'Bombshell' trailer promises spectacular performances by Theron as Megyn Kelly, Kidman's Gretchen Carlson and Margot Robbie
Gretchen Carlson was the first woman to come out against the late Roger Ailes who was the Chairman and CEO of Fox News. Megyn Kelly, one of the most popular hosts of the news channel, also stood with women who accused Ailes of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior and shared her experience as well.
These two women are being brought to life on screen by award-winning actors Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron in 'Bombshell'. Joining them is Margot Robbie, who will play one of the few fictional characters in the movie, that of Kayla Pospisil.
The trailer of the film dropped October 15 and we can see the three women pack in some great performances in just a few seconds. The first screening of the film took place in Los Angeles Sunday and the film has received glowing responses, with Variety's Marc Malkin and Angelique Jackson observing that Theron may just win another Academy Award for her performance.
Let's start with Robbie's Kayla! She has just begun working for Fox News, is a passionate woman who wants to make a mark as an anchor and doesn't hesitate to knock on Ailes' door to ask for a chance to prove herself.
She doesn't hesitate until Ailes asks her to prove her loyalty and there, we can see Kayla rethinking her entire approach with that one expression. Then we have Theron's Kelly who is in the middle of a media storm herself after she presented a news report about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in a negative light.
This scene in the trailer is a reference to the incident that occurred in real life during the 2016 Republican presidential debate where she, in a question directed at Trump had said, "You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals." In a contentious back and forth between the anchor and the candidate, Trump had said to CNN about Kelly, "She had blood coming out of her eyes. Or blood coming out of her wherever."
Overnight, Kelly finds herself become the story after being accused of "anger menstruating". Kelly's brush with Ailes, in the trailer, sees her sitting in his office with a forced smile on her face when he says, "Nobody stops watching when there is a conflict. They stop watching when there isn't one." The trailer also shows Kelly taking a backseat when news of Ailes' behavior towards women co-workers breaks, and it is her journey after that we would be interested to watch unfold on screen.
Lastly, Kidman's Gretchen Carlson seems to be the anchor of the film. Carlson was the first one to file a lawsuit against Ailes in 2016 when he was still the Chairman and CEO of the news outlet. A powerful person to start a fight against and the trailer shows us the beginning of it.
The people Carlson approached to shed light on her story and her need to find other women who would support her is depicted. She says, "Someone has to speak up, someone has to get mad," in the trailer and that is probably the result of all the frustration that has built up over the years because of how she was treated.
Comments made about her on-air because she was a woman and comments made off-air, may have all played a part in convincing her lawyers to take on her case and we get a tease of it.
How Carlson, Pospisil and Kelly come together to intentionally or unintentionally to take down Ailes would be fascinating to watch when the film releases in theaters December 20.