# She Said (film)
**She Said** is a 2022 American drama film directed by Maria Schrader, with a screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the 2019 book *She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement* by *New York Times* reporters [Jodi Kantor](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodi-kantor) and [Megan Twohey](https://www.edgepedia.org/megan-twohey). It dramatizes the reporters' investigation that exposed decades of sexual abuse and assault by film producer [Harvey Weinstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-weinstein) and helped ignite the #MeToo movement[1](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said) • [2](https://www.screendaily.com/features/she-said-writer-on-the-huge-responsibility-to-metoo-survivors/5177474.article). Carey Mulligan plays Twohey and Zoe Kazan plays Kantor[1](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Maria Schrader; screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the 2019 book by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey[1](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said) |
| Lead cast | Carey Mulligan as Megan Twohey, Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor; Patricia Clarkson as editor Rebecca Corbett, Andre Braugher as executive editor Dean Baquet[1](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said) • [3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/) |
| Release | United States theatrical release November 18, 2022; streaming January 6, 2023; produced by Universal Pictures, Plan B, and Annapurna Pictures[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/she_said/reviews) |
| Runtime and rating | 2 hours 9 minutes; rated R for language and descriptions of sexual assault[5](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/she-said) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 74 ("Generally Favorable") based on 51 critic reviews[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/she-said/) |
| Box office | Budget US$32 million; grossed US$13,956,384 worldwide[7](https://researchers-admin.westernsydney.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/103006977/Thesis_FANNING_L_SignatureRedacted.pdf) • [19](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/She-Said-%282022%29) |
| Honors | AFI Movie of the Year (2023); BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (Lenkiewicz); BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Carey Mulligan in supporting role[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198810/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Subject matter
The film recounts the 2017 *New York Times* investigation by Kantor and Twohey, whose articles raised credible allegations that Weinstein had engaged in serial sexual abuse and assault of actresses and employees over decades[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/11/16/she-said-movie-review/). The reporting helped launch the #[MeToo movement](https://www.edgepedia.org/metoo-movement) and shattered decades of silence around sexual assault in Hollywood[1](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said). Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in February 2020 and is serving a 23-year prison sentence[3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/).
The title takes the second half of the phrase "he said, she said," used to dismiss rape allegations as hearsay, and in doing so restores the importance of women's testimony[10](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/24/she-said-review-breaking-the-male-silence-around-harvey-weinstein).
### Story structure
The film opens with a wordless sequence set in Ireland in 1992, in which a young woman stumbles onto a film location shoot, lands a job, and is later seen running down a street distraught; the sequence establishes that many of the women in the story had carried their trauma in secret for some 25 years[3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/). A second opening device is a misdirect in which Twohey appears to be discussing Weinstein but is in fact investigating sexual misconduct charges against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/11/16/she-said-movie-review/).
The narrative follows the reporters as they persuade survivors to go on the record, building to publication of the investigation. Kantor initiates a story on workplace sexual misconduct after *Times* reporting on Bill O'Reilly's ouster from [Fox News](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-news), and asks Twohey, then returning from maternity leave after postpartum depression, to join her[3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/) • [14](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-frictionless-triumphs-of-she-said).
**Weinstein's absence.** Weinstein is never depicted on screen; the film treats him as so central to the culture by 2022 that it need not show him[15](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/she-said-movie-book.php). The subplot concerning [Black Cube](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-cube), the Israeli intelligence firm Weinstein engaged to surveil and discredit accusers and journalists, is confined to three quick scenes, despite the trailer's emphasis on it[15](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/she-said-movie-book.php).
## Production and casting
Schrader, who also directed *I'm Your Man* and the series *Unorthodox*, filmed a script by playwright and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, who worked closely with Kantor and Twohey in adapting their book[3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/) • [11](https://au.variety.com/2022/film/news/she-said-movie-harvey-weinstein-survivors-ashley-judd-gwyneth-paltrow-7414/). The score is by [Nicholas Britell](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-britell)[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-11-17/review-she-said-journalsim-drama-zoe-kazan-carey-mulligan).
Several participants appear as themselves. [Ashley Judd](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashley-judd) plays herself in a scene recounting her encounter with Weinstein, and [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://www.edgepedia.org/gwyneth-paltrow) lends her voice to a phone-call scene; [Rose McGowan](https://www.edgepedia.org/rose-mcgowan), who reached a settlement with Weinstein after alleging he raped her in 1997, did not participate, though the original script had a role for her[11](https://au.variety.com/2022/film/news/she-said-movie-harvey-weinstein-survivors-ashley-judd-gwyneth-paltrow-7414/). Samantha Morton plays Zelda Perkins, a former Weinstein assistant in the London office, and Jennifer Ehle plays one of Weinstein's 1990s targets[13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/27/she-said-review-taut-sobering-drama-of-the-harvey-weinstein-investigation) • [3](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/).
## Adaptation choices
The film is a close adaptation. Beyond excising a long coda detailing sexual-assault allegations against [Brett Kavanaugh](https://www.edgepedia.org/brett-kavanaugh), it touches on nearly every major player and event from the book[15](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/she-said-movie-book.php). Critics divided on the result: the *Columbia Journalism Review* called it "a mile wide and an inch deep," with the journalists reduced to heroic ciphers, while the *Journal of American History* described it as a scrupulous adaptation that covers almost all the key moments of the investigation in just over two hours[15](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/she-said-movie-book.php) • [16](https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/110/3/598/7497174).
## Reception
The film premiered at the 2022 [New York Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-film-festival)[17](https://tahoefilmfest.com/wp-content/uploads/TahoeFilmFest22.pdf) and opened in United States theaters on November 18, 2022[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/she_said/reviews). On Metacritic it scored 74 of 100 from 51 critics, with 82 percent of reviews positive[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/she-said/). Reviewers repeatedly placed it in the lineage of *All the President's Men* and *Spotlight*, while noting that it departs from the journalism-movie mold by centering two working mothers, showing Twohey on maternity leave with postpartum depression and Kantor balancing reporting with child care[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/11/16/she-said-movie-review/) • [18](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/17/arts/how-she-said-breaks-journalism-movie-mold/).
At the box office it underperformed its US$32 million budget, grossing US$13,956,384 worldwide[7](https://researchers-admin.westernsydney.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/103006977/Thesis_FANNING_L_SignatureRedacted.pdf) • [19](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/She-Said-%282022%29). Awards recognition included the AFI Movie of the Year award, a BAFTA nomination for Lenkiewicz's adapted screenplay, and BAFTA and Golden Globe supporting-actress nominations for Mulligan; the film received 14 wins and 43 nominations overall[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198810/awards/).
## References
1. [She Said, Annapurna Pictures](https://www.annapurna.com/film/she-said)
2. ['She Said' writer on the "huge responsibility" to #MeToo survivors, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/features/she-said-writer-on-the-huge-responsibility-to-metoo-survivors/5177474.article)
3. [She Said Is a Satisfying Journalism Movie About Tireless Reporters Who Are Also Tired Moms, Time](https://time.com/6234971/she-said-review/)
4. [She Said Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/she_said/reviews)
5. [She Said, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/she-said)
6. [She Said Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/she-said/)
7. [Fanning, L., doctoral thesis, Western Sydney University](https://researchers-admin.westernsydney.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/103006977/Thesis_FANNING_L_SignatureRedacted.pdf)
8. [She Said (2022) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198810/awards/)
9. ['She Said' review: Lean newsroom drama chronicles #MeToo investigation, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/11/16/she-said-movie-review/)
10. [She Said review – breaking the male silence around Harvey Weinstein, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/24/she-said-review-breaking-the-male-silence-around-harvey-weinstein)
11. [How Harvey Weinstein's Real-Life Survivors Made 'She Said' Come to Life, Variety](https://au.variety.com/2022/film/news/she-said-movie-harvey-weinstein-survivors-ashley-judd-gwyneth-paltrow-7414/)
12. ['She Said' review: Inside the Weinstein investigation, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-11-17/review-she-said-journalsim-drama-zoe-kazan-carey-mulligan)
13. [She Said review – taut, sobering drama of the Harvey Weinstein investigation, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/27/she-said-review-taut-sobering-drama-of-the-harvey-weinstein-investigation)
14. [The Frictionless Triumphs of "She Said", The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-frictionless-triumphs-of-she-said)
15. [She Said: Read the damn book, Columbia Journalism Review](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/she-said-movie-book.php)
16. [She Said, Journal of American History, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/110/3/598/7497174)
17. [Tahoe Film Fest 2022 program](https://tahoefilmfest.com/wp-content/uploads/TahoeFilmFest22.pdf)
18. [How 'She Said' breaks the journalism movie mold, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/17/arts/how-she-said-breaks-journalism-movie-mold/)
19. [She Said (2022) - Box Office and Financial Information](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/She-Said-%282022%29)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Individual biographical and docudrama films › Business, law, and journalism*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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