Film Review - She Said
Images courtesy of Universal Pictures.
She Said unfortunately fails due to the numerous inherent conflicts between its production and its message. The attempted message is clear; that both men in positions of power and the systems put in place to protect said men must be held responsible, but when the messenger is a film produced by a Weinstein collaborator similarly facing his own abuse allegations, centreing on a newspaper that began investigating the Weinstein abuses all the way back in 2004 but buried the story, the intended triumphant effect of the film entirely dissipates.
The film is simple enough; it follows the journey of Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor at the New York Times, the two investigative journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein abuse story that would eventually form the basis of the #MeToo Movement and Weinstein’s 24-year prison sentence. The film essentially moves through its runtime as though they are simply chronologically and perfunctorily checking major items off the timeline of events. First there are the whispers of the abuse, then the big names come in to lend their credibility; Rose McGowan, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd. Yet, while we hear the undeniably harrowing details of the traumatic abuse these women were subjected to, there was a tangible feeling of distance from these stories, as if director Maria Schrader was hoping that the recounting of these events would be enough to deliver a semblance of emotion to the film, thus saving the film itself from needing to take a real stance on these terrifying issues.
There is a quiet refusal to get too close to the issues that this film so entirely centres on; the journalists are motivated but not overly passionate, the higher ups seem interested but not zealous, and overall, the stakes don’t really feel that high. Which begs the question, why was this film made in the first place? When a clear sense of heart is viscerally felt missing from this film, and the viewer gets the sense that they are simply witnessing a documentary-esque retelling of the facts of the case, the lack of empathy for these women reads far more sinisterly. Part of me cannot help but wonder if this film was an act of performative allyship with the plight of the women of the #MeToo Movement, rather than a sincere depiction of these events.
On the whole, Hollywood making a movie about how the systems Hollywood had in place allowed for and protected the actions of Weinstein, reads completely ironic, and typical, that they should now want to capitalise off of their past, wilful mistakes. Furthermore, the combination of Brad Pitt and the New York Times working on this film, both of whom had knowledge of Weinstein’s actions and yet chose to ignore and bury them, and even work with him several times in the case of Pitt (despite him knowing the abuses he committed to both Gwenyth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie), entirely seems to undercut what little ‘message’ this film has to begin with. A film whose subject matter should have been treated with the utmost care, She Said can only be described as an overall meagre, flat attempt at capturing a moment in time that will be remembered for its fervent rage and violent passion.
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She Said is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.