It’s the story that shook Hollywood. Back in 2017, two New York Times reporters – Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor – worked together tirelessly to break one of the most important and vital stories in recent memory, exposing decades of silence around sexual assault in the film industry, triggering the downfall of Harvey Weinstein, and launching the #MeToo movement. The two journalists documented their investigation in a bestselling book, She Said, which has been adapted for the big screen – and the first trailer for the film is now online. Watch it below.
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as Twohey and Kantor respectively, and the supporting cast includes Samantha Morton as Weinstein’s former assistant Zelda Perkins, plus Andre Braugher as Dean Baquet and Patricia Clarkson as Rebecca Corbett, both of whom were NYT editors at the time. Emmy award-winner Maria Schrader, who helmed the Netflix’s hugely successful word-of-mouth show Unorthodox, is in the director’s chair, and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, whose previous work includes Colette and Disobedience, has written the screenplay.
This initial NYT story had staggering ramifications at the time, starting a much-needed conversation around misogyny and sexual abuse in the industry, and empowering huge numbers of people to come forward and share their stories. Movies like Spotlight show that these kind of journalistic dramas can be incredibly compelling – but what is particularly interesting in the case of She Said is that this is Hollywood dramatising its own revelations. Can it do so with all the rigour and depth this story needs? We’ll find out when She Said hits cinemas on 18 November.