FILM REVIEW: "Bombshell" is confronting, complex, and compelling
Bombshell opens with a disclaimer: “This is a dramatization”. What this tells us is that the events depicted on screen, while not entirely accurate, are still significant and are one perspective among many in a large, sprawling and complicated issue.
In the film, we are introduced to the working environment and social climate of the Fox News Network by presenter Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron). At first, it is a seemingly ordinary dog-eat-dog workplace; a hostile and ruthless jungle with the personalities and officials at the top being the most intimidating and merciless of all. Behind the scenes, however, lie dark, unspoken acts, abuses of power by Heads of Staff and a perpetrator in particular: CEO of the network, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) who has been rumoured to have committed numerous acts of sexual harassment but has never been publicly accused.
When presenter Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), who has been compiling a case against Roger for some time, is laid off, she decides to go public and sue him personally for sexual harassment. Compelled by the actions of Gretchen, Megyn Kelly decides to confront her past, her identity and the disturbing truth about Roger.
Much like previous a-list dramatizations such as The Big Short, Spotlight and Zodiac, the careful way which Bombshell paces the interwoven journeys of our multiple protagonists further paints an unsettling and revealing portrait, of a world not far removed from our own.
Each of our main characters, in particular, the journey of Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), serves as integral roles in highlighting the different ways we cope and deal with trauma and the indescribable repercussions of abuse. In two of Bombshell’s most powerful scenes, both centred on Kayla trying to comprehend what has happened to her at the hands of Roger, Robbie vividly conveys the complexities of this impossible inner turmoil with one of the finest on-screen performances of her career.
Bombshell is an important and powerful film, which will resonate with audiences and undoubtedly resonate with those who helped create it. Confronting, complex and compelling, the film triumphs as an insightful glimpse into the harrowing reality for victims of workplace sexual harassment, led by powerful performances by Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow.
