by Angela Zhu

After three months of not getting to see a new movie, I’m glad that The Post was the one to break that streak. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, it tells the true story of Katharine Graham, the owner of The Washington Post in 1971, who has to face the hard decision of whether to publish the Pentagon Papers, secret government papers detailing lies about the Vietnam War, or not. The movie was really well paced–it felt like there weren’t any lulls in the storyline. Although this isn’t your average action-packed thriller, it kept the audience interested in what was going to happen next and made them invested in the characters. What I loved the most was the character development. Near the climax of the movie, when Graham (Streep) had said yes to publishing the government documents, editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Hanks) was ecstatic. However, after a heartfelt conversation with his wife, he realized truly how much Graham was putting at stake. She was risking everything she had: her family business, which was one of the few remnants of her late father and husband, her livelihood, and, essentially, her life, because to leak the government documents meant that she could face prison. Bradlee asking Graham to reconsider on her behalf was a very touching moment. Another powerful part in the movie was when Graham stood up to her more experienced co-workers. They repeatedly question her authority and her ability to handle managing The Washington Post throughout the movie, and try to persuade Graham to not publish the documents. Graham finds her voice, defends her choices, and goes on to rebuke her co-workers’ attitudes, squashing their arrogance. She wished to maintain the integrity of the newspaper, despite facing heavy consequences, and that’s something to look up to. If anyone’s looking for a movie to watch, I highly recommend this one!