Whilst defining exactly when the #MeToo campaign/environment commenced is a fool’s errand, however the real life Pulitzer prize winning events summarised here might be a good place to start.

Real life New York Times investigative reporters Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Meghan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) eventually join forces, as stories of sexual abuse and coercion within the movie industry emerge. The rumours centred around the now infamous and disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein of Miramax fame.

Following a brief introduction showing the corruption of innocence and movie world enthusiasm of a young film intern, the story switches to recent modern day.

Similar to The Post and Spotlight, the film closely details the dogged work a journalist has to put in to capture a big story, documenting, corroborating and most importantly encouraging those involved to “go on the record”.

All of this, whilst attempting to beat others to the scoop, dealing with sexism, physical & psychological threats from powerfully connected men, while bringing up a family at the same time.

The film has the benefit of one of the actual people involved, Ashley Judd, who was brave enough at the time to go on the record, which adds to the veracity of the story, coupled with real shocking audio of Weinstein from the time.

The film’s locations include the real New York Times newsroom, the first time a movie has been filmed there, which makes the feeling of print pressures, fear of being sued, and psychological & physical threats all the more palpable.

Difficult to see now how such behaviour was enabled for so long, “it’s just Harvey” was no excuse and “script assistant” being a title which could encompass anything and everything. Resistance doomed your career and acquiescing inevitably led to severe esteem issues and anxiety.

HR departments did nothing, settlements with cast iron NDA’s were paid by senior finance staff and lawyers in the know, “what payments John?” a devastating line in the movie, plenty of people knew what was going on, yet nobody acted.

Both Kazan and Mulligan are excellent and are well served by the supporting cast Patricia Clarkson & Andre Braugher who both act the way you would expect people of those high level newsroom positions to behave.

Whether long tail investigative journalism, where significant investment might lead to no reward, still has a place in a digital world, remains to be seen, with accountability the casualty if not. Nowadays anyone with a mobile phone is a journalist, producing “click bait” articles for willing eyeballs, whether based on fact or not.

Summary

Like the two films mentioned above, this is a quietly devastating film, detailing a true monster, tolerated and enabled for many years due to being rich, connected and powerful.

Well acted by the whole cast but calling out great performances from the two leads, this is well worth a watch. Hopefully or arguably somewhat optimistically, proving laws apply to everyone, not just the poor, powerless and vulnerable.