‘She Said’ review: Maria Schrader goes on the record with an empathetic story of womens’ courage | NYFF

Picture it: it’s 1992 in Ireland, and a young woman in her early twenties walks along the beach only to stumble upon a group of soldiers in Revolutionary War-era uniforms disembarking their ships. The camera pans to reveal a movie set, and the crew beckons the young woman to join them. It all feels like a fantasy until the camera tracks her running down an empty street in the future, in tears. Meanwhile, in New York City in 2016, a journalist tries to convince a woman to go on the record with details about a presidential candidate’s (you know the one) sexual misconduct. Powerful men, like the soldiers setting foot on land, the grifter-turned-U.S. President, and the producers who make a film come to fruition, have been misbehaving for centuries. 

Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz from the nonfiction book of the same name, She Said tells the story of two investigative journalists, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Meghan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), as they interview survivors and break the story of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct allegations. Before diving deep into conversations with Weinstein’s former employees at Miramax, Director Maria Schrader (Love Life, Unorthodox) empathizes with survivors of sexual assault from multiple arenas. By including the accusations against the man who won the U.S. Presidency, Schrader illustrates the sense of doubt that survivors of sexual violence had, precisely at that time in the fallout of the 2016 election. How does reporting against your abuser matter if the perpetrator can still win the Presidency? The election was just the spark that ignited the powder keg, though, as The New York Times investigative reporting team now has tabs on the allegations against Fox News host, Bill O’Reilly. Editor Rebecca Corbett (a statement necklace-wearing Patricia Clarkson) asks, “why is sexual harassment so pervasive and hard to address?” Schrader reminds the audience that this is a story about the entire system that allows sexual harassment and assault to live and grow. The film industry is just one part of that. While it can feel disorienting that the story of the survivors of Harvey Weinstein’s violence begins with politicians and pundits, the film finds its footing when the investigative reporting about his behavior at Miramax begins. 

Jodi Kantor is the first reporter to begin work on the story. As a journalist, she’s taken on large corporations like Starbucks and Amazon, and she ensures the women she’s speaking with that her reporting has led to changes in the workplace. But Kantor soon finds out that getting sexual harassment and assault survivors to come forward and share their experiences is a different beast altogether. Kazan gives a strong, naturalistic performance as Kantor. She feels like a real, lived-in character who doesn’t shy away from her emotions in moments of frustration or triumph. Eventually, she joins forces with Megan Twohey, who is no stranger to reporting on powerful men with misconduct allegations on their resumes. Mulligan is ferocious in this role. She’s whip-smart with a no-bullshit attitude that makes it impossible not to feel confident that she’ll make sure this story makes a difference. 

In a pivot from the book, Schrader illustrates the lives of Kantor and Twohey at home as working mothers. Kantor has young daughters and has juggled reporting and being a mother for a few years. Meanwhile, Twohey is a brand-new mother struggling with postpartum depression. In one of Mulligan’s best moments in the film, we see her return to work with a big grin. She’s ready to return to the place where she’s confident and strong; motherhood hasn’t given her that yet. While the script takes great care in establishing these journalists as real women outside of the workplace, the script could have gone even further to show the effect this story had on their personal lives.

Additionally, Schrader displays how supportive the relationship is between Kantor and Twohey. While some viewers may hope for more conflict as they face roadblocks getting witnesses to come forward, it’s clear that Schrader wanted the focus placed on their collective ambition and effective collaboration. There are plenty of workplace dramas about women feeling the need to claw their way to the top, and it’s refreshing that this movie isn’t like that when it easily could’ve been dramatized to fit those typical conventions.  

Before Kantor joins forces with Twohey, she speaks to several high-profile women who courageously come forward to share their stories about Weinstein. First, she talks to Rose McGowan, who details her experiences with Weinstein at The Sundance Film Festival, but is prickly, and understandably so. She doesn’t feel inclined to talk to reporters about Weinstein, as her allegations weren’t taken seriously in the past. She also speaks to Ashley Judd, who shares that Weinstein black-balled her and ruined her career when she declined his advances. The way that notable women factor into the film is surprising and somewhat uneven, given how recently this investigation occurred. We hear McGowan’s voice over the phone (Keilly McQuail), see Judd via Zoom, and in a surprising moment, see Kantor and Twohey go to Gwyneth Paltrow’s home. It’s worth noting that we never see Paltrow, but the conversation between her and the journalists is implied. 

Lenkiewicz’s script doesn’t have the rhythmic patterns and fast-paced newsroom talk common in films about investigative journalism. Still, the film itself feels almost relentlessly paced, thanks to Nicholas Britell’s dynamic score and Hansjörg Weißbrich’s editing. Lenkiewicz and Schrader display courageous empathy for the survivors as they allow the scenes when they come forward to have time to breathe. Here, Schrader uses inventive camerawork and flashbacks to establish the experiences of three former Miramax assistants. In a particularly haunting sequence, the camera tracks down various hotel hallways as we hear a voiceover of Harvey Weinstein attempting to sexually assault a former employee. These spaces were his hunting grounds, and Schrader ensures that while we do not see any of the violence depicted against the women, we know the impact it had on their lives and careers. Instead of showing scenes of sexual violence, Schrader and Lenkiewicz incorporate moving details from the women’s experiences into the dialogue. In the confessions, we learn that these women knew of his abuse and shared specific information that they thought would keep themselves and each other safe. For example, one young woman told another to sit in the armchair and not on the couch with Weinstein, while another wore two pairs of tights to bide her time just in case he tried to assault her. Of the supporting cast, Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle are absolute scene-stealers as former Miramax employees decades-removed from their assaults. Even though they have just a scene or two to tell their stories to Kantor, they illuminate the guilt and shame that sexual assault survivors continue to face and how every experience and journey to recovery is different.

There is a moment near the end of the film when Twohey discusses her experiences as a new mother with Kantor. She fears that all of the trauma she’s witnessed from her work as an investigative reporter will compound into a collective trauma that she will share with her daughter. It’s a realistic fear with plenty of truth to it. Sexual assault survivors and those who bear witness to survivors’ stories hold those experiences together. With She Said, Schrader shares a way to take this compounded trauma and turn it into a call to action. Plenty of monsters still lurk in the credits at the end of a film and the only way they’ll be stopped is if we have empathy for the survivors who go on the record to make a difference.

Grade: B+

This review is from the 2022 New York Film Festival. Universal Pictures will release She Said only in theaters on November 18.