The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg, is based on a true story that takes place in 1971. Kay Graham is having trouble taking over her late husband’s business: the Washington Post. Mainly because She is the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and she has to deal with sexism from editors. She is often not heard or not listened to at meetings even when she’s right. Ben Bradlee is a short-tempered man who is executive editor for the Post.

The Washington Post is always playing catch-up to the New York Times. When the Times receive classified files about the Korean War, the Post has to rival the Times as a top newspaper. The government wants to shut down the New York Times because they revealed that the government knew that our troops weren’t going to win the war but didn’t want to surrender because our government would look weak. So the government sent way too many troops that ended up dead.

A Washington Post journalist meets up with Daniel Ellsberg, the man who revealed the files to the Times. The Post receives tons of information about previous presidents lying to Congress, as well as the public, about the War. Realizing that the Times only scratched the surface. Now, they are forced to decide whether they want to publish the truth about the president and put the entire Washington Post at risk, or lay low and let it blow over.

I loved this movie. It is so different to see newspapers actually publish. It feels very old school because now people read the news on the internet. The drama about whether you can write the truth about our government without going to jail is very entertaining. This movie is very accurate when comparing it to what actually happened. It makes you think about what else the government hides from the public. The cast in the movie is superb, including multiple academy award winners and nominees.

Graham is played by Meryl Streep and Bradlee is played by Tom Hanks. Streep has been nominated for a record 21 academy awards and won three and is considered to be one of the best actors of all time. Hanks is one of only nine people to win the Best Actor Oscar twice. 

The Post has received an 88% on rotten tomatoes and a 7.4 rating on IMDB. The film has been nominated for Best Picture and Streep has been nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Oscars.