This docu-drama about the Fox News sexual harassment scandal is a gripping watch with a star-studded cast. Yet, it has some difficulty straddling the combination of real-life events and invented narrative.

Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News presenter who in 2016 successfully sued her boss, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment, is played by Nicole Kidman. Her lawsuit eventually gained support of other colleagues, and the narrative focuses on Carlson, Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, and Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil, a fictional composite of the younger women abused by Ailes. Since Megyn Kelly is perhaps most notorious for insisting on air that “Santa Claus is white”, and Carlson repeatedly insists she’s “not a feminist”, the heroic nature of the protagonists is left ambiguous.

However, the focus being split between the three lead characters means that Kayla’s fictional subplot is left underdeveloped. This is a shame as her friendship/romance with colleague and secret Democrat, Jess, played by Kate McKinnon, is the source of some of the best lines in the film, perhaps due to the lack of constraints of keeping to real-life dialogue.

Bombshell opens and closes with the characters speaking directly to the camera, creating a 24-hour news effect which emphasises the reality behind the story. However, these features do not continue throughout the film, and so Carlson’s closing encouragement to stand up to sexual harassers has a slightly jarring effect, seeming like it should be followed by an advert for a helpline.

The use of footage of Donald Trump at the Republican presidential debates is somewhat eerie, momentarily making me think he was about to pop up in the movie, a la Home Alone 2. This adds an underlying sense of irony and frustration, that despite Ailes being removed from his job, the equally accused president of the country, so far, remains.

Director: Jay Roach
Writer: Charles Randolph
Stars: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie
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