The Post

"Truth be told"

2017 1h 56m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🍅

88%

FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 5,048🍅88%Rotten Tomatoes●83Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 171,711

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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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.

“Truth be told”

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Cast

Meryl Streep
Kay Graham
Tom Hanks
Ben Bradlee
Sarah Paulson
Tony Bradlee
Bob Odenkirk
Ben Bagdikian
Tracy Letts
Fritz Beebe
Bradley Whitford
Arthur Parsons
Bruce Greenwood
Robert McNamara
Matthew Rhys
Daniel Ellsberg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, India

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, India.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

272+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sarah Broshar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Spielberg directs. Janusz Kamiński behind the camera. John Williams scores. Sarah Broshar cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, India. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.
3Released 9 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, India.
5272+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Sarah Broshar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks and Sarah Paulson carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Truth be told".
11IMDB entry: tt6294822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 17 themes, including "vietnam war", "newspaper", "journalist", "washington dc, usa".
13Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Sarah Broshar
Production design: Rick Carter
Costume design: Ann Roth
Makeup / hair: Kay Georgiou
VFX supervisor: Doug Spilatro
Sound: Andy Nelson
Stunt coordinator: Mark Fichera
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $179,769,467
Return: 360% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Post (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 83/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 171,711 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 21 wins & 116 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Steven Spielberg

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-01-31
★ 5/10
Firing on all Oscar-bait cylinders, The Post is much more about the facts of the events than an insight into the people involved in them. It has some laughs in it, but it's far from a comedy. It's all "what" and no "why", but also, The Post is built on this HUGE will-they-wont-they question with massive ramifications ("Will Nixon and LBJ be exposed") and it's what the whole 108 minute runtime is building up to, but... We already know. The things that happen in The Post are real events that are common knowledge. So it's kind of... The mystery of the moral quandary was answered before you ever pressed play. I think with the state of journalism and even more so the state of politics the way it is now in America, that The Post was a very timely film, and with a cast like this assembled, obviously nobody in it is bad. But does The Post deserve the awards consideration it has gotten? Personally, I don't think it does. Final rating:★★½ - Not quite for me, but I definitely get the appeal.
martina.physics2018-10-07
★ 6/10
The movie is very interesting and clearly very curated in the cast and scenography. It tells an important piece of American history and is an ode to press freedom. However, I found it rather slow in development and a bit too lost in too many conversations. Lacks a bit of action/movement.
Filipe Manuel Neto2023-05-08
★ 5/10
An ambitious film, very solid and with a lot of quality, but which turned out to be forgettable. I've honestly lost count of the movies about Nixon I've seen. And I understand that! In the history of the American presidential institution, few presidents have stirred up as much controversy. He was a president who not only was willing to use his whole power, but also who abused from its use. And the media was one of his biggest and most fearsome enemies. In this film, the point of originality is that the focus is never Nixon or Watergate, but the main figures of The Washington Post in the days before the scandal, when it was sued by the White House. It's not that kind of surprising originality, but it's enough. The script has its flaws, one of which is perhaps the attempt to insert the theme of gender equality in a corporate environment. This appears when we see all those men who are very hesitant about taking orders from a woman, even though she is undoubtedly the boss and owner of the company. The 70s were important for the feminist movement, but it was a young and rebellious layer that led the decade, and the role of mature women, like the owner of the Post, may not have been valued as it should have been. However, the theme seems to be lefting in the film, and it ends up frankly underdeveloped from the moment when she basically says “the newspaper is mine, I am the one who gives orders and I answer for them, and whoever does not want to obey can leave”. This strong attitude simply closes the matter. As for factual accuracy, I'm not the best person to talk, I can't say if the film does justice to the events. The strongest point of this film is, without a doubt, the talent gathering. Steven Spielberg ensures an impeccable direction and manages to give us a solid film, which will always, however, be a considerably minor work in his filmography. In addition, we still have a cast of cast-iron strong actors, led by Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. And I don't think I need to say that this film isn't a particularly memorable piece of work for either of them. Perhaps, the film represented a good financial fit for them, just as it certainly represented a privilege for the rest of the cast, who had the opportunity to see them work and, eventually, learn something more, some of those things that are not learned in dramatization courses, but through practical experience. Technically, it's a pleasantly warm film. That third cup of tea that waited too long in the pot and ended up colder, but also thicker. It's the best metaphor to let you understand what I think: the environment and the theme give it density and tension, which, however, does not make it unnerving because it is done in a very moderate way, served cold. There is a period re-enactment effort that looks good, but it was necessary and could not be ignored. The soundtrack, by Williams, is forgettable, not to say mediocre (taking into account the composer's ability). There is a certain ambition in the project. The producers knew they were making a strong film, but the final product was not as good as they would have liked, nor was it memorable.