Sexual misconduct, harassment, even occasional sexual assault. The workplace has not always been a pleasant and productive environment… especially for women. The recent movie, She Said, stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as NY Times reporters who investigate the alleged and recently-proven sexual crimes of film mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The fine screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz is based on the book by the real-life reporters Jodi Cantor and Megan Twohey whom these two actors portray. Unlike so many recent television and movie representations of sex crimes, She Said is a rather pensive portrayal of their investigation. Cantor and Twohey, with help from NY Times top staff, compile the facts on Weinstein’s acts in a deliberate manner from a long list of women who worked for him. Perhaps because Mulligan and Kazan have been good friends for years, their performances synch up. Their harmony is important to the narrative.
The victimized women have stories to recount but are fearful to go on the record. Their lives have been redirected or downright ruined by their experiences working for Weinstein. They tell of Weinstein forcing them into private rooms where he insisted on intimate massages, bringing them into bathrooms where he was naked and showering. Some were raped. Many were his young assistants or vulnerable aspiring actresses. Two who are named are famous stars, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow. Many young women whom he used badly and assaulted left the film business entirely.
Cantor and Twohey also received important information from a handful of male accountants and lawyers. This is a true tale, of payouts, cover-ups, and NDAs. I never even heard of a non-disclosure agreement until Trump entered politics, but here they were. The many NDAs that victims were cajoled into signing were the reason why the Times investigation process was so drawn out and so frustrating.
She Said, takes viewers on a journey to the truth that does not involve melodramatic scenes. There are no nude scenes. The viewer doesn’t need to see the crimes play out.
Let me tell you from the heart, as a woman who came up in the film business during the 1970s and 80s, there have been many predators. When sexual misconduct occurred, it was considered smart to keep it to yourself. If you wanted to keep your job and eventually be promoted, you kept quiet in most cases. Of course, this went on in all industries, not just film.
At the start of the film is a scene dealing with Trump’s alleged sexual misconduct, and we only hear his voice on the phone. Through most of the movie we are involved with Harvey Weinstein, and we only hear his voice via phone. He never appears. I like that about the movie. Who needs to see the alleged and/or convicted perpetrators? Why give them more presence than needed to tell the story?
She Said, in addition to being about sexual harassment, looks into the private lives of the two reporters. Both are happily married and mothers of small children. They work around the clock and travel at a moment’s notice. How they manage to keep marriages together and raise their children is another theme in this sensitively-told account of modern women.
Director Maria Schrader displays a keen understanding of feminist themes. Schrader previously showed deep feeling in her direction of Unorthodox, from 2020. Unorthodox recounts another truth-based story, this one about a young woman fleeing an oppressive life inside a Hasidic Orthodox Jewish community.
She Said is available on disc and can be streamed from multiple sources.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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