés where the case touches them personally in such a way that they (or the director) feel that they should speak for the victims, or that it would destroy their family and change their view of the world. But at the same time, in the acting and the detachment of the heroines, you can still see how clear they are about what they are dealing with and that they smother all the emotions that other directors would willingly transfer to the screen. As a result, When She Spoke is not a drama trying to go against the audience in some extreme way. Although there are scenes (and successful ones!) where Schrader reconstructs several sexual assaults, mainly with the help of sounds and a camera that does not show anything, overall her film is just a cold-blooded record of an investigation. Although both women knew they had a case on their hands that could have huge social implications,
It works well, but logically with this approach comes the problem that She Said is a film that is stingy with emotion and grateful acting scenes that make you think “damn, that Carey Mulligan deserves an Oscar.” It would be an exaggeration to say, that this drama based on real events is closer to a documentary than to a classic feature film. On the other hand, by the end of it, you’ll probably have the right feeling that you’re clear about the whole situation, that Weinstein was a real piece of shit, and that it’s a damn good thing that someone screamed the truth about his actions to the world. Even though Maria Schrader does not and does not want to meet the audience as much as perhaps fans of similar dramas would like.
Watch For Free On Filmy4Wap