Movie · 2017 · Drama, History · 1h 56m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 5.9/10 (398.7K ratings)
Truth be told
Overview
A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.
Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, David Cross, Zach Woods, Pat Healy, John Rue, Rick Holmes, Philip Casnoff, Jessie Mueller, Stark Sands, Michael Cyril Creighton
Where to watch
History Vault
Curator Review
Verdict
A polished, propulsive newsroom drama that turns a historical scandal into an accessible thriller. It’s especially rewarding for viewers who like process-driven storytelling, prestige performances, and Spielberg’s steady command of momentum and moral clarity.
Best for
fans of newsroom and political dramas
viewers who enjoy procedural storytelling
audiences looking for strong lead performances
people interested in 1970s American history and press freedom
Skip if
you want a deeply ambiguous or experimental film
you prefer intimate character studies over institutional drama
you’re looking for a fast, twist-heavy thriller
you’re tired of awards-season prestige filmmaking
Overview
The Post is Spielberg in efficient, crowd-pleasing mode: crisp, urgent, and deeply invested in the machinery of journalism. It takes a familiar historical chapter and gives it the shape of a pressure cooker, with the newsroom, the boardroom, and the government all feeling like parts of the same tense system.
Worth noting
Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks anchor the film with calm authority, and the movie gets a lot of mileage out of watching competent people do difficult work under deadline. That makes it less emotionally volatile than some of Spielberg’s best dramas, but also unusually satisfying as a procedural about principle, risk, and institutional courage.
Bottom line
If you respond to films about media ethics, public accountability, and the drama of decision-making, this lands very well. It’s not subtle about its politics, but it is polished, intelligent, and often exhilarating in the way it turns reporting into action.
Top Letterboxd reviews
James (Schaffrillas) (4.5★) · 2050 likes
Why did Saul Goodman tell the flight attendant he had government secrets on the plane? Is he stupid?
Lucy (4★) · 1986 likes
me six months ago: what the hell kind of boring shit is this gonna be
spielberg: happy awards season. here’s a movie, eat it up
me now: delicious. finally some good fucking food
Griffin Newman · 1653 likes
A Movie About People Who Are Good At Their Jobs made by people who are very, very good at their jobs.
Patrick Willems (4★) · 1530 likes
let's go, let's do it, let's go let's go let's go, let's publish
davidehrlich (4.5★) · 947 likes
There’s topical, there’s timely, and then there’s “The Post,” which feels less like a historical thriller set in 1971 than it does an exhilarating caricature of the year 2017. While Steven Spielberg’s latest film rivetingly dramatizes the publication of the Pentagon Papers (and eloquently unpacks the consequences of their dissemination), “The Post” wears the Nixon era like a flimsy disguise that it wants you to see right through.
That’s not to take away from Ann Roth’s ratty and exquisite period… more