"These are the end times", says Bombshell’s Kayla late in the film’s run.
She is, of course, referring to a watershed mark in fighting sexual harassment in the workplace, but does Bombshell deliver on examining the events surrounding one of the earliest landmarks of the #MeToo era: the downfall of FOX News CEO Roger Ailes?
Directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Game Change) with a script from Charles Randolph (The Big Short), Bombshell examines the journeys of three women in the workplace of FOX News and how they each react and tackle the harassment and abuse they are dealt at the hands of men much more powerful than themselves.
Firstly, there is Charlize Theron as the determined anchorwoman Megyn Kelly, the woman who challenged Donald Trump on live national television for his treatment of women but also harbours some rather Conservative (read: offensive) views of her own. The film does not shy away from Kelly’s controversial qualities but her journey is empathetic and brilliantly performed by Theron.
The Oscar-winning Monster actress disappears into her role as Kelly, aided by perfect prosthetics and make-up, but also mastering the voice of the real-life figure and delivering an Oscar-worthy emotional truth to a morally grey figure, but one who unquestionably was a victim herself of many of the men around her.
Some may question the necessity of focusing on Kelly’s feud with Donald Trump, but it helps to detail the dynamic Megyn has with Ailes and also provides a parallel between two men who are regularly degrading to women.
Then there’s Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman as presenter Gretchen Carlson, the one who risks it all to lead a charge to take down Roger Ailes but with only a limited amount of confidence that she can succeed. Kidman delivers a believably beleaguered yet focused turn as Carlson, giving perhaps the most obvious hero to proceedings.
However, it’s Margot Robbie who gets the most memorable and disturbing scene in the film. The star of I, Tonya plays the fictional (but a composite of real-life figures) Kayla Pospisil, an outspoken young evangelical Christian who is ambitious, naive, and devoted to the mission statement of Fox. Her rude awakening to the office and Ailes, in particular, will stay long with you long thereafter and her almost wordless performance in these scenes is brilliant.
In fact, on the whole, Roach is happy for the film to sit with its actors in a number of key scenes and not let the dialogue take over, leaving us with the horror, discomfort, and resilience of the film’s leading ladies.
The cast is also littered with other pitch-perfect supporting turns, with John Lithgow providing a charismatic but vile monster beneath the padding as Ailes himself. Meanwhile, Kate McKinnon as Kayla’s workmate and Connie Britton as Roger’s ignorant wife Beth provide laughs and bittersweet honesty for the audience in spades.
Elsewhere, veteran actress Holland Taylor is stellar as the quietly despicable enabler of Ailes’ behaviour, appearing to be procuring victims as his personal assistant.
Meanwhile, in terms of execution, the more meta and breaking-the-fourth-wall moments through addressing the audience directly may grate on some, but Roach and Randolph never lets these sequences overstay their welcome and ensure they are both informative and witty.
The pacing throughout is fast, the dialogue sharp and also darkly funny, with Robbie, in particular, proving some comedic chops.
However, what makes Bombshell so interesting is the portrayal of the differing responses of all the women involved to the dark situations they find themselves in, in what could easily be a one-dimensional girl power moment, instead, Bombshell delivers riveting and detailed renderings of three women who have suffered victimisation in the workplace.
In fact, the sequence used in the earliest teaser trailers where all three women are in the elevator travelling by Ailes’ office quietly encapsulates the Bombshell's relationship between its main characters: they are individuals each trying to make their own way up in a world dictated by the whims of despicable men.
Verdict
Bombshell is a fast-paced, riveting, and timely portrayal of a landmark moment in media history and is anchored by three flawless performances from Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie.
Bombshell is released in UK cinemas on January 17, 2020.
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