This was a devastating movie.
Jodie Foster stars as Sarah Tobias, a waitress who gets gang-raped on the pinball machine in the back room of The Mill, a local bar. With the help of District Attorney Katheryn Murphy, played by Kelly McGillis, Sarah wants the three men who raped her in jail. Due to a lack of witnesses, Katheryn ends up taking a plea deal on Sarah's behalf where the men agree to a lower charge, not rape, but are guaranteed jail time.
Eventually, Katheryn realizes she has wronged an infuriated Sarah who feels like she is lacking justice and has not been able to tell her story, and she seeks to prosecute the men surrounding the rapists who were cheering and inciting them on, on the grounds of solicitation. What is a key moment in the case is the reluctant testimony of Kenneth Joyce, a friend of one of the rapists who called 911 after being disgusted from witnessing the rapists and surrounding men in action. With Sarah's testimony and his witness testimony, the jury sides with Sarah and finds the defendants guilty on solicitation.
The movie is just so devastating. Sarah basically has no one- her father left her in childhood, her boyfriend is an asshole, DA Murphy basically doesn't believe in her at first. To watch her recount the rape, and then to actually witness the scene was so disturbing to watch but important. Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis both just embody their characters they genuinely just give great performances that feel so real. They continuously navigate misogynistic assholes who taunt them, don't believe in them, etc. You just want to root for them and against them men so badly. The statistic at the end that a rape happens every 6 minutes, with 1/4 of them being 2+ rapists, is devastating.
It's just a really well-done movie that was tackling new subject matter in its times and it's really effective.
This was a devastating movie.
Jodie Foster stars as Sarah Tobias, a waitress who gets gang-raped on the pinball machine in the back room of The Mill, a local bar. With the help of District Attorney Katheryn Murphy, played by Kelly McGillis, Sarah wants the three men who raped her in jail. Due to a lack of witnesses, Katheryn ends up taking a plea deal on Sarah's behalf where the men agree to a lower charge, not rape, but are guaranteed jail time.
Eventually, Katheryn realizes she has wronged an infuriated Sarah who feels like she is lacking justice and has not been able to tell her story, and she seeks to prosecute the men surrounding the rapists who were cheering and inciting them on, on the grounds of solicitation. What is a key moment in the case is the reluctant testimony of Kenneth Joyce, a friend of one of the rapists who called 911 after being disgusted from witnessing the rapists and surrounding men in action. With Sarah's testimony and his witness testimony, the jury sides with Sarah and finds the defendants guilty on solicitation.
The movie is just so devastating. Sarah basically has no one- her father left her in childhood, her boyfriend is an asshole, DA Murphy basically doesn't believe in her at first. To watch her recount the rape, and then to actually witness the scene was so disturbing to watch but important. Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis both just embody their characters they genuinely just give great performances that feel so real. They continuously navigate misogynistic assholes who taunt them, don't believe in them, etc. You just want to root for them and against them men so badly. The statistic at the end that a rape happens every 6 minutes, with 1/4 of them being 2+ rapists, is devastating.
It's just a really well-done movie that was tackling new subject matter in its times and it's really effective.
