Bombshell (2019)

Written by Ricardo Oliveira on December 16, 2020

Bombshell - The scandal tells the true story of the terror and harassment experienced by several women on FOX NEWS, the story of how the truth was slowly seeking the light of day, of how a group of women got together and tried to overthrow one of the biggest names associated with the FOX brand.

Before the explosion of the #metoo movement, the first sign of a paradigm shift in Hollywood began with the fall of TV titan Roger Ailes. The film, by director Jay Roach, follows Ailes' last days as CEO of FOX NEWS, before Gretchen Carlson sued him and Megyn Kelly himself reportedly harassing him.

The film is heavy, especially given the type of material it deals with, and maintains a tense atmosphere from start to finish, raising the bar with each passing moment. There is great care in building tension, each scene slowly contributes to an unpleasant feeling in the audience. The truth is that it is sad to understand that this type of deplorable behavior is real, it is horrifying to know that certain men with too much power try to take advantage of it to use people (in the case of this film, and in reality, power is used specifically to harass and molest women).

There is a scene, in particular, that depicts the harassment experienced by several women (in this scene a character was created specifically to incorporate all the women who suffered these horrors), a scene so uncomfortably real that it will leave anyone feeling dirty. It is really impressive how the film portrays all this tension, all this horror and all this uncomfortable feeling in such a realistic and frightening way.

The performances are also really incredible, Charlize Theron is splendid like Megyn Kelly, in a performance that is so real that we almost forget who interprets it. Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman also give their all in the film, and this trio really takes this film to a higher level of cinema.

Although not a perfect film (the film tries to imitate the style of “The Big Short”), with some subjects that could have been further developed, I think it is mandatory to view, as it is essential to understand that this type of horrors still happen against women. It is really impressive the realism experienced with this film, the way it dramatizes a real event and still manages to convey the discomfort and terror of the situation. I strongly recommend that you see it.