Hands downthemost talked-about film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival wasThe Tale, writer/directorJennifer Fox’s brilliant drama that also served as her own #MeToo testimonial. Based on her own experiences, the film starsLaura Dernas Fox, a woman who starts to uncover memories from her childhood involving sexual abuse, when for all these years she’d simply been telling herself she had a relationship with a slightly older man when she was a teenager. The film chronicles the fallibility of memory, especially when it comes to abuse, and in the process serves as a deeply empathetic tale that allows those lucky enough not to have experienced something like this to understand how it can take years to fully understand what exactly happened, and how the manipulation from abusers gets ingrained over time.
Coming out of Sundance it’s usually too early to make Oscar predictions, but I hadThe Taleearmarked for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Actress (Dern), Supporting Actress (Elizabeth Debicki), and Editing consideration. Well, those are now out the window, asVarietyreports thatThe Taleis now heading straight to HBO.
Indeed, HBO Films has secured distribution rights toThe Tale, premiering it on HBO where it will be eligible for the Emmy Awards. Fox had this to say about the decision in a statement:
“It has always been my intent to find an engaged distribution partner who deeply understands the wide reach of the project, not just as a film, but also for the impact it can have on a larger global conversation. “In a world in which stories like mine have often been pushed into the darkness, no one has been better at shining a light on storytelling and important social issues than HBO. I am overjoyed to be able to takeThe Taleout into the world with such a vibrant and engaged team.”
It’s impossible to know what kind of conversations theTaleproducers were having with distributors, and indeed it’s already a hard sell as the movie features explicit sex scenes involving a grown man and a 13-year-old girl utilizing a body double. There was always a question over who would be brave enough to distribute this film, and if that distributor would ask for cuts to these particular scenes, so it’s possible HBO offered the best option in terms of not messing with the content of the film.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bummed aboutThe Talenot heading to theaters. It’s an important film, but it’s also one of the most unsettling movie-watching experiences I’ve ever had. I do hope that if people watchThe Taleon HBO they won’t be tempted to switch it off when things get uncomfortable—the key to this movie is that itisuncomfortable, but it’s important to experience this to come to just the slightest understanding of what it’s like to suffer sexual abuse.
So, unless HBO strikes some kind of theatrical distribution deal, this takesThe Taleout of the running for next year’s Oscar season, and given the somewhat thin lineup at Sundance this year it’ll be interesting to see if we go without a Sundance movie making the Best Picture cut. There’s almost always one (this year it’sCall Me by Your NameandGet Out), and I had my money onThe Taleas a nearly surefire contender.
