The trailer for a movie we’ve been looking forward to for nearly three years is finally here: “She Said” tells the story of New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s Pulitzer-winning investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s pattern of sexual abuse and bullying. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan lead an all-star cast, Maria Schrader (“I’m Your Man”) is the director, and Rebecca Lenkiewicz (“Ida”) the screenwriter. “She Said” is based on Kantor and Twohey’s bestselling book of the same name.
In the spot, Jodi (Kazan) discovers the Weinstein allegations while following a tip that “the wrongdoing in Hollywood is overwhelming.” As she explains to her colleague and collaborator Megan (Mulligan), “These young women walked into what they all had reason to believe were business meetings. Instead, they say he met them with threats and sexual demands.”
A lot of potential sources and survivors do not want to speak to Jodi and Megan, let alone go on the record for their article. Some just don’t see the point. “People have tried to write this story before,” former Weinstein assistant Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton, “Harlots”) tells the reporters. “He kills it every time.” Unsure of how they will ever convince the women Weinstein terrorized to go public, Megan thinks she and Jodi should be as forthright as possible. “‘I can’t change what happened to you in the past, but together we may be able to help protect other people,'” she suggests.
And that’s exactly what the real-life Kantor and Twohey did. Thanks in part to their reporting, the #MeToo movement was reignited, sexual harassment is taken more seriously in mainstream culture, and Weinstein is serving a 23-year prison sentence.
Mulligan and Kazan previously collaborated on the family drama “Wildlife.” Mulligan starred and Kazan co-wrote the script.
Mulligan has received Oscar nominations for “Promising Young Woman” and “An Education.” Her other credits include “Mudbound,” “Suffragette,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Kazan was most recently seen in alternative history miniseries “The Plot Against America.” She snagged an Emmy nomination for her supporting role in “Olive Kitteridge” and wrote and starred in the meta rom-com “Ruby Sparks.”
Schrader won an Emmy for directing the miniseries “Unorthodox.” Germany submitted her most recent feature, 2021 sci-fi “I’m Your Man,” as its submission for Best International Film category at the Academy Awards. Also an actress, she has appeared in the “Deutschland” anthology series, “Fortitude,” and more.
The screenwriter behind “Colette” and “Disobedience,” Lenkiewicz will make her directorial debut with mother-daughter drama “Hot Milk.” Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”), and Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) are set to star.
“She Said” will be in theaters November 18. Its supporting cast includes Patricia Clarkson (“Sharp Objects”) and Andre Braugher (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”).
