Film Review: The Tale

The Tale premiered on HBO this past Saturday (May 26) after it made a splash at Sundance earlier this year. It’s written and directed by documentary filmmaker, Jennifer Fox, who makes the transition from non-fiction to fiction filmmaking, although, it’s actually not quite that simple.

The film is a semi-autobiographical story about Jenny (played by Laura Dern) as the sudden resurgence of a story she wrote for school is found, bringing back memories from age 13 (portrayed here by Isabelle Nélisse) when she found herself in a relationship with a much older man, a coach, Bill (Jason Ritter). However, as she delves into the story, she soon realizes that the nature of the relationship wasn’t quite like how she remembered it.

The Tale is a film that is hard to watch at many points, but feels so necessary and urgent. Not just because it comes out at the heart of the #MeToo movement, and literally a day after Harvey Weinstein was finally arrested in New York, charged with many offenses, rape being one of them, but it feels necessary and urgent just on a human level, an empathy level. It’s one of the most haunting deep dives into the idea of abuse and repressed memories and the mindset of children going through sexual abuse that I have ever seen. And because it comes from a voice that has experienced all this very directly adds more to the relevancy and the overall effect of the film.

It moves in a way that almost feels messy, but deliberately so, as if following the kind of dream-like logic that exploring memories would imply. This is emphasized by the meticulous, and hazy cinematography from Denis Lenoir and Ivan Strasburg, the deceptively soothing score form Ariel Marx, and the effortlessly interweaving editing from Alex Hall, Gary Levy, and Anne Fabini. There’s excellent work here by all, but it’s ultimately all in the service of Fox’s vision, which is inventive and incredibly evocative.

Sexual abuse is a struggle that I can’t relate to, but Fox manages to craft the story in such a way that captures the effects of abuse from many different angles. We see the illusion of beauty from the child’s perspective, who is simply trying to find some love outside of her home. We see the warped logic that Bill uses to lure in Jenny to satisfy the needs she thinks she desires, and the way some people around them enabled it. We see the way Jenny’s mind tries to justify the events or hide it, be it remembering herself as much older than she was, or just chalking it up to “the 70s.” We see the existential confusion that comes with the sudden realization that you experienced something horrible at a young age, and have a hard time making sense out of, sometimes to the point of refusing to acknowledge yourself as a victim. And we see the the complex emotions that arise when we come to finally confront the past directly in a rather quick, but emotionally powerful sequence at the very end.

Performances are stellar all around, especially given the complicated nature of the material combined with the stylistic choices that Fox makes in telling the story. However, this is ultimately Laura Dern and Isabelle Nélisse’s film, and their collective performance as Jenny is easily the best performance I’ve seen all year, perhaps even in the past several years. There’s so much of the material that is inherently internal conflict-wise, and yet, they manage to bring out those emotions and thoughts and ideas out in a way that is daring, challenging, and empathetic. You don’t feel like you’re watching actors as much you are watching the memories of the character being played out in front of you.

The Tale is impeccably crafted and beautifully told story about a very horrific thing. The way Fox has taken a very personal story and presented in such a way is beyond courageous. It avoids a lot of the sensationalism and exploitation that is often found in stories like this, and it helps that it’s informed by someone who has been through this. The experience of it is one of the most maddening, moving, and profoundly affecting that I’ve seen in a long time, and while it is by no means an enjoyable sit, it is a viscerally compelling watch that is absolutely needed at times like this.

I honestly kinda feel out of my element talking about this subject matter, which I think is important to recognize. I don’t have any experience in this, but I do intend on listening, and that’s maybe the biggest thing that a lot of people will get out of this. I think the film is brilliant in how it confronts a lot of the criticisms that are often aimed at stories that come out about abuse, especially ones that happened a very long time ago. It dissects a lot of them, and showcases why the time passing ultimately doesn’t matter because confronting such trauma cannot be forced, it has to happen at the victim’s own pace, sometimes they simply need that time to fully process everything. But of course, many of these stories and experiences are different, and The Tale is just one of many stories out there. The important thing now is to listen and learn.

By the way, if you or someone you know needs help, please call the RAINN national hotline, which is free and confidential: 1-800-656-4673