Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Throughout the awards season, we’ll get around to some much-discussed films that we didn’t previously review.

Warning: the following review contains sensitive, triggering subject matter surrounding sexual abuse and assault. Reader discretion is advised.

It feels so strange that the early events detailed in She Said, Maria Schrader’s journalism drama, are already six years old. Ever since the MeToo movement took off after the largest exposure of sexual harassment in history, things have felt quite different in the world. Awful perpetrators have cared even less while everyone else unites against them and their awful, predatory ways. I still hear questionable people whining about how things are changing and that people are too sensitive when it comes to what should constitute as “flirting”, consent, and other loaded terms used by monsters to justify their actions. No. Things weren’t better before: this ugliness of society is just no longer being ignored. She Said details the findings of New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey after murmurings of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein’s actions began to make their rounds again (only this time people were willing to listen). The film kicks off at full speed right away and maintains this consistent flow of information and tenseness that is quite reminiscent of how Academy Award winner Spotlight handled its own story.

She Said is no-nonsense, even though it feels like it is dipping towards its biggest reveal yet (discussions surrounding some key figures in the article Kantor and Twohey released October 5th, 2017 titled Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades). The thing is there is a lot of ground to cover between the discovery of who these journalists need to talk to and the actual release of this groundbreaking article, and She Said is eager to cover all of it. You may think this is exhaustive, but I think this is quite necessary to show the power to silence that moguls like Weinstein have; they have the money necessary to hush the media, pay off survivors, and blackmail accusers (banishing them from being heard or even being able to work). She Said isn’t illuminating in the sense that you are learning what you don’t already know: it is providing perspective of how difficult it is to get these points across in today’s climate. Industry leaders will bury you while society shames and harasses you, especially if you are a woman in a climate that is instructed to be misogynistic. It’s horrifying to see, and She Said manages to prove what is already apparent while making us feel just how bad it truly is (in case that apprehension is necessary).

At the forefront are stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan who handle the weight of such a monumental story and the backlash women face while trying to be heard with such ease. There are numerous cameos from those that actually took part in the real story as well, including Ashley Judd as herself (who provides testimony here) and the voice of Gwyneth Paltrow. This adds a series of reminders of how very real the events in She Said are, and how director Maria Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz are trying to be as truthful as possible. Despite the victory that comes at the end (entire communities finally being listened to and observed), the majority of She Said feels like this is an impossible mission, and I think that’s the story the female storytellers here are telling more than the Weinstein one: look at what should have taken no time at all if an imbalanced society wasn’t silencing and punishing purveyors of truth. Harvey Weinstein being a despicable creep is old news now. What She Said is more concerned about is enlightening us of how survivors still aren’t being taken seriously to a point that’s acceptable yet, and that Weinstein is just one of these tyrants. There are still more out there, and hopefully the uphill battle at the centre of She Said isn’t what is needed to achieve justice. Work is needed to be done. She Said is about so much more than one piece of history: it’s about the vast majority of it.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.